DIY Oxydator experiment.

[Islandoftiki]

After reading about Oxydators, I got curious and wanted to see what sort of positive benefits could be gained (if any) by adding one to one of my picos. The basic premise is that you extract pure oxygen from hydrogen peroxide in a sealed container (with an outlet port) by adding something reactive to the solution such as a piece of metal. Lead, copper, etc. You then run an air line from the container to an air stone and place the air stone into the tank. There are supposed to be lots of benefits from this, and they're fairly common on seahorse and freshwater shrimp tanks. Let's find out if it works!

 

I just threw this together from stuff I had laying around. Total cost, about 90 cents.

I'll be initially testing efficacy of the oxydator on my 2 gallon Fluval Spec Pest Tank since it has a good variety of nuisance algaes to experiment on.

 

 

Components used:

 

1 Test tube washing bottle with the pickup tube removed.
1 Air Stone
1 Length of air line tubing
1 Piece of lead (the kind you use for holding freshwater plants from floating away)
1 Air line suction cup
8 oz. Hydrogen Peroxide

 

Assembled:

 

Bubbles started forming on the piece of lead immediately:

 

Operating:

 

Installed:

 

 

Before pictures:

 

I'll be revisiting these same areas in pictures if any changes are noticed.

 

GHA Patch

 

Green Cyano

 

Some other algae, maybe GHA or similar?

 

Overall tank photo:

 

So, there we have it. I'll post updates over the next couple weeks/months and we'll see if it makes any difference.

[Dtech07]

Very interesting i'll wait to see your results.

[Islandoftiki]

Day 2:

 

The system has been up and running for about 24 hours now. Plenty of bubbles coming out of the air stone.

 

A couple of observations:

 

It's eerie how clear the water is. It doesn't even look like there is water in the tank.

 

The implosion palys at the front of the tank are open more than usual. They're often fussy about opening all the way. All of them are fully open today. In general, all of the palys are open more than usual.

 

The emerald crab seems more active.

 

No change in the appearance of the algae.

 

I don't think it translates to pictures how clear the water is, but here's a full tank shot from a couple minutes ago:

 

Other things:

 

Sunday is maintenance day, and this happens to be the week to change the Chemipure Elite, so the 1/2 unit of CPE got replaced after the picture was taken. I removed the extra Rowaphos that I had in there since the CPE will have fresh phosphate media in it. The Purigen was rinsed and put back. The tank will get a 20% water change today and I will stir the sand bed lightly.

 

I trimmed about 5 or 6 leaves of the caulerpa that were getting tangled up in the xenia.

 

The dictyota is back... It's mainly on the intake grate. I removed as much as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[brandon429]

I like your tank as is it looks very balanced

 

Cant blame you for acting early against some algae no foul there

 

Great experiment I will watch too

[Islandoftiki]

So, this may be entirely coincidental, but this afternoon, the micro brittle stars spawned!

 

I wonder if there is any correlation between increased oxygen levels and them spawning. I have no idea, but there's another observation for ya.

 

I decided to up the water change volume to 50% after this little event.

[kismetsh]

Is this having any effect on pH?

[Islandoftiki]

You know, I don't normally test pH. Alk, Calc and mag are always pretty consistent on this tank due to the large water changes it gets every week.

 

If anything, it would help with maintaining a more stable pH because it's running 24/7. I'll do some pH testing on it this weekend just for fun.

[albertthiel]

After reading about Oxydators, I got curious and wanted to see what sort of positive benefits could be gained (if any) by adding one to one of my picos. The basic premise is that you extract pure oxygen from hydrogen peroxide in a sealed container (with an outlet port) by adding something reactive to the solution such as a piece of metal. Lead, copper, etc. You then run an air line from the container to an air stone and place the air stone into the tank. There are supposed to be lots of benefits from this, and they're fairly common on seahorse and freshwater shrimp tanks. Let's find out if it works!

 

I just threw this together from stuff I had laying around. Total cost, about 90 cents.

I'll be initially testing efficacy of the oxydator on my 2 gallon Fluval Spec Pest Tank since it has a good variety of nuisance algaes to experiment on.

 

 

Components used:

 

1 Test tube washing bottle with the pickup tube removed.

1 Air Stone

1 Length of air line tubing

1 Piece of lead (the kind you use for holding freshwater plants from floating away)

1 Air line suction cup

8 oz. Hydrogen Peroxide

 

 

Assembled:

 

Bubbles started forming on the piece of lead immediately:

 

Operating:

 

Installed:

 

 

 

Before pictures:

 

I'll be revisiting these same areas in pictures if any changes are noticed.

 

GHA Patch

 

Green Cyano

 

Some other algae, maybe GHA or similar?

 

Overall tank photo:

 

So, there we have it. I'll post updates over the next couple weeks/months and we'll see if it makes any difference.

 

As you know and have seen probably there are several threads on my own thread on Oxydators and I tried the same set up as you are doing but I could not get enough pressure out of the oxydator and get really tiiny tiny bubbles which the real ones does ...

 

Are you using 3% or 6% or higher H2O2 .... I tried with 3% and that only gave me large bubbles using a regular airstone

 

I think the trick to get even more efficiency out of it although you describe what happens in my tank very well ... looks like there is no water in the tank :-0 as that is indeed what the impression is .. and no algae growth on the glass for days on end, as opposed to before where cleaning was needed maybe every 4 days now it is only needed maybe every 10-12 days and the growth is still far less.

 

What size bubbles are you getting J. and I guess the airstone you are using is a ceramic one ... looking at the pic ... I looked at the vid and they look fairly small but are close to the surface and I had the airstone lower and that is when I could not get enough pressure out of the bottle ...

 

Note that the lead will work for an amount of time but then it seems to get a coating on it and the reaction with the H2O2 will diminish but that is easily overcome ... just scrub the lead clean.

 

I am surprised you were able to find those plant leads ... as nowadays all they seem to attach to the bottom of them is plastic ... but maybe you had them left over from times gone by :- )

 

Anyway I am following ...

 

Keep us posted ...

 

If we can get it to work it will save people having to order it from the UK ... and that is not cheap ... and the shipping cost is high as well.

 

Thanks .... AT

[albertthiel]

You know, I don't normally test pH. Alk, Calc and mag are always pretty consistent on this tank due to the large water changes it gets every week.

 

If anything, it would help with maintaining a more stable pH because it's running 24/7. I'll do some pH testing on it this weekend just for fun.

 

As stated above indeed ... as more O2 gets into the water, less CO2 can be held in solution and so the pH will remain more stable especially during the night .... I use a real Oxydator and have never seem any issues with pH ...

[kismetsh]

My pH runs a tad low due to CO2 issues (sealed house), of course I don't chase pH and don't use buffers or chemicals but I might be willing to use something like this to bump it up a bit and stabilize it.

[chachew]

So could i run the line from the Oxydator bottle to the input side of my skimmer?

[Islandoftiki]

So could i run the line from the Oxydator bottle to the input side of my skimmer?

I suspect you could. Obviously the oxydator won't supply enough oxygen to run the entire skimmer, but if you tee it into air intake for the skimmer it would probably have a similar effect.

[albertthiel]

So could i run the line from the Oxydator bottle to the input side of my skimmer?

 

I run mine straight in the aquarium sitting on the substrate ... if you connect the output with the skimmer intake you may get some benefit but I have not tried that as I use the actual one from Germany

[Islandoftiki]

Update:

 

I'm going to increase the H2O2 percentage. I'm just using store bought 3% solution that I had laying around. There's a place on the way home that supposedly sells 35% Food Grade H202 that I can dilute to 6% or whatever seems to work best. I'll pick some up and try varying percentages of dilution.

 

Also, this weekend, I'm going to swap the ceramic air stone for a limewood airstone to see if I can get even smaller bubbles.

[polarblair2000]

This is very interesting! Im looking forward to seeing the progress of your experiment

[zemuss]

As Albert knows I have a CO2 issue and can't get the PH over 8.2. So if you can start testing PH that would be great.

 

If this works I will be purchasing the equipment to run one myself.

 

"Z"

[albertthiel]

As Albert knows I have a CO2 issue and can't get the PH over 8.2. So if you can start testing PH that would be great.

 

If this works I will be purchasing the equipment to run one myself.

 

"Z"

 

8.2 is not bad at all Z .... I gather that is the evening reading correct ?

[zemuss]

No try 7.9 to 8.0 with a morning reading of 7.8. My goal is 8.2 to 8.4. I have only seen my ph get to 8.2 once and I think it was a false reading.

[albertthiel]

No try 7.9 to 8.0 with a morning reading of 7.8. My goal is 8.2 to 8.4. I have only seen my ph get to 8.2 once and I think it was a false reading.

 

Oh I see ... yes that is lower of course but not really much to be concerned about as long as your KH is at the proper level as that will prevent a drop in the pH ....

 

I guess you still have the CO2 issue ...

[zemuss]

My KH is 9.5 and constantly reads that number.

 

I switched from Real Salt Water to H2Ocean which seemed to help because my numbers are more consistent and I am not dosing at all.

 

420 to 440 Calc,

9.5 KH

1400 to 1450 MG.

 

 

So I am hoping this experiment works.

[neuwave]

So just curious but did you happen to buy a O2 and CO2 test kit before starting this experiment? So that way you know your base line of Gas concentration. This way you can accurately calculate the amount of concentration of h2o2 needed to produce sufficient O2. That way you over or under produce O2. Which can also raise ph as an added bonus. Or are you just guessing? Just like we have oxygen bars, you can only have so much of a good thing.

[Islandoftiki]

So just curious but did you happen to buy a O2 and CO2 test kit before starting this experiment? So that way you know your base line of Gas concentration. This way you can accurately calculate the amount of concentration of h2o2 needed to produce sufficient O2. That way you over or under produce O2. Which can also raise ph as an added bonus. Or are you just guessing? Just like we have oxygen bars, you can only have so much of a good thing.

 

This is a rather unscientific test, I will admit. I'm not testing O2 or CO2. I'm just looking at overall empirical and physical results.

 

I would encourage anyone else who is interested in this type of system to do a more thorough and scientific review than I'm doing.

 

For the most part, I'm looking at existing available systems and DIY systems that other people have built and approximately scaling it down to a 2 gallon tank.

[zemuss]

Could you test your PH for us?

[Islandoftiki]

Could you test your PH for us?

I'll be doing some pH tests this weekend at the latest. I'll do a full work up with Calc, Alk, Mg, pH, phos, etc.

 

For what it's worth, this tank has always tested at 8.3. However, I don't test pH very often. Calc, Alk and Mg are the main tests it gets, about once a month, just before I do the water change. I haven't had any surprising deviations since it's been up and running for the last year. Phosphorous started to climb up a bit in the past couple months, but it's back down after running some extra RowaPhos alongside the Chemipure elite and purigen.

[atoll]

Hi,

I have been running Oxydator's in my reef tanks for over 20 years the commercially available ones. I have also posted at thread on here to their use and how they work sometime ago, a search will bring it up I am sure. What you are experiencing early on is what most people report when first installing a Oxydator type device.

 

Day 2:

A couple of observations:

 

It's eerie how clear the water is. It doesn't even look like there is water in the tank.

Yes that's what most people report in fact its exactly what Albert reported soon after I sent him an Oxydator to try out.

The implosion palys at the front of the tank are open more than usual. They're often fussy about opening all the way. All of them are fully open today. In general, all of the palys are open more than usual.

Another regulary reported observation is the expansion of many corals not only palys but mushrooms, Zoas and even LPS corals. some also notice polyp expansion on SPS corals.

No change in the appearance of the algae.

Bit early to notice any changes to be honest and with hair algae you might not notice much at all. Any Cyno should reduce or completely disappear. How long this takes is hard to predict as it depends on so many contributing factors.

I don't think it translates to pictures how clear the water is, but here's a full tank shot from a couple minutes ago:

You tank water does look very clear indeed with no sign of yellowing at all. The reduction of yellowing of the water happens quite quickly and is perhaps the first thing you will notice when installing an Oxydator device. You can normally notice more clear tank water within a matter of hours of introducing an Oxydator.

Other things:

 

Sunday is maintenance day, and this happens to be the week to change the Chemipure Elite, so the 1/2 unit of CPE got replaced after the picture was taken. I removed the extra Rowaphos that I had in there since the CPE will have fresh phosphate media in it. The Purigen was rinsed and put back. The tank will get a 20% water change today and I will stir the sand bed lightly.

 

I trimmed about 5 or 6 leaves of the caulerpa that were getting tangled up in the xenia.

 

The dictyota is back... It's mainly on the intake grate. I removed as much as possible.

I will read the rest of your posts and comment as necessary.

Thanks,

Les.

 

 

 

 

You know, I don't normally test pH. Alk, Calc and mag are always pretty consistent on this tank due to the large water changes it gets every week.

 

If anything, it would help with maintaining a more stable pH because it's running 24/7. I'll do some pH testing on it this weekend just for fun.

 

 

 

Oxydator's will have a minimal affect on PH only oxygen levels in the aquarium as reported by myself and on the Oxydator web site.

 

 

I suspect you could. Obviously the oxydator won't supply enough oxygen to run the entire skimmer, but if you tee it into air intake for the skimmer it would probably have a similar effect.

 

 

Not sure about this and I don't know of anybody who may have tried running it into a skimmer. However it would not surprise me if the skimmer became less effective at foam production. I could be wrong about that just not sure. Another possibility is that the skimmer could suck peroxide directly into it which could be dangerous but its an interesting idea for sure.

 

 

Update:

 

I'm going to increase the H2O2 percentage. I'm just using store bought 3% solution that I had laying around. There's a place on the way home that supposedly sells 35% Food Grade H202 that I can dilute to 6% or whatever seems to work best. I'll pick some up and try varying percentages of dilution.

 

Also, this weekend, I'm going to swap the ceramic air stone for a limewood airstone to see if I can get even smaller bubbles.

 

 

 

I buy 35% solution and water it down with RO water, much more economical this way.

Just be careful when increasing the concentration of peroxide and observe all animals. I have found anemone's to be first to react negatively if you over do the concentration of peroxide.

 

Unfortunately the use of a limewood defuser is unlikley to work as the oxydator is unlikely to build up enough pressure to force the O2 through it. People have tried similar and faild in that respect.