Do you check ORP ?

WesF · Jun 26, 2012

H2O said:
Yeah I agree that it doesn't measure clarity but it sure makes a difference in clarity enough to notice it by eye . I noticed from just looking at peoples tanks if a tank has orp around 400 water looks like air and orp around 300 water looks cloudy so it does affect clarity at the same time .

Often yes. But I have not seen enough tanks to make a direct correlation.

H2O · Jun 26, 2012

I spoke to a guy that wrote some good articles for reefkeeping magazine forgot his name but guy did say that ozone is used to rise orp , you rise orp to high and your tank will bleach and to be careful when rising it. He didn't have an answer when I asked him where the orp should be in a reef tank and that he was still looking into it .
My local pet store had a sweet looking display a couple weeks ago out of the blue guy hooked up ozone to it with no orp monitor tank got so clean that from looking from a side view on a 8' tank u can't see water in it then 80% of his sps bleached so one thing is 4 sure messing with orp can go south quick .

reefin101 · Feb 5, 2013

I did for a while, but according to what normal should be I was pretty much always off. My ORP prbe is about 2 yrs old and way off. Wil not replace

vamaro · Feb 6, 2013

I use ozone and monitor ORP. ORP usually runs about 375. When my ORP starts dropping into the 350 range I know I am due for a water change.

vamaro · Feb 6, 2013

H2O said:
I spoke to a guy that wrote some good articles for reefkeeping magazine forgot his name but guy did say that ozone is used to rise orp , you rise orp to high and your tank will bleach and to be careful when rising it. He didn't have an answer when I asked him where the orp should be in a reef tank and that he was still looking into it .
My local pet store had a sweet looking display a couple weeks ago out of the blue guy hooked up ozone to it with no orp monitor tank got so clean that from looking from a side view on a 8' tank u can't see water in it then 80% of his sps bleached so one thing is 4 sure messing with orp can go south quick .

Running ozone without a ORP probe is not a good idea. If this store did not know to use a ORP probe with ozone, they may have also made a mistake in the ozone set-up itself. I run my ozone in a reactor, then I filter the water into another reactor with charcoal. I run the charcoal reactor water so that the water enters the top of the reactor and is forced through the charcoal before heading back to the sump. Ozone is powerful and a little is all most people need to have crystal clear water.

jdpiii3 · Feb 6, 2013

I have been thinking of running ozone. I have the controller and my ORP reading without ozone are between 430-440 how much higher can you go before you have problems?

vamaro · Feb 6, 2013

I personally don't let my ORP go over 425. Without ozone my orp will run about 300 to 325. I try not to inject too much ozone into my tank. I put just enough to keep my water clear.

jdpiii3 · Feb 6, 2013

vamaro said:
I personally don't let my ORP go over 425. Without ozone my orp will run about 300 to 325. I try not to inject too much ozone into my tank. I put just enough to keep my water clear.

I'm not running ozone, and my ORP is between 430-440. How do you know when you have to much O3 in the system?

occ_motorcycles · Feb 6, 2013

WesF said:
I don't think there is any real data out there that says different corals prefer different orp levels. My orp stays on the high end 450+ (my ozone is usually off) and everything does very well.

There are so many variables that effect your orp measurement that you shouldn't really obsess over it. The only reason anyone should pay attention to orp is when using ozone. If orp levels spike it is an early indication that you are using too much ozone.

I am pretty sure that light levels, tank size, and coral placement will all be huge variables in the equation. Finding what corals like what orp levels may depend on each persons tank.

Does anyone think elevation would change the orp levels for the same water sample?

(If your below sea level then the barometric pressures are different than if your up on a mountain?)

occ_motorcycles · Feb 6, 2013

Question. Looking at starting ozone on my 60g total system. What should I look for as to a product to provide ozone? I found a cheap 100mg/h unit. Is this to much or to little?

Ninjapotamus · Feb 6, 2013

I use ozone, no problems. Skimming/calrity are both at their all time best since installing.

vamaro · Feb 6, 2013

jdpiii3 said:
I'm not running ozone, and my ORP is between 430-440. How do you know when you have to much O3 in the system?

I would first check to see if your probe is accurate. Your orp seems high to me without the use of ozone. I am in no way an expert and keep in mind that I don't have a reef so I am not sure what the average orp for a reeftank not using ozone would be.

Prior to setting up my ozone I did a lot of reading. Check out the articles by Randy Farley on ozone. He goes into a lot of detail.

vamaro · Feb 6, 2013

occ_motorcycles said:
Question. Looking at starting ozone on my 60g total system. What should I look for as to a product to provide ozone? I found a cheap 100mg/h unit. Is this to much or to little?

. I highly suggest only purchasing an ozone unit with an adjustable control. This allows you to adjus your ozone levels. 100 is more then enough for a 60 gallon tank. If the unit is not adjustable, it may be too much ozone.

occ_motorcycles · Feb 6, 2013

vamaro said:
. I highly suggest only purchasing an ozone unit with an adjustable control. This allows you to adjus your ozone levels. 100 is more then enough for a 60 gallon tank. If the unit is not adjustable, it may be too much ozone.

So an ozone pump off eBay or something like that is ok?

vamaro · Feb 7, 2013

I am using an Ozotech from Bulk Reef Supply. I never tried the ozone units from EBay.

occ_motorcycles · Feb 7, 2013

vamaro said:
I am using an Ozotech from Bulk Reef Supply. I never tried the ozone units from EBay.

Sweet.

vamaro · Feb 10, 2013

Loki said:
Oh that sounds cool. So if I get an ORP probe and start running it without ozone it will still be able to tell me some good information? If this is the case I may give it a shot. I would live to be able to know if something is going on before I visually see some changes.

I can tell when I need a water change. My ORP will start dropping. For example, I did a water change yesterday. My ORP went from 358 to 402 within a couple of hours. ORP also drops during heavy feedings. I did purchase the ORP probe for ozone, but have found it useful outside of ozone.

Loki · Feb 10, 2013

Cool.

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danka-cedium · Feb 17, 2013

Someone told me once that an orp probe should be as far away from a ph probe as possible. That it would give false readings. Anyone else have any input?