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 State of the Tank: (cont.) |
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| But before I move on, I'd like to also note that I'm using the #6250 Magnet Holders (ordered separately) to affix the pumps to the tank. Even though these are the strongest magnets Tunze makes, they fall exactly 0.1 inch short of being rated for my tank. We therefore tie-strapped the cords down so even if the pumps do slip, they won't just plummet to the bottom. They'll probably just hang there and 'helicopter' around a bit. Hopefully, they won't do any damage to the tank sides.
The next new piece of equipment is the Red Sea Aquazone 100mg/hr Ozonizer (jeez, could the names of these things be any longer?)  . I've taken a little bit of ribbing about this unit, not in regards to its effectiveness but in regards to its size. You see, ozone can be deadly to corals, fish, and most importantly me when overdosed. And since I haven't reached the point in my life yet where I trust any equipment to regulate itself, I decided to employ a unit small enough that, even when set to 'wide open 24/7' (which is exactly how I've set it), anything resembling overdosing would be virtually impossible. Yeah, it may take me longer to see the results I want but last I looked, the tank wasn't going anywhere. So I suppose I can wait.
The debate over the use of ozone in a reeftank is well documented. Merely go to any of the bulletin boards, bring up the search function and type in ozone. Then |
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prepare to cancel just about everything you had planned for the rest of your life. But, in a nutshell, what ozone does is break down certain compounds (nutrients) in the water, making them more readily available to be exported from the system. This is why many reefkeepers deliver ozone into their systems through the air intake of their skimmers . Because this unit also comes with a controller of its own, you can set the amount of ozone you want to inject and not really worry about it. The rule of thumb seems to be 0.18 mg per hour, per gallon. For me, this would work out to roughly 117 mg per hour (system volume estimated at 650g) and as you can see, my unit cannot even produce that much. Hence, no overdosing. Of course, also hence, the teasing. Most guys would have either the 200 or 300 mg units and set them accordingly. Those guys are not named Moye. And I am not about to come down to the reeftank equivalent of Three Mile Island some morning because I got the last unit built by Darko, the boss's recently fired nephew.
So what are the supposed positives of ozone? Well, because of the extra nutrients removed, many people report that their water has never been clearer. Apparently, this doesn't take long either. In fact, my own water already has a much more 'icy blue' look as some yellowing compounds in it that I wasn't even aware of, have been diminished. And my little unit has only been in operation about a week as of this writing. |
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