Ozone/Oxygen Reactor & FreshWater Protein Skimmers
- Thread starter BigShawn
- Start date
Let me throw some conflict into this thread......
Protien skimmers will work on freshwater systems if either built specifically for freshwater or if modified. I agree that the "off the shelf" models made for marine tanks won't produce foam typically. I have made skimmers that will produce foam and remove excessive organics. What I have done differantly is use higher pressure pumps that will generate much higher concentrations of tiny bubbles. THe typical venturi wont work but there are models available or you can inject air thru them from a pump. Using ozone seems increase the efficency of the skimmer by breaking down organics and polutants in the aquarium water and will improve water quality if sized correctly. Ozone will also kill water bourne parasites, virus, bacteria, etc. I use ozone at the shop and have had excellent results with it. I am very impressed with the water quality improvment and lower parasite outbreakes with it's use. I must caution though that it must be done right with proper equipment and monitoring systems. As Oddball stated, ozone is very distructive and will destroy non ozone safe equipment and the residule gas released into the air can be irritating to the eyes and nose.
If someone wants to run this type of system on thier aquarium, I would suggest researching the facts about it to learn the proper methods. It is very usefull when done right but can kill everything in your aquarium when done wrong.
Joel
Protien skimmers will work on freshwater systems if either built specifically for freshwater or if modified. I agree that the "off the shelf" models made for marine tanks won't produce foam typically. I have made skimmers that will produce foam and remove excessive organics. What I have done differantly is use higher pressure pumps that will generate much higher concentrations of tiny bubbles. THe typical venturi wont work but there are models available or you can inject air thru them from a pump. Using ozone seems increase the efficency of the skimmer by breaking down organics and polutants in the aquarium water and will improve water quality if sized correctly. Ozone will also kill water bourne parasites, virus, bacteria, etc. I use ozone at the shop and have had excellent results with it. I am very impressed with the water quality improvment and lower parasite outbreakes with it's use. I must caution though that it must be done right with proper equipment and monitoring systems. As Oddball stated, ozone is very distructive and will destroy non ozone safe equipment and the residule gas released into the air can be irritating to the eyes and nose.
If someone wants to run this type of system on thier aquarium, I would suggest researching the facts about it to learn the proper methods. It is very usefull when done right but can kill everything in your aquarium when done wrong.
Joel
Your statement is not in conflict with anything said before. It's been acknowledged that skimmers can work on FW tanks. However, the lfs available skimmers aren't up to the task. Commercial skimmers use improved venturi injector valves and are generally larger than store-bought skimmers. This combination allows for the production of more micro-bubbles without sacrificing dwell (air/water mix) time.
When I moved from the 6ft to the 10ft skimmer, I found I no longer needed the maintenance and expense of running the ozone system. The larger skimmer works fine (for me) as it is.
When I moved from the 6ft to the 10ft skimmer, I found I no longer needed the maintenance and expense of running the ozone system. The larger skimmer works fine (for me) as it is.
THat's some good information Mr. Oddball. I'm building a fairly large, out door holding system for pond fish and plants and was planning on including a very large protien skimmer I have. Mabye I can use it with out a ozone generator and controller. I'll give it a try and see what happens......
Can we get more information on the 'Ozone' and what exactly produces it.. Is it an 'Ozone generator' or 'Ozonator'.. I have heard the term before, but it wasn't for aquarium use. Just interested in some of the details..
Sounds like with the costs involved, and the detrimental effects of the Ozone use, it might be more worth the time, effort, and research to design a nice flow-through drip system, veggie filter, or de-nitrification system.. ??
Sounds like with the costs involved, and the detrimental effects of the Ozone use, it might be more worth the time, effort, and research to design a nice flow-through drip system, veggie filter, or de-nitrification system.. ??
An ozone generator is what produces the ozone gas. It can either be pumped or drawn into what ever type filter is being used.
Ozone is O3 with 3 atoms of oxygen. This is a unstable arrangment and quickly wants to loose the 3rd atom of oxygen and become O2 (oxygen). THe extra oxygen atom has very stong oxidising properties and rapidly destroys what ever it comes in contact. It is claimed to have several thousand times the oxidising potential than chlorine bleach. It also dissipates very quickly and typically does not become residual in your water. THe benifit here is that it will kill and break down just about everything organic in your water. Any parasite, bacteria, virus and waste will be litterally "disolved" if exposed to a high enough dose for a long enough period of time.
I use protien skimmers to mix my system water and ozone gas. A well designed skimmer will keep the ozone and system water mixed together long enough to have a pretty effective rate. THe waste that my protien skimmer generates is less but much more concentrated. My ORP is raised signifigantly due to the ozone. My systems accumilation of phosphate and nitrate is less. All the way around my system is in better shape.
It is very important to have a system that will regulate the dose however. Running an ozone generator with out a monitor could kill your livestock. I am using an octopus controller to determine my ORP value and turn the ozone generator on & off by what the ORP value is. THis is the typical methode used by most if not all. I also have a manual residule ozone test I run evey few weeks to be safe but have not had an issue with it yet.
THe ozone generator I use is made by Ozotech. On my main system I am using large down draft protien skimmers from Marine Technical Concepts (modified HSA 2000) as my reactor. I try to maintain and ORP value in the low 400's in my main sump. I realise that this would be considered a higher ORP value than typically thought to be correct however, the sump is relitivly small when compaired to the entire system. The water getting to the tanks have a much lower ORP value, Mid to low 300's with no residule O3.
Miles; Your central system would benifit from a set up like this. Would help prevent disease transfer especially with wild caught fish coming in regularly. Might not be needed on the average aquarium but on large set up and multi tank systems, it's pretty hard to beat.
Joel
Ozone is O3 with 3 atoms of oxygen. This is a unstable arrangment and quickly wants to loose the 3rd atom of oxygen and become O2 (oxygen). THe extra oxygen atom has very stong oxidising properties and rapidly destroys what ever it comes in contact. It is claimed to have several thousand times the oxidising potential than chlorine bleach. It also dissipates very quickly and typically does not become residual in your water. THe benifit here is that it will kill and break down just about everything organic in your water. Any parasite, bacteria, virus and waste will be litterally "disolved" if exposed to a high enough dose for a long enough period of time.
I use protien skimmers to mix my system water and ozone gas. A well designed skimmer will keep the ozone and system water mixed together long enough to have a pretty effective rate. THe waste that my protien skimmer generates is less but much more concentrated. My ORP is raised signifigantly due to the ozone. My systems accumilation of phosphate and nitrate is less. All the way around my system is in better shape.
It is very important to have a system that will regulate the dose however. Running an ozone generator with out a monitor could kill your livestock. I am using an octopus controller to determine my ORP value and turn the ozone generator on & off by what the ORP value is. THis is the typical methode used by most if not all. I also have a manual residule ozone test I run evey few weeks to be safe but have not had an issue with it yet.
THe ozone generator I use is made by Ozotech. On my main system I am using large down draft protien skimmers from Marine Technical Concepts (modified HSA 2000) as my reactor. I try to maintain and ORP value in the low 400's in my main sump. I realise that this would be considered a higher ORP value than typically thought to be correct however, the sump is relitivly small when compaired to the entire system. The water getting to the tanks have a much lower ORP value, Mid to low 300's with no residule O3.
Miles; Your central system would benifit from a set up like this. Would help prevent disease transfer especially with wild caught fish coming in regularly. Might not be needed on the average aquarium but on large set up and multi tank systems, it's pretty hard to beat.
Joel
The amount of salt in marine tanks is the reason saltwater skimmers are far more effective than freshwater skimmers. A chemist explained to me that the presence of salt in marine tanks makes the water 100 times less soluble making it easier to remove the dissolved solids.BigShawn;272422;272422 said:
I would infer that another way to make a freshwater skimmer as effective as a saltwater skimmer would be to increase the number of bubbles and/or reduce their size in order to achieve greater surface area.
There is a company that claims to have an effective frshwater skimmer www.clarity-wts.com , but so far I have been unable to substantiate their claims.
I have a skimmer on a brackish tank and it barely works...in freshwater on a normal sized system I would recommend just leaving it out and doing normal water changes etc. Your not overloaded and as long as you have a good filter system your ps will be just fine. If you decided to try to use a skimmer it will cost you $$ and time trying to mod it to work and in the end it will be finicky and temperamental beyond belief and you will regret the whole thing.
