Ozone Or Uv Or Both

[Pheonix]

Heya guys!!

just wondered what your opionions were, i have a UV from my old setup, never had a problem with it and seemed to work well! now however i have a larger tank and was looking at what else there is out there.

i read about ozone generators, dont they generally do the same thing as a uv? they seem to keep the water parasite free and aditionally bond more oxygen into the water? so do i need both? is that overkill or detremental to the system having both?

your thoughts?

 

[SkiFletch]

Both = overkill. On bigger tanks, ozone is usually the better choice. On smaller tanks like my 45 UV is often preferred. Planning on keeping tangs?

 

[Pheonix]

yes i am planning on having two tangs in my setup, one yellow and one regal, thats it for tangs though

think ill skip my uv then and go straight for ozone and a redox meter

thanks ski

 

[Matthew5664]

Sorry to put my foot in but I have been doing research on these because I'm looking into them for my new tank and I don't believe there the same.

UV's sterilize water born parasites, zooplankton and phytoplankton by giving them a high dose of UVC

Ozone oxidises waterborne molecules making it easier for the skimmer to remove them.


This is what I'm led to belive.

 

[SkiFletch]

You are correct that ozone oxidizes waterborne molecules Matt. Parasites happen to be waterborne and made of molecules therefore when they come in contact with ozone the molecules on their outer surfaces become oxidized and they're essentially burned alive. Ozone does have the added benefit of aiding skimming which is very effective on large tanks. ON smaller tanks (under say 75g) you sort of get into a point of diminishing returns since skimmers are usually small on said tanks. Ozone can therefore be overkill

 

[Matthew5664]

Ah! good point.

 

[superman]

I love ozone, and personally would never have a reef tank without it. UV in my opinion is like throwing away your money, just another bulb to replace every so...whenever you THINK you are getting diminished UV production (no way to test!) Ozone on the other hand can be controlled and pretty well quantified with ORP readings and the units need much less maintenance and thus cost a lot less over the long term. Ozone is one of the best tools available to us as reef/fish only aquarium keepers.

 

[Navarre]

I have both. UV i could live without. Ozone is worth its weight in gold.

 

[Pheonix]

thanks guys, looks like ill go with the ozone in the display tank then go for the uv i have already for my quarantine tank

 

[robbhp]

i will be running both in my tank, i have a 150 gal tank and have fitted it with a 25 TMC vectron unit. for an ozone unit, not to sure yet as i will have to find out a bit more info on the few brands that are out there. one thing that you must not forget is NOT to place ozone stright in to the tank. you must run it through some form of pipe that fish cant get at , leaving bout a 1 inch gap atthe top and about the same at the bottom( Ozone in high levels will kill humans , so a fish has no chance). also i will not be fitting my ozone for the first 6 weeks or so, as the tank needs all the living stuff it can get in that time frame, and ozone will just kill every thing off(good and bad) .

ps i will be be having a fare few tangs as well so you can see why i have gone for both

good luck with your tank

 

[superman]

ozone should be dosed into a pressurized atmosphere like a skimmer or oxygen chamber. Most people just dose it into the air intake for their skimmer.

 

[Pheonix]

i have a prizm skimmer! yes i know you all hate them! lol
gonna have to do a bot of modding to get it to introduce the ozone into the right place!! ah i love to drill stuff lol!!

i should do it on the inlet chamber yeah? not the middle one where all the bubbles go crazy?