Magic Kiwi's Tank Journal Thread

[Magickiwi]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Hey why'd you decide to run ozone? I dont know of anybody that runs it. Always wondered how and what it does for skimmers to make them work so much better.

Overnight I had about a 100% increase on what was already collected in my skim cup during the previous week. According to Tunze the ozone helps break down the long protein molecules into ones small enough to be skimmed. Skimmers basically use O2 as an oxidizer in the reaction chamber; with an ozone generator it uses 02 and the MUCH more oxidizing O3.

I decided to run ozone because I added a couple pieces of SPS coral and with my tank being relatively young I want to maximize my chances of the coral surviving. I ran a Coralife Turbo Twist but wasn't getting enough dwell time on the lamp to make any difference because it is inline with my main return pump.

I was dubious about adding it because so many people said you don’t need it if you've got a UV sterilizer or your tank is mature or whatever. It is more complicated to use and there are safety concerns but seeing what an impact it has made in such a short time has convinced me it’s something I want to use. The generator has a built in ORP controller and even with the probe being an extra cost it is still cheaper than many UV sterilizers and uses less electricity.

A good example is that last night before dosing my tank with phytoplankton my ORP value was 192. Immediately after adding the phyto my ORP value decreased to 148. This morning it was 178 and climbing again.

My concerns are mostly around increasing the ORP value of my tank water to a safe and effective level without A) exposing my family or livestock to dangerous levels of ozone and B) slowing down the growth of my coral or coralline.

[Magickiwi]

Well it’s been nearly seven days since the Ozone generator got installed and it has made a huge difference in the health of my tank. My ORP reading went <100 to 250 and holding over the course of the week. I have been slowly increasing the ORP value and so far all my livestock seem to be thriving under the new conditions.

The appearance of my display tank is noticeably improved with far less film algae after my light cycle and my sand bed, which I was having problems with, is MUCH cleaner. I have used my magnetic scrubber twice since installing the Ozone; once the same day and then last night to clean up sporadic algae blooms. My rock is much cleaner as well, which I attributed to my urchin’s appetite and the ozone preventing more algae build up. The tank is much livelier as well which is probably from the decreasing amount of algae and detritus forcing the crabs, snails and other cleaners to venture out for food. I was going to get a tiger cowrie but I don’t think I have enough left on my sand to feed him and the crabs, snails, shrimp, cucumber, conch, sand sifting star, etc.

I honestly didn’t think it would make this much of a difference in my tank since it was in decent shape to begin with and I was using good carbon and Rowaphos in a reactor. I did intend to document some of the changes but decided it would be too embarrassing to highlight the low points of my aquarium to show the progress it has made.

Parameter check shows all the values I’m watching are right in the green.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~0 (It showed color but still didn’t match the low range of the test)
Phosphate: 0 (Colorimeter on the way for a more accurate picture than the Seachem test I’m using)
Copper: 0
pH: 8.18
ORP: 250
Alk: 208
Ca: 421
K: 1300
Mg: ~400 (Red Sea test kit, pretty complicated so I’m not 100% accurate with it yet)

Getting a bit more livestock tonight for the Nano and my main tank: RBTA, Plate Coral, and a bit of cleaning crew refresh.