Top Reef Tank Ozone Mistakes

Injecting or filtering your reef aquarium water with ozone can drastically improve water clarity, help to break down organic waste, and eliminate those not so pleasant "fishy" odors. If you're considering using ozone in your aquarium or using ozone now and simply want to ensure your doing the best you can, check out this list of Top Ozone Mistakes you don't want to make when using ozone in your aquarium!

Missing the water clarity benefits - Ozone removes yellow coloration from the water very effectively.
Missing PAR benefits - You can achieve up to 30% better PAR with ozone because of water clarity.
Not realizing ozone removes odors - Ozone will remove fishy odors from your tank water.
Not understanding how ozone helps prevent chemical warfare among your corals - Ozone will remove chemicals released by corals.
Not fully grasping how ozone works in your tank - Ozone or O3 oxidizes organic molecules.
Missing the difference between ozone and carbon - Ozone and carbon share some benefits but work in different ways.
Believing ozone will sterilize your tank - Ozone does not sterilize the tank water at the low concentrations we use.
Not using an air dryer to improve ozone output - Removing moisture from the air before it goes into the ozone generator improves efficiency.

Aquatech Ozone Generator

Thinking ozone will increase pH - Ozone will not increase pH in your tank as it has no direct effect on CO2 levels.
Missing the auto dryer - Using an auto dryer machine eliminates the need for air dryer media.
Believing ozone will improve skimmer performance - Ozone generally decreases your skimmate collection, it does not improve it.
Using ozone inside your primary protein skimmer - Using a dedicated ozone skimmer or secondary skimmer helps ensure your primary skimmer works optimally.
Not using an ozone reactor - A protein skimmer is not the only way to inject ozone, an ozone reactor is designed specifically for this application.
Not tuning your ozone generator based on your particular tank - Use the adjustments on your Ozone generator to supply the right amount of ozone for your tank.
Not running carbon on your skimmer lid to absorb ozone gas as it escapes the top - Carbon will absorb excess Ozone gas as it exits the skimmer lid.
Not running carbon on the outlet of your skimmer to remove ozone as it exits the skimmer - Ozone can escape via the skimmer water outlet as well, carbon will remove it.
Not realizing wet carbon does not work all that well to filter the air - Keep carbon dry if you are trying to remove ozone gas.
Running ozone without ORP control - ORP monitoring allows you to automate ozone injection and ensures your not going to nuke your tank with too much ozone.
Overlooking an ozone monitor and alarm for safety and equipment malfunctions- Safety first!
Using normal airline fittings with ozone - Ozone breaks down most plastic materials, you should always use "Ozone Resistant" parts and materials.
Not using ozone-safe tubing Same as above, ozone will break down typical airline tubing, use ozone-safe tubing instead.
Buying an ozone generator that does not offer replacement parts - Some components of your ozone setup will need replacing after some time of use.
Overlooking ozone-ready skimmers - Some skimmers are designed to accept ozone gas and are made from ozone resistant materials.