Oxydator Nearly Nuked My Tank

[Midrats]

I have used Oxydators in the past but not the size D. I bought one for my REEFER Nano that has been plugging along swimmingly so I should have known not to mess with it, but I wanted that ozone-clear water that Oxdators are known for.

I filled the D today with some 8% H2O2 and placed it into my sump. I noticed bubbles rising from the tiny hole in the cap every second or so. I figured it was air that was trapped under the cap and deemed it normal ops. Those bubbles however forced a significant amount of H2O2 into the tank rather rapidly. The result was a bunch of very unhappy corals. I pulled the unit out and after a couple of hours everything is starting to come back out again. Is this by design or did I get a bum unit? My Minis do not do this. @atoll @Lasse

 

[atoll]

I have used Oxydators in the past but not the size D. I bought one for my REEFER Nano that has been plugging along swimmingly so I should have known not to mess with it, but I wanted that ozone-clear water that Oxdators are known for.

I filled the D today with some 8% H2O2 and placed it into my sump. I noticed bubbles rising from the tiny hole in the cap every second or so. I figured it was air that was trapped under the cap and deemed it normal ops. Those bubbles however forced a significant amount of H2O2 into the tank rather rapidly. The result was a bunch of very unhappy corals. I pulled the unit out and after a couple of hours everything is starting to come back out again. Is this by design or did I get a bum unit? My Minis do not do this. @atoll @Lasse

OK, first of all, Is this the first time you have used the D in your tank? Depending on your bioload 8% may be too high try 6%. Secondly I know of a couple of people who have failed to fully press home the cap which allowed too much peroxide to escape.Always ensure the cap is fully pressed on by going round it pressing down. The model D is significantly bigger than the mini and will give off far more O2.

 

[Lasse]

@squareriggersailor

In addition to atoll´s post

8 % - it probably means that you blend the mix by yourself. Its very important to use distil/RO or unionized water for the mixing. Any chlorine in the water will disintegrate H2O2 directly.

There have been some long time overdosing events happens among Scandinavian reefers recently – mostly combined with too many catalysts or to high concentration. I try to rise my concentration to 9 % but have going back to the original 6 % - I did not see any negative consequences but in order to be on the safe side. I use the original peroxide from the manufacturer.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Midrats]

OK, first of all, Is this the first time you have used the D in your tank? Depending on your bioload 8% may be too high try 6%. Secondly I know of a couple of people who have failed to fully press home the cap which allowed too much peroxide to escape.Always ensure the cap is fully pressed on by going round it pressing down. The model D is significantly bigger than the mini and will give off far more O2.

Thanks for chiming in. It was the first time using an Oxydator in the tank. I figured since the system is 105L that 8% would be ok as the D is rated up to 100L. The bioload is low. When I filled the unit I made sure the cap was seated properly in the bell. I placed the bell atop the container, ensuring it was level, and pressed and turned it firmly until I could feel the definitive "click" when it is fully closed. So are the bubbles rising into the unit through the outlet hole normal when it is first filled? The level in the container dropped by close to .33 inches before the bubbles stopped coming in through the hole. If this is normal it seems counterproductive as contaminants would be entering the container and potentially altering the dosing rate.

 

[Midrats]

@squareriggersailor

In addition to atoll´s post

8 % - it probably means that you blend the mix by yourself. Its very important to use distil/RO or unionized water for the mixing. Any chlorine in the water will disintegrate H2O2 directly.

There have been some long time overdosing events happens among Scandinavian reefers recently – mostly combined with too many catalysts or to high concentration. I try to rise my concentration to 9 % but have going back to the original 6 % - I did not see any negative consequences but in order to be on the safe side. I use the original peroxide from the manufacturer.

Sincerely Lasse

Thank you for your advice. I actually purchased 8% from the health food store. I wish I could just buy the Söchting solution but it isn't available to me. I will be sure to use RODI to cut the H2O2 to 6%. I must say though the bubbles rising into the unit through the outlet have me worried it will overdose again.

 

[Lasse]

Thank you for your advice. I actually purchased 8% from the health food store. I wish I could just buy the Söchting solution but it isn't available to me. I will be sure to use RODI to cut the H2O2 to 6%. I must say though the bubbles rising into the unit through the outlet have me worried it will overdose again.

If you use RODI - be sure there is no rest of chloramines in the water. RODI membrans leak a bit when it comes to chloramines. Do your tap water supply content a lot of chloramines?. You can use some vitamin C
(ascorbic acid) to take away residues of chloramine (a tablespoon to 100 litres of water is more than enough).

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Midrats]

If you use RODI - be sure there is no rest of chloramines in the water. RODI membrans leak a bit when it comes to chloramines. Do your tap water supply content a lot of chloramines?. You can use some vitamin C
(ascorbic acid) to take away residues of chloramine (a tablespoon to 100 litres of water is more than enough).

Sincerely Lasse

My water utility started using chloramines last year. Maybe I will just pick up some distilled water.

As far as the bubbles entering the unit when it is first filled, is this normal? It displaces quite a bit of peroxide.

 

[Fin]

I have one of these that I plan to use on my new tank. It is still in the box and the tank is dry at this point. I am interested in following along here, but have nothing to add.

 

[Lasse]

You mean bubbles inside the unit? I have not seen that. But Söchting recommend 3 - 6 % solution for this Oxydator.

Compared with the A (that I use) this Oxydator has a much smaller secondary catalysts zone (outside the doser) hence - more non-catalyst H2O2 will enter the water column and probably react with organic matter as corals, inverts and fish. I would start with 3 %

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Midrats]

You mean bubbles inside the unit? I have not seen that. But Söchting recommend 3 - 6 % solution for this Oxydator.

Compared with the A (that I use) this Oxydator has a much smaller secondary catalysts zone (outside the doser) hence - more non-catalyst H2O2 will enter the water column and probably react with organic matter as corals, inverts and fish. I would start with 3 %

Sincerely Lasse

Yes bubbles entering the unit from the outlet hole. When I first filled it and inverted the unit and placed it into my sump bubbles were rising from the hole. It was the air trapped in the gap under the lid I presume.

 

[brandon429]

Just to show something related, here's 35% put raw into a one gallon pico reef with an adapted coral banded shrimp. It's dropped onto a red mushroom.

We did this dance uncountable times, it was during early work in measuring tolerances and habituation habits of direct dosing technique. An oxydator is a million times safer for sure, this just shows incremental work in habituating a tiny pico reef to 1 ml of 35 put right in it, one gallon tank full coral loading.




The 35% didn't just sit there and burn forever of course it's powerful, I used it then rinsed it out but this was all internally done with contact for much of the lower biosystem in the tank


I was able to habituate my entire system to brief direct contact as I had to refill partially here, then drain, then refill here again to get out the dosed 35%.

That shrimp used to get bathed in rather heavy doses he was a genetic freak.

The peroxide didn't kill this mushroom, it caused ten more to develop right next to it (over time, pedal fission boost due to burn most likely) and the mother colony was back open within one hour. Could be interesting trick for bounce breeders consider
Take your 800$ frag and burn it with diluted rocket fuel.
The frothing veracity is one way to verify percentage, 3-8% is not that active. Two peroxide strengths are there, brown is 3% and the taller clear one was 35% used in direct testing.

The music stinks turn down speakers

 

[Lasse]

@brandon429
Forgett the link.....

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Lasse]

Yes bubbles entering the unit from the outlet hole. When I first filled it and inverted the unit and placed it into my sump bubbles were rising from the hole. It was the air trapped in the gap under the lid I presume.

There should be a plastic cover in the bottom avoiding a huge contact with the clay material and the peroxid. and the hole is tiny

​

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Midrats]

There should be a plastic cover in the bottom avoiding a huge contact with the clay material and the peroxid. and the hole is tiny

​

Sincerely Lasse

That is exactly how mine looks. It appears that air that is initially trapped in the gap between the cap and the ceramic dish is getting pushed into the container as the gap fills with water. Once the gap is filled the bubbles stop. Maybe when I fill it I will place it in some water first to allow the air to escape. Just seems like a strange design, or I got a faulty unit.

 

[Midrats]

I filled it with water and put it into a dish of water to test it. At depth in my sump the water pressure made it bubble faster. It will continue to bubble until all the air trapped under the cap is in the container.

 

[Lasse]

I test with my now - 3 % solution. The first 5 minutes I got around 10 bubbles inside the can and outside I get bubbles each 5 seconds.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[atoll]

Thank you for your advice. I actually purchased 8% from the health food store. I wish I could just buy the Söchting solution but it isn't available to me. I will be sure to use RODI to cut the H2O2 to 6%. I must say though the bubbles rising into the unit through the outlet have me worried it will overdose again.

You bioload plays an important part, the lower the bioload the less % peroxide you use also how many catalysts are you using you should be using one? When first installed bubbles will often be seen to exit the Oxydator, this is quite normal and should not cause issue under normal use. .

 

[atoll]

Thank you for your advice. I actually purchased 8% from the health food store. I wish I could just buy the Söchting solution but it isn't available to me. I will be sure to use RODI to cut the H2O2 to 6%. I must say though the bubbles rising into the unit through the outlet have me worried it will overdose again.

You bioload plays an important part, the lower the bioload the less % peroxide you use also how many catalysts are you using you should be using one? When first installed bubbles will often be seen to exit the Oxydator, this is quite normal and should not cause issue under normal use..

 

[Midrats]

I test with my now - 3 % solution. The first 5 minutes I got around 10 bubbles inside the can and outside I get bubbles each 5 seconds.

Sincerely Lasse

I really appreciate you going the extra mile to help me. So it seems some bubbles entering the container are normal. Maybe I'll just pick up some 3% in the brown bottle to start out with.

 

[Lasse]

Was the test without peroxide ?

I refilled my up to the limmet and press on the bottom - I do not got these bulb as you do. try to soak the equipment for a day and then redo the experiment

Sincerely Lasse