Ozonenisers and sterilizers

Dragonslair

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Just a piece of information that I recently picked up from Seachem Lab. report.
If you are using an ozoneniser and/or any type of sterilizer you must have them turned of if medicating your tank or pond.
The effects that the ozone and UV have on the medication will be to turn the medication extremely toxic to fish. Anything with chelated copper in it, will turn the medication into copper solution and will therefore kill your fish. I found the report quite fascinating. There were also other DO's and Dont's with these equipment. The reason I took interest is that I have an ozoneniser unit hooked up to the air supply for my tank. It is an extremely low wattage thing. Milliamps as opposed to the stronger industrial amperage things,interesting nonetheless.
 
Com'on a man of your calibre and you're asking what an ozoneniser is?
If you really don't know it's a cheap type of dry sterilizer. What it is is a small electrical device such as that you would find in a water heater switch lamp. The small red light which is'nt really red. If you can imagine that bulb placed inside a box and your inlet air supply comes in at one end of the box and the outlet supply come out the other end so that all the air trapped inside the box is in effect "charged" when it goes to the airstones and into your water. These charged ions trapped within the air bubbles are released on the water surface, thus discharging ozone. Ozone is just glorified charged oxygen particles. You know that dinstintive smell in the airafter a thunder storm. That's ozone. Used with caution it is perfectly safe for humans and fish, but deadly to pathogens and other microscopic lifeforms. Even for humans and fish too much HIGH exposure as used by industrial usage can cause carcinogenic problems. However not to be an alarmist, you have more chance to get radiation poisoning from your PC monitor then get cancer from a domestic ozoneniser. Is that as clear as mud???
 
The one that I have is made by a company called New World, and the unit is a O2Zoneator. It costs around £30.00. Mind you to be honest they could have sold me a little plastic black box, because there's no signs of activity. The only way you know that's its working is sometimes you can smell the ozone on the water surface. ;)
 
The effects that the ozone and UV have on the medication will be to turn the medication extremely toxic to fish

Hmm.. Could you please put link to the article? :) Im really interested about it.

If you read this http://www.hw-wiegandt.de/Englisch/UV-Gerate/uv-gerate.html you will find this text: "When using hw UV water sterilisers, there are no harmful side effects, e.g. as is the case when using chemical agents."
 
An "Ozoneiser" is the same thing as an "Ioniser" they do the same thing  Alter the charge of the + charged Ions to - charged in the water. (or is it the other way aboutor is it an ozoniser removes all the ions? I hate the mornings).
Think of how the air feels before and after a storm(elecrtical) the air after the storm has had it's ion charge altered. thats the ozone in the air.
As for it affecting meds and turning them poisonous I can't see how that could be the case. the chemical reaction would be the same as if adding the chems to normal/distilled water. It's still H2o thus the chems should react in the same way.


Following Mrv's link. i have a UV tube in the tank that I put on for a couple of hours at night. Does that mean I'm sterilising my tank water to a certain degree and what would it do to beneficial bacteria?
 
adeyc said:
Following Mrv's link. i have a UV tube in the tank that I put on for a couple of hours at night. Does that mean I'm sterilising my tank water to a certain degree and what would it do to beneficial bacteria?
You should keep the UV-filter on 24 hours/day, because water bacteria can increase their masses three times an hour.

If there is only 1 bacterium:

0 hour -> 1
4 hour -> 4096
6 hour -> 262144
7 hour -> over 2 million bacteria!


what would it do to beneficial bacteria?

Beneficial? Like what bacteria? Do you mean nitro-bacter?
 
yep. thats what I mean. It wasn't put up a steralizing unit.
 
There is no nitro-bacter (nitrobacter and nitrosomonas) in water. Nitrobacter are growing only on material like sand, inside filter (on filter material) etc...

So, when you are using your UVC-light like this:

water from aquarium --> filter --> uvc-light --> water goes back to the aquarium via water-tube

UVC-light doesnt destroy nitro-bacter, because they dont go under the UVC-light. So, only bacteria (including algae etc.) in water are destroyed. Many people believe that nitro-bacter are in water what is not right.

Right?

EDIT. This is the picture what i mean: http://www.hw-wiegandt.de/Englisc...._UV.gif
 
Got it mine set up beside the normal light. I was experin#menting with some infra red photography and as the tank looked cool i left it on.
 
By the way, is it UV or UVC tube? (UVC tube kills cells and you can't watch it either -> or become blind.)

So, you are using the lamp like normal fluorecent tube? Hmm... Sorry but i dont knnow how to normal UV-tube is working in aquarium - does it even destroy cells? Because normal UV-lamps are used with reptiles.

It's quite huge difference UV and UVC.

Sorry, i thought you have UVC-lamp, when i was writing above...
 

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