Ozone question

FaviaFreak · Mar 5, 2012

other than water clarity what are the main benefits of running ozone in a reef system, particularly a sps dominates sytem?

revhtree · Mar 5, 2012

Good question!

Otter_rs · Mar 5, 2012

It mostly breaks down and/or binds to organics which in turn clarifies the water. If you run carbon at the same time, ozone makes the carbon more efficient. And of course it raises orp, which doesn't really mean all that much. There are a lot more complex things going on with the use of ozone, but this is the main thing that the typical aquarist cares about.

FaviaFreak · Mar 7, 2012

Otter_rs said:
It mostly breaks down and/or binds to organics which in turn clarifies the water. If you run carbon at the same time, ozone makes the carbon more efficient. And of course it raises orp, which doesn't really mean all that much. There are a lot more complex things going on with the use of ozone, but this is the main thing that the typical aquarist cares about.

Thanks for the response..so essentially the increased breakdown of compounds in the water means more clarity= increased PAR/light penetration which should result in better growth and color. Also, it should help the activated carbon work that much better I would assume?

montethemoster · Mar 7, 2012

I have always wondered this as well, it was my understanding that ozone is a reactive oxygen species that would react with many organic compounds. If this is true it would seem to me it would also react with the healthy tissues of organisms in your reef system as well. In my mind this to bring up its questionablability as to the benefits vs. the harm it would potentially cause reef organisms.

Otter_rs · Mar 7, 2012

Yup.... That's essentially why most people use it, but it's kina simplifying it a bit. if you ever have trouble sleeping and need to read something that will put you to sleep, here are some good articles that will explain everything you didn't want to know about ozone.
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 1: Chemistry and Biochemistry by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 2: Equipment and Safety by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium, Part 3: Changes in a Reef Aquarium upon Initiating Ozone by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Otter_rs · Mar 7, 2012

montethemoster said:
I have always wondered this as well, it was my understanding that ozone is a reactive oxygen species that would react with many organic compounds. If this is true it would seem to me it would also react with the healthy tissues of organisms in your reef system as well. In my mind this to bring up its questionablability as to the benefits vs. the harm it would potentially cause reef organisms.

Ozone is a very unstable molecule and will react quickly to whatever it can. Usually, it gets used up in the reactor chamber before the water ends up back in the aquarium. If it is overdosed though, it will do just that, and cause all kinds of problems. This is why you would want to use an ORP controller. If you start to overdose, the controller shuts the ozone generator down. You can also run carbon in the reactor out flow to pick up any extra ozone left over.

H2O · Mar 7, 2012

Yeah the tank will get a lot more light just don't get it to clean to fast cuz some tips might get burned . Play and see look at the polyp extension ones u see everything happy then just let it be it will jump off as long as the ca,alk,mg, is on point . Colors will improve ones the po4 no3 is close to 0 .

FaviaFreak · Mar 9, 2012

^^^^Greg Thanks!

gotta say ozone has shown some very positive effects on water clarity and overall happiness of the corals, I am taking it slow and have an ORP meter with automatic shut-off for the ozone so it doesn't rise to far too fast, definitely taking it slowly.