What do you know or understand about REDOX?

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keepinfish

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Jun 29, 2007
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In God We Trust
no im not talking about redBOX...LOL

Something interesting i have been reading about. Why dont we hear more about it? Why dont we care???
i have added a UV on my tank 5 days ago... My rays are acting better, seem to eat more, more active, etc since adding a sterilizer. Is this due to redox? Am i having wishful thinking? is the UV cutting down on bacteria, or possibly parasites?

All this is so confusing to me, so please shed some light for us that dont know......

Pulled the below off a website
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Redox_Potential.html

Although not a well known process among many aquarists (with still much misunderstanding of both sides of the equation by even advanced aquarium keepers); the implications of Redox for a healthy aquarium are quite far reaching, and thus important for any aquarist considering moving from basic aquarium (or pond) keeping to advanced to understand.
As well even the average aquarist should consider this water parameter when all other parameters check out, yet fish continue to be susceptible to disease this may be an important parameter to consider (as growing research in human disease resistance, and even plant growth also shows, yet the aquarium keeping community still seems to be in the dark ages as per this research)


Redox, also known as Redox Potential, oxidation potential, & ORP (oxidation reduction potential) describes the ability for the loss of an electron by a molecule, atom or ion to the gain of an electron by another molecule, atom or ion. Without this ability to gain electrons many minerals cannot be absorbed and properly assimilated. So it is very important to keep a healthy Redox Balance via proper dissolved oxygen levels, UV Sterilization, and proper positively charged mineral levels (such as Calcium and Magnesium).
(Please click on the picture above/right to enlarge for a better view)

As another note to think about as you read this article is Redox Balance, as many in the past have stated exact numbers such as +300 mV being the so-called "best" Redox reading for a marine aquarium. This is incorrect in so much this may be a good Redox Reading to obtain (for oxidation) when high organics and decomposition is lowering water quality, HOWEVER for a new or established aquarium that is properly functioning this is not a number you should be "shooting" for correct Redox balance
 
Maybe IF we understood this stuff we'd both have 2'+ Armatus????

Hopefully someone here can teach us a thing or 2......

:)
 
Very interesting, I have been more and more interested by TDS and conductivity lately but I am also having a hard time really grasping some of it.

Hopefully someone can give us a hand :)
 
Ha ha didn't even think of the armatus epidemic. Dang I love them but never again for me


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That's what I said after the 1st one. Then after the 2nd batch. And again after the 3rd batch.
I might try them again IF I thought I had all my water issues sorted out. But I'll never again consider them the "holy grail" of the Characin world, after experiencing the personality that Aimara posses.

ORP was a hunch in regards to the Armatus epidemic, but only one of many..... :(

So the UV seems to be making that big of a difference eh? Guess it's just another thing to put on the rays' Christmas list........ Kinda funny to get rays, get a huge tank for them, THEN realize that the expensive part is yet to come...... Controller here, controller there, half a dozen probes, RO, mixing vats, web cam, the list of things that you "don't need" but realistically do goes on and on.....

IF I only knew what I know now when I went to get that first ray I would have laughed myself right out of the idea that my income could properly support rays...... Year after year of being broke I think I'm getting closer but in all reality I think the jokes on me. :cry:
 
after i lost two of them one of which was about 18" and quickly one of my favorite fish i have ever owned i decided there is a mystery about this fish i cant figure out, and see too many of them dyeing around that size i wont get one again, until someone can show me they can live in captivity. ORP is a possibility, and may even be part of the ray issues too.
I wish i got the attraction to Aimara, but to me they remind me of a walleye but black...lol not like the predator patrolling the tank like armatus. I need to look more closely at them i guess.

As far as the UV making a difference, i cant explain it, but my rays seem to be more active, eating better and just acting different the last few days, maybe i am making this stuff up :(????


That's what I said after the 1st one. Then after the 2nd batch. And again after the 3rd batch.
I might try them again IF I thought I had all my water issues sorted out. But I'll never again consider them the "holy grail" of the Characin world, after experiencing the personality that Aimara posses.

ORP was a hunch in regards to the Armatus epidemic, but only one of many..... :(

So the UV seems to be making that big of a difference eh? Guess it's just another thing to put on the rays' Christmas list........ Kinda funny to get rays, get a huge tank for them, THEN realize that the expensive part is yet to come...... Controller here, controller there, half a dozen probes, RO, mixing vats, web cam, the list of things that you "don't need" but realistically do goes on and on.....

IF I only knew what I know now when I went to get that first ray I would have laughed myself right out of the idea that my income could properly support rays...... Year after year of being broke I think I'm getting closer but in all reality I think the jokes on me. :cry:
 
If I can conjure up my biology teacher...I'm pretty sure that redox is essentially either helping or hindering cellular respiration, allowing an atom to easily dump electrons or cause them to not share electrons easily. A 'better' redox rate would increase oxygen/water mixing, osmosis, fish's oxygen absorption, and some other cell type stuff that I can't claim to know. all beneficial for fish absorbing oxygen, nutrients etc. the other side is that redox can also create free radicals, essentially substances abandoned by electrons to simultaneously join other atoms. I'm pretty sure that gets into "balanced" and "unbalanced" reactions. If you could say that your UV sterilizer is removing the "free radicals" then yes, it makes sense. I'm not an expert, I only play one at work...but most of that is polyurethane chains and other not very exciting chemistry. I'm not even sure how to test for a 'redox rate', nor understand what 'optimal' would be. I'm pretty interested in this thread...
 
I first got interested and did more research on TDS when one of my tanks.. of all the fish i keep it was my standard,simple, community tank in our daughters bed room that kept loseing fish... water perameters perfect, oversized filtration... feeding spirilia flakes, NLS pellets, blackworms.. everything i wish i had known when i was first getting into fishkeeping... our rays, eels, gar, knifefish... all our delicate species tanks where fine. but my husband called this tank cursed. no matter what i put into this tank would die after a few weeks or monthes just randomly... no sign of diseases.. i even prazid the tank and otherwise randomly treated it for stuff we where getting so exaspirated....

then i read something about TDS... started research and got a meter... o.o.... that tank was 2x the rest of our tanks, its planted and had a thick bed of laterite,eco complete, and pea gravel. i started doing massive water changes on the tank more often... fish stopped dieing.... i syphoned the gravel out, redid a few things, and have gotten it under control knock on wood.

I still dont understand it well enough to design a system, but im starting to come across the the concepts of FW protein skimmers, and UV...
 
REDOX means Reduction Oxygen Potential.
As I understand it, it is mostly useful information when using ozone sterilizers, and it is important to control O3 levels precisely when using them.

A positive potential is an indicator that free Oxygen is present. A negative indicates a lack of free oxygen.
Ozone attacks dissolved organics, bacteria and small organic particles and so clarifies water.
Ozone is O3, it loses 1 Oxygen molecule ( O ) through oxidization and becomes O2.
during this process it kills a bunch of nasty things. Get your ratios wrong and it kills almost everything.
UV, to an extent, generates ozone, although an ozone sterilizer is not the same as a UV sterilizer it still involves the use of UV light
hth a bit?
 
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