Ozone Reactor

[Buccaneer]

Well I was surfing around and came across this DIY Ozone Reactor and wondered if anyone was currently using one or had built one themselves ...


O3 (Ozone Reactor) DIY

In reef aquariums a high ORP (Oxygen Redox Potential) is desired. This level is generally 380-450 mV. One way to raise the ORP is to add Ozone (O3) to the aquarium water. Ozone is powerful and can kill invertebrates so use of carbon filtration directly after ozone reactor is required. Control of the ozone can be easy with an ORP controller.

PLEASE NOTE: YOU MUST FILTER OUT THE OZONE PUT INTO EITHER A PROTEIN SKIMMER OR IN THIS CASE A OZONE REACTOR. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY FILLTERING THE EFFLUENT (OUTPUT) WATER WITH ACTIVATED CARBON. (you can easily do this by having the output water from the ozone reactor flowing into a carbon cup or canister.)

This DIY O3 ozone reactor will give you Reef-Like water conditions and high water quality..

Many of you who do not have Reef Tanks want to keep a few corals in a predominately fish tank loaded with live rock or undergravel filters. This DIY is ideal by boosting the O3 level and increasing the purity of the water (ORP) and overall water quality as found on the natural reefs.

Materials:

Canister material = acrylic cell-cast cylinder 1/8" wall thickness.
Canister diameter 3 to 4" Canister Height 18 to 24"
Buy scrap 1/2" acrylic for bottom plate
Buy scrap 1/4" acrylic for top lid
Buy 1/2" PVC pipe for input/output runs. 1 pc. 18" or 24" depending on height of Canister. 2nd piece 6".

Buy 1-2 boxes of mini-bio balls. 3/4 gal should fill the canister for a 3" dia. 18" tall canister while 1 to 1-1/4 gal should fill the canister for a 4" dia. 24" tall canister.
Buy a Tetra Luft Pump or similar. Best choice for this pump has HP and is designed for rugged and prolonged use.
Buy 1/4" airline tubing
Buy 5/8" tubing for input/output water lines.
Buy Rio 1700 or similar pump/powerhead. Please don't use a valve on the pump output (run it wide open).
Optional - Media Platform container system. If used, buy eggcrate material (kind you find in hardware store for light fixtures) and cut it to fit within the canister body. You may need to support it off the bottom of the canister by using 3 pieces of Schedule 40 PVC couplings 3/4" or pipe cut to 3/4". Also cut a hole through the eggcrate where the 1/2" PVC pill will pass through
Ozonizer - 2 types available. UV type and corona discharge (high-voltage). corona discharge requires use of air-dryers.
Carbon cup or similar device to filter out the ozone from the output of this DIY Ozone Reactor.
Ok here is the diagram which will help you in understanding and construction..

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/541o2reactor.gif?8934


A = Air in from air pump-Ozonizer, using an adjustable valve.
B = Water coming in ,1/2" PVC pipe, from sump or aquarium, via a small submersible water pump (Rio or similar).
C = Water coming out ,1/2" PVC pipe, back to carbon filtration before going to aquarium or sump.
D = 1/4" scrap acrylic glued to make a lid. Use acrylic cement or a bonding agent meant for acrylic.
E = Optional - Eggcrate for bio-ball support. Cut to fit into canister. Bottom eggcrate is supported off bottom using three 3/4" PVC couplings or cutting three 3/4" PVC pipe to a length of 1 to 2". Be sure to cut a hole in eggcrate for "C" output 1/2" PVC pipe to fit through.
F = 1/2" thick acrylic scrap glued or bonded to bottom of canister. Used as a base for canister to fit on. Again use acrylic cement or a bonding agent meant for acrylic.
G = Water reservoir. Maintain a level of 2-3" deep by adjusting air valve, not the water flow. By adjusting the air valve, this will adjust the air pressure in the canister reactor. The more the air pressure, the lower the water depth in the bottom. Of course this works in reverse.
H = BioBalls, Bio,Pak, BioKaskade, etc. Any plastic media will work here. Shotgun shell wadding (not colored) will also work. The ideas here is to break up the water and allow a thin film of water or a large surface area of water to be "aerated or "air-injected".
I = Highly saturated Ozone rich water returning to carbon filtration before going to sump or aquarium. Ozone saturation will also occur in the Bio-Media (Bio-Ball) area of the reactor.

[Canadian Man]

Man your just looking for crap to make aren't you :lol: :razz: ?

[Buccaneer]

Man your just looking for crap to make aren't you :lol: :razz: ?

What can I say ? ... I luv the DIY part of this hobby :mrgreen:

and I just happen to have a piece of 4" acrylic tube on my shelf in the fish room :eek:

[Canadian Man]

Man Build me a Beckett skimmer then. I got most of the parts just no time.

[Buccaneer]

BTW ... does anyone have any bio-balls that they want to get rid of ?

[Buccaneer]

Man Build me a Beckett skimmer then. I got most of the parts just no time.

Be happy to help you ... just say when

[ABreefkpr]

Man Build me a Beckett skimmer then. I got most of the parts just no time.

Do you have the foamers? If so where did you get them? I want to try to make a skimmer.

Keith

[Buccaneer]

Got mine from the pond section of Home Depot :cool:

[Canadian Man]

got mine from Piecies. They had them on special for $14.99.

[ABreefkpr]

Excellent. :cool: I think I'll try Home Depot. It might be tough to find this time of year. Ponds are out of season.

[StirCrazy]

personaly this is one project that might be cool to make but I wouldent risk putting it on my tank. to much potential for something to not work right and all have it wipe out all the life in your tank except the fish.

Steve

[Buccaneer]

personaly this is one project that might be cool to make but I wouldent risk putting it on my tank. to much potential for something to not work right and all have it wipe out all the life in your tank except the fish.

Steve

The skimmer or the reactor ?? :razz:

seriously though Steve as I value you opinion dont leave me hanging and explain what you mean :confused: ....

[StirCrazy]

the ozone reactor, as Ozone will quickly kill any invertabrates in your tank.. so if you have a problem with your carbon scrubber for example you could wipe out the invertabrates befor you wake up in the morning.

thats just getting to be to fine of a fine line for me as if I go away for a weekend I would constantly be worring about something failing and it putting to much O3 into the tank.

Steve

[Buccaneer]

Dont you use a ORP meter with a Ozone reactor ? ... or some people put the output of the Ozone reactor through the skimmer ?

[Buccaneer]

thats just getting to be to fine of a fine line for me as if I go away for a weekend I would constantly be worring about something failing and it putting to much O3 into the tank.

Steve

Or you could shut it off before you go away for the weekend :mrgreen:

[Delphinus]

How many people track ORP in their tank?

[StirCrazy]

How many people track ORP in their tank?

not many as the actualy mumber has no meaning and rather the change of the number can indacate a trend. I think ORP is a toy for thoes who have everything else and think they need to watch it :mrgreen:

Steve

[EmilyB]

It used to be a big thing with the oldies who didn't have sumps & skimmers and such to keep up the oxygen levels. Is that the jist of it? Can't really see much use for it now. :rolleyes: :razz:

[Canadian Man]

I have heard Stephane talk about ORP. So i'm sure he has a moniter.

[MitchM]

Is that the jist of it? Can't really see much use for it now. :rolleyes: :razz:
It's basically a method of turbo-charging your skimmer. Not only do you remove DOC's via the mechanical method of skimming, but you also "burn off" organic compounds that don't make it up the skimmer cup.
Easy to over-do it, though. You pretty much HAVE to have a controller, IMO.

It was one method that allowed you to load up your system with living things. I think (or hope, anyways) that the trend these days is to NOT overstock a reef tank.

Mitch

[BCOrchidGuy]

Just out of curiosity, if there was a problem with the carbon scrubber and ozone did make it into the aquarium, wouldn't it burn the fishes gills and probably kill them as well. Ozone is an oxydizer, it breaks down rubber etc, and it will burn mucous membranes.

Doug

[MitchM]

Just out of curiosity, if there was a problem..... wouldn't it burn the fishes gills and probably kill them as well.

Doug

Yes, that's right. :biggrin:

Pleasant, isn't it? :biggrin:

Mitch :wink:

:eating:

[Buccaneer]

So I ended up building a new house and did not bother with the Ozone reactor project as I sold my tank with the old house ( could not get it out of the basement anyway :biggrin: ) and ended up selling the temp tank too that I took to the new house

So whats the current state for ozone use ?

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Just out of curiosity, if there was a problem with the carbon scrubber and ozone did make it into the aquarium, wouldn't it burn the fishes gills and probably kill them as well. Ozone is an oxydizer, it breaks down rubber etc, and it will burn mucous membranes.

Doug

Hobby units are not even close to strong enough to kill much in our tanks. I know people who use them without carbon at all. Even larger parasites running through ozone reactors can often survive. The exposure would have to be VERY long at high levels and ozone just doesn't last long enough in saltwater for this to be a real concern with the small units we use.

For ozone to be effective you need a contact time of at least 45 seconds (not likely with most reactors), much bigger ozonizer than most companies carry and a much bigger industrial air pump that get really expensive. Otherwise all your doing is making the water clear and not much else.

I used ozone for years and would never bother again. It really is a waste of money IMO....unless you can spend thousands to set it up properly and even then, its benefits in a reef aquarium really are not much.

In a North Sea system may years ago studies where done on ozonated seawater vs non-ozonated seawater. There is no doubt from this study that the use of Ozone did cause a decrease in bacteria population density but had no effect what so ever on parasites or other protozoans. They also gave no ozone concentrations in this study. In general there will be or can be a 10 % decrease in bacteria form 300-400 mV. But nothing really happens until you get to 600mV. And it takes 800 mV to cause complete sterilization. And contact times in all of these need to be somewhere between 30 - 60 sec. and we get nowhere near that in most reactors.

[phreezee]

I've got a Aquazone 200 Plus and only have an ORP in the 300s and have never hit 400.
Besides the clear water, I found it was the best Ich treatment out there. It also helped with algae. I just run it through my skimmer and I don't use carbon, and inverts, SPS, LPS, and fish are fine.

[Pescador]

Monitoring ORP in my tank gives me an immediate indication if something is wrong with my tank i.e. a fish or coral dying.

Here's my ozone setup, it should be easy to DIY the reactor.
I replaced the MTC carbon reactor with a smaller one that sits in the sump. I also found no need for the separate carbon air filter as excess air in the ozone reactor is carried out with the water.
I use a controller but the ORP has never been high enough to shut it off. Every ones tank is different some have naturally higher ORP levels where ozone would not benefit as much.

What I notice the most besides crystal clear water is darker skim mate (like vodka dosing) and hardly ever have to clean the front glass anymore.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/Pescador58/Reef%20Tank/IMG_2101.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/Pescador58/Reef%20Tank/ozonesetup.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/Pescador58/Reef%20Tank/IMG_1404.jpg


Reefkeeping.com articles on Ozone
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/rhf/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/rhf/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-05/rhf/index.php

[BlueAbyss]

I would combine protein skimming, ozone, and vodka dosing (and carbon). A 3 pronged approach to getting 1. the clearest water possible, and 2. reducing nutrient levels across the board.

I agree that hobbyist units that are commonly available will probably not overall reduce bacteria populations, but you could combine ozone and UV, one after the other to get the maximum benefit out of it. And a slower flow rate on the ozone reactor would help there too.

[BlueAbyss]

Note also that anything that kills algae spores will reduce or stop the growth of coralline algae as well as the bad stuff.

[phreezee]

Note also that anything that kills algae spores will reduce or stop the growth of coralline algae as well as the bad stuff.

I haven't had that problem, in fact coraline is just another nuissance algae to me (well at least on my glass).

[Buccaneer]

So far 3 yay and 1 nay

anymore takers ? ... there were lots of naysayers when I brought this up the first time ... have there been lots of converts since then ?