Ozone, Yes or No

Marco S · Aug 22, 2018

I am putting together the list of equipment I will be getting for my first tanks and I am debating whether or not to use ozone. I've done a little bit of research on Ozone Generators and from what I have seen so far it looks like the cons are greater than the benefits and the potential risk to the fish and myself are a bit scary. The main reason I would contemplate this is because of water clarity and odor reduction. I figured I would throw this out there and see what everyone here thinks about it before making a decision either way. Please let me know your thoughts on it either way and if you personally use it or not.

Thanks in advance.

CC13 · Aug 22, 2018

Marco S said:
I am putting together the list of equipment I will be getting for my first tanks and I am debating whether or not to use ozone. I've done a little bit of research on Ozone Generators and from what I have seen so far it looks like the cons are greater than the benefits and the potential risk to the fish and myself are a bit scary. The main reason I would contemplate this is because of water clarity and odor reduction. I figured I would throw this out there and see what everyone here thinks about it before making a decision either way. Please let me know your thoughts on it either way and if you personally use it or not.

Thanks in advance.

I ran one on my very first aquarium tank. I would say in my experience they do work, they make the water noticeably clearer and make your skimmer work far better.

I would also say that there is a clear danger if the room isn't properly ventilated. I stopped using mine because I now keep my entire filtration, sumps, skimmers in the basement while my display is on the main floor of my house. I absolutely do not want the risk of having anything happen down there since houses up here in Canada have our furnaces and house ventilation also in the basement. If you have an outdoor shed, or keep your filtration in the garage where it can be vented properly with minimal risk, I would say give it a shot. For me, the risk isn't worth it.

Some skimmers have a port to plug your ozone into. I'm not 100% sure excitably what the benefits are, I know my skimmer has this port, I just don't use it so I never really looking it too much. You can read about it here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ozone-increased-skimmer-production.346796/

Also, from what I can remember, when your ozone media is 'spent' or in need of replacing, you don't have to buy more. You can place it in the oven and dry it out again and keep reusing it indefinitely. Will save you some money and it works 100% as well as buying new stuff. Again, it has been 5-6 years since I used my ozone generator so you will have to search for the specifics on how to recharge your media but I know it can be done.

Montiman · Aug 22, 2018

I use an ozone generator . I first used one on the large fish quarantine system at the LFS I worked for at the time and later added it to my home tank. What convinced me was virtually every public aquarium I ever toured used one. Also pretty much everything livestock wholesaler used one too.

I started to think why don’t I use one. I eventually bought an ozotech unit and haven’t looked back.

Somethings that can be exaggerated are the need to carbon filter the effluent water. I have never seen this done in any industrial application. It may still be a good idea but it is largely unnecessary. When you are using small amounts like most of us do there simply isn’t enough ozone to be a concern if you want to inject a whole lot then that is a different story. There is also a myth that ozone will melt virtually every plastic. It is true that ozone can melt some plastics but virtually every decent skimmer is made of ozone resistant construction and those that aren’t are cheap enough it is ok to just replace them every few years. As far as ozone in your home it can be dangerous but a good rule is if you can smell it it’s too much. In every industrial application I have seen ozone used in there was no carbon post filtration of the air. The room was simply well ventilated in our homes we may need to use carbon post filtration because our homes are often intentionally insulated but this is easier than most people believe. I usually cover some of my skimmer air vent holes with tape and then lay a bag of carbon over the open holes.

All that being said I would not recommend ozone for your first tank. It is something for advanced aquarists to explore and not for beginners. Take the money you would spend on ozone and invest it in good fundamentals like light, flow, and a good skimmer.

Breadman03 · Aug 22, 2018

I run ozone just because my UV light was set up for it and I figured why not? I wouldn't worry about getting it for your first tank. I think you should apply the KISS principle. Keep the system simple with the highest quality gear you can afford. That doesn't mean most expensive... Here is my list of what I would recommend:

Tank
Sump
Skimmer. Not the place to go cheap. Get something decent, but you don't have to spend a fortune.
2x heaters. Get them slightly undersized so if one fails on or off, you don't have a temperature emergency.
Return pump. The heart of the system. DC is cool, but a properly sized AC pump is great and can last decades.
BeanAnimal drain. Siphon line handles most of the flow, open channel gets a trickle that handles fluctuations in flow (from waves, clogs, whatever), and a dry emergency line in case you manage to clog both lines.
Lights. Radions are cool and I have them, but they aren't the only lighting source. I'd recommend having some LED's for moonlighting, but there are quality T-5 HO, metal halide, and LED systems at a variety of price points that are great for a primary lighting source.
Powerheads/flow pumps/wavemakers. Again, there are a variety of price points. I love my MP40's, but I'd recommend Tunze pumps for a new tank. They are plug and play and last.
RODI filter. If you have a local fish store and plan on running a nano tank, it may not be cost effective. Anything larger and the RODI will pay for itself in no time. Get the highest rejection membrane which will ensure the DI resin lasts as long as possible. The RO membrane lasts a long time, but the DI resin is a consumable that you will probably replace a few times a year.
Mixing pump for making new saltwater. I like a big pump for this because vigorous agitation helps speed up mixing and power consumption isn't an issue because you'll only run it for an hour or so per week.
Test kits. There are maybe 30 or so things that people test for, but there are a few that are more important: Salinity, Alkalinity, calcium, magnesium and nitrate. Then I would look at phosphate with the Hanna phosphorus checker. I'm not interested in anything beyond that at home. I send samples out for Triton for all the nitty gritty stuff, but ATI also has a solid following. There comes a point where paying for an ICP test is more cost effective than putting on an addition to hold all of the test kits.
Ask questions and breathe. Don't do anything rash when something happens, unless you've got to start filling Tupperware if the tank breaks.

I'd recommend setting up your tank with a good skimmer and a large refugium area with a good grow light. I would also recommend setting it up with BeanAnimal drains for noise reduction and the failsafes to prevent floods. You'll have far more enjoyment by watching your budget and having money left for fish and corals than if you spend it all on hardware. I'd recommend setting an affordable budget and cutting it in half. Use that half to price out the tank and all of the hardware you'l need for it. Tack on another $100-200 to the total for miscellaneous plumbing needs and see how you look. Have you blown the half budget? Adjust your tank size accordingly or see where you can trim costs with used gear.