New Gadget for the Hobby??

New Gadget for the Hobby??

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Tug

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Jan 5, 2009
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Once Burned, Twice Shy

Wow. I have no idea what would happen in water, but do know there are health risks associated with these devices when used in the home. Another problem, "Ozone can adversely affect indoor plants, and damage materials such as rubber, electrical wire coatings... (U.S. EPA, 1996a)." http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

While ozone chemistry in water is not the same as ozone chemistry in air and ozone has been extensively used for water purification, controlling pollution through proven methods (good hygiene practices to minimize biological contaminants) is effective and less risky. The ozone fad did have a hay day in the 80's but a lot of people got taken.
 

charlie

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Oct 25, 2006
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The Ozone generators have been around a bit in the Marine tanks, i`m suspecting this one is also intended for that aspect of the hobby .
 

shoggoth43

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Jan 15, 2009
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I can't see it being all that useful for most people. It's yet more scary techy junk that most people will run from. For special purpose tanks I can see the use and for a hospital tank it'd be awesome since you could just annihilate everything in the tank with a sustained blast of ozone. The problem with that is you have to do something to help deal with free ozone when it leaves the tank. High levels of ozone in the home aren't good in a way that higher levels of CO2 in the same area can't really match. Both could be a problem in tightly enclosed spaces but you need to be careful with both. I can't see the average user even looking at this, but I've been wrong before....

-
S
 

Biollante

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Jun 21, 2009
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To Ozone Or Not To Ozone...

charlie;46802 said:
The Ozone generators have been around a bit in the Marine tanks, i`m suspecting this one is also intended for that aspect of the hobby .

Hi,

Do higher ORP values cause a better planted tanks? :confused:
Or
Do better planted tanks cause higher ORP values? :confused:

Similar questions and discussion a decade or so ago in Reef Keeper community. :)

Biollante
 

Tom Barr

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Jan 23, 2005
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I think O3 has its uses, but not much for aquariums.

Less less for freshwater.

Good for water treatment and no Chlorine, leaves a residual which is good for distribution, but corrosive as heck.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

Oreo

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May 6, 2010
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A year ago I was taking some water treatment professional education classes on, among other things, methods of disinfecting water. This particular class compared things like chlorine, chloramine, ozone, and UV. Among the water quality experts UV was by far the preferred method of disinfection particularly because it does not leave a residual and therefore makes for healthier water to consume. However, the regulating powers that be still require a Cl residual for tap water production partly because they don't understand the chemistry and partly because the code is just out dated. Ozone was mentioned as a better alternative to Cl for a number of reasons (some I don't remember & some not relevant to aquariums) but particularly because it had a measurable residual good for reporting reasons only. In a nutshell, as far as disinfection goes, there isn't anything ozone can do that UV can't do better- more or less.

They talked about redox / ORP a bit too and I wish I could remember more on that but the one lasting impression I had was that ORP as it applies in the aquarium hobby community is vastly misunderstood. I got the impression controlling ORP with ozone in an aquarium is letting the tail wag the dog. We (marine aquarists included) should be focusing on other more conventional aspects of water quality and ORP would take care of itself.
 
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Tom Barr

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Jan 23, 2005
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You need a residual for distribution..........since they cannot keep the entire distribution system sterile.........
O3 's residual does not last as long and no THM's are forms that cause cancer and make treatment a PITA.

Many water companies went to Chloramine for this reason since it does not form THM's. This is harder to detoxify and has a longer residual life than Chlorine(10 vs 1 day typically).

You are correct about ORP and the tail wagging the dog.
Marketing, misapplied aquaculture principles etc lead to many things, many of which are ploys for $, not better management.

Long ago I used O3 to skim FW systems, did not do so well, fiddling with it etc, and the smell was a tad annoying.
Easier to do a water change and focus on plants more, then the ORP is pretty high.
.

Regards,
Tom Barr