Please help me with this ozone problem I am having.

[csababubbles]

I will try to be as specific with my questions as I can so as to try to waste as little of your guys time as possible. I educated myself on the use of ozone and these are the resultant questions that I need help in deciding how to handle. I got a new ozone generator for my 220 fowlr tank. Its an enaly ozone generator w/ timer.

First question is whether you guys run your ozone on a timer so its not running 24 hours a day? My issue is that this generator is 200 mg/hr w/out dryer and 500 mg/hr with dryer. I have read numerous manufacturers recommendations and they all say between 5-15 mg/hr for every 25 gallons. This means I should be running it between 50-150 mg/hr approximately. The unit allows a 40% cutback. First question is whether I should run it with or without the dryer since its rated for much higher then I actually need if I run it with the dryer (500 mg/hr vs 200 mg/hr without the dryer). Second question is whether I should run it on a timer so it goes on for say only 30 minutes every hour instead of constantly? I am also confused because I have read quite a few people say it is very very difficult to add too much ozone so that your ORP rises dangerously high, especially with a tank as large as my 220. So what would my proper set-up be? Running it with the dryer at 40% cutback (500x40%=200mg/hr)? Or full blast without dryer (200x100%=200mg/hr)? Or cut back 40% without the dryer (200x40%=80mg/hr)? I have no orp monitor or controller and unless necessary I wish to do without.

Final issue is the release of excess ozone into my tank. My sump setup is a little weird. Tank drains into a 40 gallon breeder that has a tunze master doc skimmer. I have two bulkheads on the side wall at the end of the tank where I have two drain lines emptying water from this "skimmer sump" into my "refugium sump" which is just another 40 gallon breeder with live rock, macroalgae, a carbon and a phosphate reactors, and my return pump. The two reactors are fed of the return line so at any given time a portion of the water returning to the tank is diverted into one of the reactors and then back into the sump. My question is whether this will be enough carbon filtration for the excess ozone. If not where can I place additional carbon? Here is a picture of the skimmer I have if it helps. http://tunze.com/fileadmin/downloads_en/masterskimmeren.PDF

I have no baffles in my sumps so placing a bag in between baffles is not feasible. any other ideas? Maybe a bag of carbon placed over the two bulkheads that drain into the refugium sump? Second question is how often to replace this carbon thats used to break apart he excess ozone.

Thanks for any help.

 

[DonW]

First the dryer. If you expect to get any longevity out of the ozone generator then you need the dryer. As far as I'm concerned its a must and I would'nt use one without it.

Second the setting, need to be set at what ever your skimmer can intake without releasing excess ozone into your house. Start off at its lowest and move up as you experiment.

Third the timer, is a useless item. You should be running your ozone generator via an orp controller. It is very easy to over do even a 220g tank with such a large ozone generator.

Fourth is the carbon. I would use it any way you can, bags in the sump help as do the reactors. For the most part Ive relied on bags since getting the effluent through the carbon directly is a pain.

Don

 

[csababubbles]

Since it is a powerful little generator, would it be possible to T off the tubing so that I can use it for my other tanks as well? I figure that I could split it amongst several tanks and have a valve on each tube so that I can somewhat control the amount of ozone.

 

[DonW]

You could do that for sure if you were using an air pump. I dont think I would try it with venturi's only.

Don

 

[csababubbles]

i thought you had these exact generators donw? anyways, they come with a built in air pump. hopefully i can get this to work. another question, can i somehow reduce the output of this generator aside the knob on the unit? for example, could i restrict the tubing going into the skimmer from the generator?

one more thing, i know the manufacturer's say 5-10 mg/hr per 25 gallons but many people use much less, somewhere around 1 mg/hr per 25 gallons. thats a big difference. what do you recommend and what do you use?

 

[csababubbles]

how long would the carbon be good for when used in the outgoing water of the skimmer? i change the carbon in my 2lf reactor every 2-3 weeks but would the carbon i put in a bag for the outgoing skimmer water need to be changed in a shorter interval since its serving a very important purpose?

 

[DonW]

i thought you had these exact generators donw? anyways, they come with a built in air pump. hopefully i can get this to work. another question, can i somehow reduce the output of this generator aside the knob on the unit? for example, could i restrict the tubing going into the skimmer from the generator?

one more thing, i know the manufacturer's say 5-10 mg/hr per 25 gallons but many people use much less, somewhere around 1 mg/hr per 25 gallons. thats a big difference. what do you recommend and what do you use?

Mine has no pump, I'm assuming you bought one of the smaller ones.
I have this on http://www.enaly.com/1000BT-12.htm I run mine turned almost all the way down to 0 so I guess about 2 total. I dont know what happens when you start restricting the flow. Ive never had one with a built in air pump or one that couldnt be adjusted down as low as I wanted. When it was on my 110 It would run 24/7 set almost all the way down and never overshoot the orp but the water clarity was all I am after.

Don

 

[DonW]

how long would the carbon be good for when used in the outgoing water of the skimmer? i change the carbon in my 2lf reactor every 2-3 weeks but would the carbon i put in a bag for the outgoing skimmer water need to be changed in a shorter interval since its serving a very important purpose?

I never let carbon go in my tank for more than 7 days. Thats not to say you cant go long. You cant test the stuff so I just do it every 7 days.

Don