Anybody use an ozone generator to eliminate fish tank odors?

[M.E.Milz]

I am NOT talking about using ozone in the tank, but using an ozone generator in the room to eliminate fish odors. A fan vents all of the air from stand/cabinet into a spare room adjacent to the reef tank (mainly to dissipate heat). As a result, this room always has a musty, fish/algae smell. I was thinking about placing an ozone generator in this room to neutrilize the smell, but I know very little about these devices. I do, however, know that excess ozone can be unhealthy.

Anybody have any info or experience?

 

[danmhippo]

I thought ozone stinks and are not human friendly in higher concentration?

 

[Anonymous]

Why not put a dehumidifier in the room to get rid of the humidity that causes the musty smell? Ozone in of itself had a very distinct odor to it, so you would probably be trading one bad odor for another. Even at very low "safe" concentrations you can smell it a mile away.

 

[Anonymous]

Or, how about one of those pos-ion generators? They make particles stick to any nearby surface, so in units coupled with a filter it might be effective.

 

[M.E.Milz]

The ozone generators worry me, particularly in a closed environment like my condo. But I have been told that they are by far the most effective way of neutralizing odors. As I understand these units, they are designed to work on a timer so as to flood the room with ozone for an hour or so (at night for example). The ozone dissipates/breaks-down within an hour.

I have been told that the electronic air purifiers only really remove particulate matter like dust, smoke, etc. And they don't do much in the way of removing odors.

The HEPA & carbon air cleaners are probably the safest to use, and will supposedly do a decent job of removing both odors and dust particles. But they are expensive ($400-$700), and require the periodic replacement of the filter elements, which can also be expensive (>$100).

I hadn't really thought about a dehumidifier. I will have to look into this some more

In any event, I will probably go with a HEPA & Carbon air cleaner unless I can convince myself that the ozone generators are better, and are safe.

But I still have more research to do. Thanks for the input.

 

[Anonymous]

Now are these ozone generators designed for room deodorizing or is this a offhand use for a generator? Thing about ozone is that it breaks down a variety of other materials such as plastics, etc. I'm not sure what concentration is required for this breakdown, but if the generator is specifically designed for the home, then I doubt it is a problem. The only reason I suggest a dehumidifier is because basements often get musty and the use of a dehumid. usually fixes the problem. I never really noticed a bad "odor" from my tank as in a fishy smell, which is why I'm hoping the dehumid. would fix your odor problems.

 

[M.E.Milz]

Now are these ozone generators designed for room deodorizing or is this a offhand use for a generator? Thing about ozone is that it breaks down a variety of other materials such as plastics, etc. I'm not sure what concentration is required for this breakdown, but if the generator is specifically designed for the home, then I doubt it is a problem. The only reason I suggest a dehumidifier is because basements often get musty and the use of a dehumid. usually fixes the problem. I never really noticed a bad "odor" from my tank as in a fishy smell, which is why I'm hoping the dehumid. would fix your odor problems.

These ozone generators are designed for residential use. I learned about them when a contrator I know was telling me about a group of painters that he works with that use these devices to eliminate the paint odor from the room. However, I have not talked to these painters directly, so I don't know what kinds of probblems, if any, they have when using the device.

On a related note, my tank system is still fairly new (3 months), so some of the odor may only be from the die-off caused by the movement of an old sandbed, etc. I expect that the smell will get less as time passes. But right now, it is pretty noticible (particularly when you first coem in from outside).

 

[SPC]

Mike, I have an Air Purifier Ionizer manufactured by Holmes. I think I gave less than $100 for it at Target. I only run it when there is an odor problem such as an oyster dying on some new live rock :roll: . It does an amazing job of clearing the odor up quick.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

On a somewhat related note, how long do those "ionizers" last? Is there any maintainance that needs to be done with them? I wouldnt mind one for just general house use if they do such a good job, especially in the winter/summer time where the house is closed up.

 

[Bryan Thompson]

The home ozone generators are safe and do not stink. There are several companies that make these and they are not a threat. I used one in my basement when I finished it to keep the smell down. Several bars use them to remove smoke. My mother runs one in her hair salon to keep the air clean.

They are safe and they work.

Bryan