Ozone Generator

[tayhonglee]

hi everyone,

a few people have pmed me about the enaly ozone generator and its performace. perhaps we could do a simple review here, so that everyone might have an idea about its pros and cons.

i have only started running my ozoniser a few days ago. short term wise, i can see a definite improvement on water clarity. the water in my tank is incredibly clear. its really quite amazing. however, my tank has only started light stocking, so that may well be a significant contributing factor. im also over driving a macro 350 venturi for my 1.5 cube.

the redox value of the tank is maintained at almost 400mv, almost effortlessly. i rarely see or smell the ozone generator work anymore. again, my light stocking is likely to be part of the reason. however, i suspect that even after 6 months or so when i have overstocked heavily , the enaly is still capable of keeping redox at 400mv, due to its high output capacity.

of course redox value is but one small sign of a healthy tank. but i believe nontheless that it will help overall.

[blueheaven]

You are running the ozone generator using an ORP controller right?

How about some accounts of ppl using them on timers or on meters instead?

[tayhonglee]

i don't think its that easy to overdose ozone actually. its only my personal experience, but when i plugged in the controller and ozoniser. it took about 2 hours to reach 400mv from 200++mv. this is only a very rough estimation. and my tank is only a 1.5 cube.

it would be prudent to wait for larger tank owners to comment on their timing, so that we can 'guess' more accurately for our own tanks.

having said that, i think having a controller is definitely a good addition.

[bloodlamb]

On my 4x2x2 I run it on ORP meter about 8 hrs at night. It increase my ORP only by a bit. from low 200 to now mid 200 mV.

[patrick123]

Tayhonglee,

Do you run any carbon? Any risk of the ozone going into the main tank?

How is the performance of the milwakee ORP controller?

[iori_del]

quite strange for my case...

my meter read 200 this morning, after working for 8 hr, it read 230.

is my probe got problem or the set, or the ozone generator..

Henry pls tell me i am not the unlucky one...

[sunny03]

quite strange for my case...

my meter read 200 this morning, after working for 8 hr, it read 230.

is my probe got problem or the set, or the ozone generator..

Henry pls tell me i am not the unlucky one...

bro it not just you

mine jump from 60++ to now 250++

without the use of the ozone

heard that it better to measure your tank ORP reading before run any ozone.

it take some time for the contoller to take reading.

If i am wrong pls correct me will like to know the answer also

[iori_del]

bro it not just you

mine jump from 60++ to now 250++

without the use of the ozone

heard that it better to measure your tank ORP reading before run any ozone.

it take some time for the contoller to take reading.

If i am wrong pls correct me will like to know the answer also

do we need to cablirate it?

how can a ozone of 200mg running for straigth 6 hr give only 230MV reading, worried it might kill all my fish..

any expert??

[Melvyn Tan]

Just some of my experience....when you use an ORP meter (new) it takes some time (as indicated in the instruction) to read your tank's ORP such that after 24-48hrs the range of readings of your tank will become more indicative and thus your actual REDOX potential.

Having said that, the ORP fluctuates accordingly;

1) some major decomposition in your tank

2) over feeding

3) ph differences (inverse to your ORP)

4) am pm (lighting)

My initial readings - 280+ mv

My range in day 1 (after 24hrs) range from 306 - 320

Day 3-4 range from 312 - 330

Current readings range from 319 - 340+

No Ozoniser employed (as yet)

[Melvyn Tan]

Some reading materials for you

Redox

[lightningstrike]

my enaly ozoniser running........

[lightningstrike]

.....with my macro mV controller ###### pH monitor. pH probe has been calibrated with Hanna pH 4 & 7 fluids. mV probe reading has been matched with trans instruments 475 mV calibration fluid.

[lightningstrike]

mini mod done by myself for the ozone to be directly introduced into my beckett. air valve is to control fresh air intake (tuned to 1/2 opened to compensate pressure loss), the other end of the Y-adaptor is hooked onto the ozoniser. only drawback is that i am uncertain as to in how ozone-safe r the Y-adaptor and ehiem hose. will hv to change them every now and then. so far so good. ozoniser has already been running for abt 2 mths.

[tayhonglee]

hey guys,

before we go on, lets just make it clear that im a new user as well. i will try to answer as much as i can. most that the little i know comes from reading what others wrote. lets explore and learn from each other as we go along. should be one heck of a ride

Tayhonglee,

Do you run any carbon? Any risk of the ozone going into the main tank?

How is the performance of the milwakee ORP controller?

i don't run any a. carbon. i don't use the ozone reactor i made as well. the reason is that i have a really small tank, and right now, the return from my chiller is acting as the return for my tank. i have since plugged it directly into the macro, and the 'affluent' is pumped into the chiller, before entering the main tank. any remaining ozone would have been depleted by then.

quite strange for my case...

my meter read 200 this morning, after working for 8 hr, it read 230.

is my probe got problem or the set, or the ozone generator..

Henry pls tell me i am not the unlucky one...

del, i don't think you are so lucky to tio two faulty sets among all of us. just let the orp meter run for another day or two to get it reading accurately. mine reads about 390mv now, but i have no doubt the actual reading is lower than that. if it really worries you that much, maybe you can set the limit at 300mv. its much harder to overdose at that level. also, since you mentioned to me before that your tank water is yellow, plus its overstocked with large capacity pooping factories , maybe your reading is really 230mv?

do we need to cablirate it?

how can a ozone of 200mg running for straigth 6 hr give only 230MV reading, worried it might kill all my fish..

any expert??

im not sure about the recalibration. it says that it has been calibrated at the factory. i haven't read any negative comments yet about milwaukee's calibration. lets just run it for another day or two. btw, did you activate your ozoniser? did you press down the little red button at the back? its a stupid question, but might as well check all possibilities. just in case. also, it looks like thats happening to bloodlamb as well. just let your controller do its thing there's someone who has used the enaly 24/7 since he bought it. no problem reported thus far. i will try to ask the brave soul if he could comment a little.

henry

[AhLoon]

Hello all whom bought the ozone generator,

Based on what I'd heard and read, seems like oxidation aids a fair bit in nitrate reduction.

Anybody tried measuring your nitrates before and after installing the ozone?

Just like to know your comments on this issue.

[blueheaven]

I believe this is due to skimmer bubbles gaining an electrostatic charge due to the extra oxygen atom. This way, skimmer performance is improved and DOC is being skimmed out before they can break down into nutrients

[AhLoon]

Thanks for the explanation, blueheaven.

However, I'd still like to view any comments straight from the "horses" mouth.

Anybody?

[iori_del]

hi guy, a good new to share, my controller is working well liao, now reading 320, water is crystal clear, first time in my life of reefing, my tank is so clear..... no more yellowish water...

just like it... and becareful not to smell too much ozone.. it is making me headache liao, better buy some carbon

[sunny03]

did u all experiance a rise in PH ??

[djviper]

Extracted From RC

Ozone and Ozonizers

by Mike Paletta

It has long been recommended that ozone be used in marine tanks for many reasons including its ability to kill many pathogens and make the water crystal clear. Ozone (O3), which is an unstable form of oxygen, acts by oxidizing with (giving up an oxygen molecule to) anything that it comes in contact with. In laymen's terms, ozone acts as bleach and kills things like bacteria and viruses on contact. Not only does this bleaching action help reduce the pathogen load in a tank, but ozone also interacts with dissolved organics in a tank to make them less interactive so that they can easily be removed by a protein skimmer. This is why when the saltwater hobby was starting out forty years ago, the use of a protein skimmer coupled with an ozonizer was highly recommended. Fortunately we have come a long way since then. Those old ozonizers created ozone via an electric spark, much like lightning does. Newer ozonizers are now in a solid state and produce ozone through corona discharge technology where oxygen molecules pass over a specially designed light source to produce the ozone.

Ozonizers clean the water chemically by having this extra oxygen molecule interact with living material as well as with the by-products of metabolism. The relative cleanliness of the water can be measured by the reduction-oxidation (redox) potential of the water. In most healthy systems, this redox potential is usually between 300 - 350mV without the use of ozone. In order to measure the redox potential a special electronic monitor and probe needs to be used. With ozone, redox potential can easily be raised to 400 - 500mV. This higher level is closer to that seen in the waters surrounding a reef, where levels of dissolved organics are very low. This is why the fish seem to be suspended underwater. The same effect can be achieved in an aquarium with the use of ozone. The ozone removes much of the yellowing compounds that tend to accumulate in a reef tank over time. By intermittently using ozone the water can be kept crystal clear, even more so than can be achieved with the use of carbon.

Ozone does not need to be run constantly, but can be run for short periods of time once a month to keep a tank crystal clear or when the redox potential drops below a certain level. Ozone should also be utilized when a tank is being started and live rock is being cured to remove as much of the dissolved organics as possible. Ozone should also be run constantly when a disease breaks out. Ozone cannot affect the pathogens that are on the fish, but if any free-swimming pathogens come into contact with it in its reaction chamber or in the skimmer they will be killed. Ozone needs to be kept out of the tank as it bleaches any organic matter that it comes into contact with. It should either be bubbled into a protein skimmer or into its own reaction chamber. When it is in use, the water should then flow over carbon to keep any ozone from reaching the tank itself. If ozone does get into the tank it can cause bleaching of the gills of fish, so this needs to be avoided.

As noted above, ozone is highly interactive and as a result it needs to be used with special equipment. Any tubing that it passes through needs to be of silicon, which does not interact with ozone. If regular airline tubing is used, it will become hard and brittle quite quickly when exposed to ozone. Similarly, most plastics will become brittle and crack when exposed to ozone so be careful when choosing a vessel for introducing ozone. Ozone also breaks down quickly when exposed to high humidity so it is best to run the air going into the ozonizer through an air drier. This will dramatically increase the production of ozone.

As noted above, it is not necessary to run ozone constantly in any system. However, having ozone available when necessary is a worthwhile investment, especially when its use makes the tank so clear that the fish seem like they are suspended without any water around them.

[tayhonglee]

hi everyone,

a little update. my tank has begun stocking a few days ago. just to refresh, its a 1.5 cube, with a 12 inch 'attached' sump at the back.

my livestock right now is a 1 inch regal tang (i know i know ), 2 fire fish, 2 bluegreen chromis, 2 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 red linkia. i feed these babies twice a day, with a mixture of frozen mysis, brine and freeze dried pellets.

my water parameters are still in good condition. i tested this morning, and there are no detectable nitrates. as far as i can tell, ph is 8.3. calcium is 460. redox fluctuates between 370+mv to 400+mv.

when i feed the livestock, redox plummets to 330 or so. it takes about 4 minutes before the ozone can bring it up to 390 again. during that time, the ozone is working continuously, and the skimmer produces a lot of foam. however, the skimmate is very light brown in color, since i run it quite wet. nothing like the kopi o i use to see on my previous tank.

in between feedings, the skimmer produces almost no skimmate, even though bubble density in the body is satisfactory. but keep in mind that its only a macro 350 venturi. better skimmers will no doubt pull more doc out.

there are no form of any algae at all, other than coralline. there are no diatoms and no hair algae. the water is crystal clear, totally colourless to the ###### eye.

it is likely that im jumping to conclusions, but i believe that the ozone has helped remove nitrates, like what ah loon has mentioned. i am unable to find the article where i read that ozone helps convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. if anyone stumbles across articles about nitrates and ozone, please post here. we can determine among ourselves if its true or false.

im unable to find how phosphates are affected, if at all.

if my ammonia, nitrite and nitrates remain undetectable next week, i am planning to slowly add a feeding mandarin from PR, a blood shrimp, a blue linkia, a yellow goby, 2 more blue chromis, a yellowhead jawfish, neon goby, and royal gramma. of course, thats just my fantasy list, since stock availability is a big issue.

i will continue adding livestock, until nitrates become detectable. after which i will proceed to sps and certain softies. however, even with heavy feeding, im confident that the redox will average 380mv, thanks to the overpowered ozone. if however, my ozone generator breaks down, or there is a power outtage, im sure crap will gather at lightning speed.

i have added a diy air dryer using desicate (silica gel?). that improves the life span and output of the ozoniser. best thing is that it cost me only $4.50.

actually, i have been thinking if this is the 'right' way to reef. i am obviously overly dependent on ozone, so much so that i seem to treat it like a magic pill. ozone is extremely efficient at helping to remove waste (one of my biggest headaches), since i can literally force the tank redox to maintain at 390. traditional means of removing nitrates, such as dsb, overskimming, bb, and algae culture (to name a few) do not seem to be as efficient as using ozone with controller and overskimming (such as overdriving a macro 350 venturi for a 1.5 cube). but here i must acknowledge that i have never cultured algae before, nor have a functional dsb. since all that i know comes from reading articles, and never having seen them in action before, i may very well be shooting myself in the foot with such an assertion.

naturally, with such an immense bioload, trace elements and calcium will be depleted rapidly. maybe i might be able to train the ozone to dose and change water for me as well

let me know what you think about it. and please do not hesitate to correct me if im wrong.

[iori_del]

is it the method i use got problem? my orp keep staying at 230, wun really go up to 400 with ozone blasting 24x7 everyday. wat happen??

ozone spolit? controller got problem? my method of injecting into my skimmer is wrong..

the best part for my ozone is : one of the out put have come out, luck i using the skimmer to draw the air, nor likely able to use air pump to push the air in liao

[Tigger]

Hello Tay,

thanks for the review. Would appreciate if u can attachs pics for better illustartion. Thanks alot.

Rgds-Tigger

[tayhonglee]

hi,

i found a thread on rc about ozone and phospates. looks like there isn't any direct link at all.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...ozone+phosphate

i will post pictures asap tigger. soon as i get the camera from my brother

hey del, maybe its because you aren't injecting directly into your skimmer through an air pump. i set mine to the highest setting, and inject through a Y valve. how come your output break off so fast?

henry

[AhLoon]

Hi Henry,

I second Tigger. If its not too much trouble please post some pictures of your implementation.

Best rgds.