Aquazone Plus with ASM G-2 Skimmer - No bubbles???

[bluespotjawfish]

I'm trying to hook up my Aquazone Plus through my ASM G-2 Skimmer, and I can't get enough bubbles to go through my Skimmer to keep it working. The ORP is raising in the tank with it hooked up this way, but the skimmer isn't working right. I am using a RIO 200 air pump into the Aquazone Plus, then tubing to a T that connects with the ASM tube. The control valve on the T is all the way off to allow as much air in the tube as possible and that still isn't enough.

Any ideas?

[DaveK]

Turn off the ozone for these tests, since free ozone in a room is dangerous.

Then disconnect the Aquazone Plus from the skimmer. If the skimmer now bubbles correctly, you have a problem with the Aquazone Plus.

Then reconnect the Aquazone Plus with out the air pump. If you still get good bubbles, the fault is that that air pump can't produce the volume necessary.

You may need a larger air pump.

Some notes on ozone in general.

You are using ozone with a venturi skimmer, and as such will get a low contact time. This is not necessarily bad, but it can limit what ozone can do for you.

The air coming from the skimmer should run through carbon. The water from the skimmer should also pass through carbon. Free ozone in the tank is dangerous to fish. In the air, free ozone is dangerous to you. If you can small it more than a foot away from the skimmer, there is too much in the air.

ORP probes tend to drift, going up, until you clean them again. So don't take a rise in ORP to mean that it's going good. Clean the probe and see what the reading is from the last time you cleaned it.

I used ozone for years, and then gave up on it. I found it way too much trouble for the benefits received. However, many other love it, and I must admit that there are places where it's very useful.

[bluespotjawfish]

Turn off the ozone for these tests, since free ozone in a room is dangerous.

It is turned off since I can't get it working right.

Then disconnect the Aquazone Plus from the skimmer. If the skimmer now bubbles correctly, you have a problem with the Aquazone Plus.

Skimmer bubbles correctly when not attached to the AP.

Then reconnect the Aquazone Plus with out the air pump. If you still get good bubbles, the fault is that that air pump can't produce the volume necessary.

I started out without an air pump and it pretty much runs the same with or without the pump. I think the problem is that the opening in the T is about half the size of the tubing that goes through the skimmer, so it is like cutting the air in half. Don't know how to connect it any other way.

You may need a larger air pump.

I bought a size larger than the lfs recommended for this purpose.

Some notes on ozone in general.

You are using ozone with a venturi skimmer, and as such will get a low contact time. This is not necessarily bad, but it can limit what ozone can do for you.

When I had it hooked up (with or without a pump), it did raise the ORP to the level I had it set for (350) that same day and stayed there the following day. My pH dropped to 7.6 the second day, so I disconnected it.

The air coming from the skimmer should run through carbon. The water from the skimmer should also pass through carbon. Free ozone in the tank is dangerous to fish. In the air, free ozone is dangerous to you. If you can small it more than a foot away from the skimmer, there is too much in the air.

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying or how to do what you recommend. Where in the world does air come from the skimmer? And, how would I pass the water coming from the skimmer through carbon? I do have my carbon right next to my skimmer, but can't ensure that water passes through it. I don't smell anything.

ORP probes tend to drift, going up, until you clean them again. So don't take a rise in ORP to mean that it's going good. Clean the probe and see what the reading is from the last time you cleaned it.

Today it was reading 450, which didn't seem right since I have NOT been running the unit. I have not yet tried to clean probe, which has been in the water for less than a week.

[Dentoid]

Lorraine, here is a picture of my set up for the ozone application. I got this T fitting from Home depot. The inside diameter is the same as the outside diameter of 1/4" tubing. I had to force the rubber tubing from the skimmer on to each end, then the 1/4" tubing from the ozonizer fit inside the T snuggly. I did not use a pump, the Venturi sucked the ozone from the unit without any problems. I think you are right about your T not having the right diameter.


As for the safety, according to Bob Fenner @ WetWebMedia, the small ozone units made for the hobby do not produce enough ozone to be dangerous to you or your fish and all the ozone produced and run through the skimmer is all used up before it exit into the tank. If you are concerned, you can place a bag of carbon on the discharge tube of the simmer, but it is not necessary. My ozonizer is not running right now because it got wet and I don't think it is producing ozone, so I removed it from function. It really made the water sparkle!

[mps9506]

I think Dentoid has your solution

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by Dentoid

...
As for the safety, according to Bob Fenner @ WetWebMedia, the small ozone units made for the hobby do not produce enough ozone to be dangerous to you or your fish and all the ozone produced and run through the skimmer is all used up before it exit into the tank. ...

I don't happen to agree with Bob Fenner. In the "olden days" when ozone use was a lot more common, and skimmers were driven with air stones, I accidentally killed off all my fish with the over use of ozone. This was partly because the contact time in skimmers of that vintage was much higher.

See also this link about ozone pollution - U.S. Study Finds There Is No Safe Level for Ozone - US Department of State

As you can see, it doesn't take much ozone to cause a problem. The use of carbon is cheep insurance.

[Dentoid]

That's a great article, but sensational with respect to the small ozonizers made for the hobby. This article deals with atmospheric ozone and that which is generated by burning fossil fuels etc (SMOG). One breaths in more ozone going outside than he ever would from a little, hobbyist's ozonizer hooked to a skimmer! This article should not be extrapolated to the use of a 100mg/hr hobbyist's ozonizer.

Lorraine if you you've been scared senseless, then go ahead and use carbon.

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks, I'll give this a try. As for using carbon on the discharge tube, what do you mean by that. Is that where the water comes out or up in the cup which is mostly air?

[Dentoid]

It's where the water come up and spills over into the sump. Get a chemibag and fill it with carbon, then set it on top of the tube where the water comes out.

[bluespotjawfish]

I deal a bit with ozone as part of my job (the ozone from car emissions) so I understand some of issues of the EPA's pollutant criteria (just enough to know I need to ask my techy guy what it all means). I'll try and run this past him too.

Running carbon is no big deal to me. I run it on my tank continuously anyway. I just need a better understanding of how to do it with the skimmer.

Scared ~ not me! I know how to kill fish all my fish even without an ozone thingy!

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks Dent - Got it.

[BoomerD]

You'd better check to be sure that skimmer is "ozone safe" as well, or it will soon start to disintegrate from the ozone...MANY skimmers aren't made to withstand the effects of ozone, and get very brittle with its use.
Not sure how to rig it up with that skimmer, but maybe a couple of 90's coming off the output side into a "carbon cup" where all the water is filtered through carbon before it goes back into the sump might work.

[bluespotjawfish]

Don't know where to go to find out if it is ozone safe, but I do see several sites that show many people are using them with the ozone. Didn't see any posts of anyone who had problems as a result.

[jhnrb]

Remove the air pump should take care of the problem. use a large course air filter on the end and if it blocks air too much remove and run without anything on the intake. follow directions of the T fitting above. good luck.

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by Dentoid

That's a great article, but sensational with respect to the small ozonizers made for the hobby. This article deals with atmospheric ozone and that which is generated by burning fossil fuels etc (SMOG). One breaths in more ozone going outside than he ever would from a little, hobbyist's ozonizer hooked to a skimmer! This article should not be extrapolated to the use of a 100mg/hr hobbyist's ozonizer.

Lorraine if you you've been scared senseless, then go ahead and use carbon.

I was not so much referring to the article, as I was to the EPA exposure rate. "80 ppb for an eight-hour period". That's an amount you could easily get to in a closed room.

I'm not saying anyone should panic, but they should take the necessary steps to make sure this doesn't occur.

My thoughts, although I can't prove them, are if you can smell ozone a foot away from your skimmer, you have too much in the air.