Ozonators

[cwfish]

Could someone explain to me all the benefits of using Ozone? I understand the basic concept of plumbing it to the protein skimmer. Do you have to run the water through anything else? (carbon, etc.) Will this help controll Ick or algae or any other types of diseases? What size do I need for a 300 gallon FOWLR? Thanks for the info.

 

[reeferx]

This is funny, I was just wrapping with some people about Ozone yesterday. They were using it in their skimmers and underdosing to play it safe. One of them wasn't even using carbon and relying on his controller to handle things which I thought was a little sketchy.
Ozone used to be a lot more popular about 10 years ago or so and I used to hear that its use would make plastic brittle. I asked them about this and one of them did mention that one minor part did snap when he handled it and his skimmer had turned 'a delightful yellow.'
Most skimmers are a lot beefier these days so I don't seeing that aspect of Ozone as being a problem really.

 

[marine fanatic]

I worked in the Pool & Spa business for years and in my opinion..that's the only place for an ozone generator to be.

 

[wolfeel]

Ozone generators, used properly, can be very beneficial in the marine aquarium. Water is crystal clear, keeps algae down, and it helps keep inhabitants disease "free". Sanders makes a great generator. Running it through your PS ensures good contact time and offgassing. Never run an airstone with ozone directly into your tank!! Ozone tubing is available (but watch it for cracks). If you are running too much ozone you can actually smell it (almost like a sweet bleach smell), and you just cut back on the mg. I run a 50mg ozone on my 125 semi-reef. There is maintenance to the generator and you should clean it every couple of months to make sure it's working right. Down sides of ozone...too high dosage will kill tank inhabitants, it also zaps plankton, so it can eliminate natural foods in the aquarium that are beneficial to filter feeders.
Hope this helps!
wolfie