THE OFFICIAL ASK ALBERT THIEL THREAD

[atoll]

I have been asked to write a info sheet on the Oxydator for the Facebook Seahorse UK forum. Here is my initial script. Albert and all any observations and comments appreciated.

 

Oxydator’s: What are they how do they work and what benefits do they bring

By Les Melling

 

I have been using Oxydator’s for many years with great results in my marine tanks. They are powered by Hydrogen peroxide and help to eliminate and keep at bay hair algae’s and cyno. An Oxydator will elevate the oxygen of the aquarium water reducing stress and aiding water quality. A number of Seahorse breeders both home and commercial employ them in their systems and have found they help with the survival rate of Seahorse fry.

Oxydator’s have been used in Europe for many years in both fresh and salt water aquariums. The peroxide is not administered directly into the tank (and so is far safer) but uses a catalyst to break the hydrogen peroxide down in activated oxygen and water. The process increases redox and helps cleans the aquarium water and keep it gin clear eliminating any yellowing. The effect in many ways is similar to ozone but no electricity is used as the oxydator is self powering. I have introduced many reefers in the UK to the virtues and use of Oxydator’s over the years as little appeared to be known about them.

Due to the Oxydator's oxidizing capacity, your water quality will be improved and many harmful contaminants in your water will be neutralized. Oxydator’s are also an aid to fighting algae.


The benefits of adding hydrogen peroxide to an aquarium in cases of acute oxygen deficiency, water putrefaction and water turbidity, spawn fungus, or for enriching the well being of your fish have been known for a long time.


Söchting Oxydator’s breaks the Hydrogen peroxide down into oxygen (O2) and water (H2O).

The advantage: Your aquarium's water quality will be fundamentally improved and problems such as those aforementioned will be greatly hindered.

The Söchting Oxydator breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen:
2 H2O2 ----------------------------> 2 H2O + O2

 

My Oxydator is situated in the rear RH side of the tank almost out of view however it could just as easily be put in one of the rear filter chambers.

using the catalyst the peroxide is broken down in the Oxydator and defuses out through a pin hole under the bell housing. Only pure oxygen and water are released nothing else and no peroxide directly enters the aquarium etc..

When in use you might just be able to see some microscopic oxygen bubbles leaving the reactor for a little while, while it settles down. Some of the bubbles are so small that they don't tend to rise but leave the Oxydator and drift horizontally in the water column. I have never witnessed any adverse effects from these bubbles on any of my corals or fish. The appearance of these fine bubbles happens mainly after first introducing the Oxydator and after each refilling. From time to time larger bubbles are released esp after filling and introduction, again these are of no concern or danger.

More info here.

http://www.oxydator.de/english/soechting_oxydators.html

This is a quote from Dan Underwood, owner and operations of seahorsesource.com.

"As mentioned above, the Oxydators work by the catalyst reacting with the peroxide. This releases the gas inside the device and the gas O2 rises. As it expands. Using the recommend size oxydator and the recommended solution, I have not been able to get a peroxide reading in a tank. When I have increased the strength several times that of the recommendation, I did get peroxide readings.

I too have done peroxide dosing on tanks. Even when dosing 5 to 10 mg/L daily, I have found the Oxydator’s worked better. My guess is because they are constantly working in a slow regulated way”

 

There are 4 Oxydator’s in the range the Mini, D, A and W. Note the “W” version is very large and only recommended for ponds and large systems.

MODEL SPECIFICATIONS FROM THE OXYDATOR WEB SITE.

Mini D A

Height. 6cm 8.5cm 18cm

Diameter 4cm 8.5cm 9cm

Aquarium size up to 30Ltrs 100Ltrs 400Ltrs

Peroxide lasting Approx 4 weeks 2 -4 weeks 2 to 8 weeks

 

Each model comes with its own catalysts one each for the mini and “D” models 2 with the “A” model. More catalysts can be bought if needed but they are everlasting more or less. Up to 11% food grade hydrogen peroxide can be bough via the net in various quantities inc eBay. If buying 11% then you can dilute it using RO water almost doubling the initial quantity which is very cost effective.

 

Finally Just how long the peroxide last is influenced by a number of factors esp temperature and number of catalysts used as in the “A” model which comes with 2.

[albertthiel]

I had some chrome on my car but I wouldn't know how to use Google Chrome on my computer even though I know it is on here.

My computer is so old, it writes in script. And when I hit "delete" a rubber eraser pops out of the mouse

 

... well at least Paul it is not in Hieroglyphs ...or Angelic Script as in James Rollins' books ...

 

But Chrome works just like IE except in this case better if one is using IE 12, as pointed out by Hey and Ben ...

 

 

Albert

[Paul.b]

OH NO, FLOOD No, not the tank, My house. I am so lucky, no, not that I got this flood, but the circumstances.

My wife and I were getting ready to go out to our marina for dinner and my wife hears this Bang. Then she hears water running, fast. She says, what was that and why do I hear water running. I only want to hear Supermodels running but I can hear water running. I check upstairs and don't see any water running, then I go to the basement which is finished and don't see any water running. Then my wife screams AAAAAAHHHHHHH WATER IF FLYING OUT ALL OVER THE KITCHEN, DO SOMETHING PAUL, PAUL, DO SOMETHING. and she dives under there and tries to put her hands around the leak. I run to the water main and shut it off then as I turn to go upstairs I notice the bathroom looks like Noah's flood on the third day when it was raining so hard the elephants had to put their trunks up in the air to breathe. Water is pouring our of the ceiling (think Niagara Falls) . I run to get the shop vac, but it is full of dirt, so I quickly empty it and take out the filter, just as the water starts coming over the marble saddle I get the vacuum running and start to suck it up. It fills up to it's seven gallon capacity so I empty it and suck some more. I happened to take a quick look at my reef tank and most of the fish had their noses pushed against the glass just waiting for the water to rise to the top of the tank so they could escape. But that didn't happen as I am quick with a shop vac. I ran upstairs and pull my soaking wife out from under the sink and crawl in there with a flashlight. This flexable hose that I installed 7 years ago burst. In five minutes we would have been out for the evening and the basement would have filled with water and I could have then had a really big reef tank. I would have had to sell the house because there are no drains in my basement and the water would have filled to about 2' deep.

I just finished that basement last year and luckily I installed a steel, diamond plate sheet metal ceiling so it didn't get damaged. I ran to the plumbing supply to get a new hose, 10 minutes later it was done and we went out to dinner. Of course we had to leave the ceiling open to dry and everything is out from under the sink. But since I installed that sink we have been to Europe twice and Hawaii. If that happened one of the times we were away. OMG. Now, being I am always prepared I am going to run a small copper line to my furnace so when I go away I can shut the entire house off except the boiler. Then I am going to install an electric valve on my main and leak detectors all over the house so if there is a leak, the main will shut off. I already built that system under my tank and boiler, but now I will make one on my main. I only want these things to happen to me once.

 

[hey]

OH NO, FLOOD No, not the tank, My house. I am so lucky, no, not that I got this flood, but the circumstances.

My wife and I were getting ready to go out to our marina for dinner and my wife hears this Bang. Then she hears water running, fast. She says, what was that and why do I hear water running. I only want to hear Supermodels running but I can hear water running. I check upstairs and don't see any water running, then I go to the basement which is finished and don't see any water running. Then my wife screams AAAAAAHHHHHHH WATER IF FLYING OUT ALL OVER THE KITCHEN, DO SOMETHING PAUL, PAUL, DO SOMETHING. and she dives under there and tries to put her hands around the leak. I run to the water main and shut it off then as I turn to go upstairs I notice the bathroom looks like Noah's flood on the third day when it was raining so hard the elephants had to put their trunks up in the air to breathe. Water is pouring our of the ceiling (think Niagara Falls) . I run to get the shop vac, but it is full of dirt, so I quickly empty it and take out the filter, just as the water starts coming over the marble saddle I get the vacuum running and start to suck it up. It fills up to it's seven gallon capacity so I empty it and suck some more. I happened to take a quick look at my reef tank and most of the fish had their noses pushed against the glass just waiting for the water to rise to the top of the tank so they could escape. But that didn't happen as I am quick with a shop vac. I ran upstairs and pull my soaking wife out from under the sink and crawl in there with a flashlight. This flexable hose that I installed 7 years ago burst. In five minutes we would have been out for the evening and the basement would have filled with water and I could have then had a really big reef tank. I would have had to sell the house because there are no drains in my basement and the water would have filled to about 2' deep.

I just finished that basement last year and luckily I installed a steel, diamond plate sheet metal ceiling so it didn't get damaged. I ran to the plumbing supply to get a new hose, 10 minutes later it was done and we went out to dinner. Of course we had to leave the ceiling open to dry and everything is out from under the sink. But since I installed that sink we have been to Europe twice and Hawaii. If that happened one of the times we were away. OMG. Now, being I am always prepared I am going to run a small copper line to my furnace so when I go away I can shut the entire house off except the boiler. Then I am going to install an electric valve on my main and leak detectors all over the house so if there is a leak, the main will shut off. I already built that system under my tank and boiler, but now I will make one on my main. I only want these things to happen to me once.

 

 

Turns out you had some insanely good luck couple with a bit of bad luck. I had some braided cable from an extendable kitchen faucet spring a leak on me earlier this year, nothing like a blow out that you experienced though. Glad you caught it!

[Reefwiser]

Les Thanks for the write up on the Oxydator. Lots of good info for everyone.

[atoll]

Thanks Reefwise. The specifications have come out on here a little out of cync for some reason. I was asked by a Seahorse forum if I would do a piece for them hence. I don't think Albert's seen it yet however.

[albertthiel]

I have been asked to write a info sheet on the Oxydator for the Facebook Seahorse UK forum. Here is my initial script. Albert and all any observations and comments appreciated.

 

Oxydator’s: What are they how do they work and what benefits do they bring

By Les Melling

 

I have been using Oxydator’s for many years with great results in my marine tanks. They are powered by Hydrogen peroxide and help to eliminate and keep at bay hair algae’s and cyno. An Oxydator will elevate the oxygen of the aquarium water reducing stress and aiding water quality. A number of Seahorse breeders both home and commercial employ them in their systems and have found they help with the survival rate of Seahorse fry.

Oxydator’s have been used in Europe for many years in both fresh and salt water aquariums. The peroxide is not administered directly into the tank (and so is far safer) but uses a catalyst to break the hydrogen peroxide down in activated oxygen and water. The process increases redox and helps cleans the aquarium water and keep it gin clear eliminating any yellowing. The effect in many ways is similar to ozone but no electricity is used as the oxydator is self powering. I have introduced many reefers in the UK to the virtues and use of Oxydator’s over the years as little appeared to be known about them.

Due to the Oxydator's oxidizing capacity, your water quality will be improved and many harmful contaminants in your water will be neutralized. Oxydator’s are also an aid to fighting algae.

 

 

The benefits of adding hydrogen peroxide to an aquarium in cases of acute oxygen deficiency, water putrefaction and water turbidity, spawn fungus, or for enriching the well being of your fish have been known for a long time.

 

 

Söchting Oxydator’s breaks the Hydrogen peroxide down into oxygen (O2) and water (H2O).

 

The advantage: Your aquarium's water quality will be fundamentally improved and problems such as those aforementioned will be greatly hindered.

 

The Söchting Oxydator breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen:

2 H2O2 ----------------------------> 2 H2O + O2

 

 

My Oxydator is situated in the rear RH side of the tank almost out of view however it could just as easily be put in one of the rear filter chambers.

 

using the catalyst the peroxide is broken down in the Oxydator and defuses out through a pin hole under the bell housing. Only pure oxygen and water are released nothing else and no peroxide directly enters the aquarium etc..

 

When in use you might just be able to see some microscopic oxygen bubbles leaving the reactor for a little while, while it settles down. Some of the bubbles are so small that they don't tend to rise but leave the Oxydator and drift horizontally in the water column. I have never witnessed any adverse effects from these bubbles on any of my corals or fish. The appearance of these fine bubbles happens mainly after first introducing the Oxydator and after each refilling. From time to time larger bubbles are released esp after filling and introduction, again these are of no concern or danger.

More info here.

http://www.oxydator.de/english/soechting_oxydators.html

This is a quote from Dan Underwood, owner and operations of seahorsesource.com.

 

"As mentioned above, the Oxydators work by the catalyst reacting with the peroxide. This releases the gas inside the device and the gas O2 rises. As it expands. Using the recommend size oxydator and the recommended solution, I have not been able to get a peroxide reading in a tank. When I have increased the strength several times that of the recommendation, I did get peroxide readings.

 

I too have done peroxide dosing on tanks. Even when dosing 5 to 10 mg/L daily, I have found the Oxydator’s worked better. My guess is because they are constantly working in a slow regulated way”

 

There are 4 Oxydator’s in the range the Mini, D, A and W. Note the “W” version is very large and only recommended for ponds and large systems.

 

MODEL SPECIFICATIONS FROM THE OXYDATOR WEB SITE.

Mini D A

Height. 6cm 8.5cm 18cm

Diameter 4cm 8.5cm 9cm

Aquarium size up to 30Ltrs 100Ltrs 400Ltrs

Peroxide lasting Approx 4 weeks 2 -4 weeks 2 to 8 weeks

 

Each model comes with its own catalysts one each for the mini and “D” models 2 with the “A” model. More catalysts can be bought if needed but they are everlasting more or less. Up to 11% food grade hydrogen peroxide can be bough via the net in various quantities inc eBay. If buying 11% then you can dilute it using RO water almost doubling the initial quantity which is very cost effective.

 

Finally Just how long the peroxide last is influenced by a number of factors esp temperature and number of catalysts used as in the “A” model which comes with 2.

 

Thanks Les for the write up on the Oxydator ... That is very good information for a lot of people who may be interested in getting an Oxydator but do not know all that much about them.

 

Excellent contribution indeed ... Thanks

 

Albert

[albertthiel]

OH NO, FLOOD No, not the tank, My house. I am so lucky, no, not that I got this flood, but the circumstances.

My wife and I were getting ready to go out to our marina for dinner and my wife hears this Bang. Then she hears water running, fast. She says, what was that and why do I hear water running. I only want to hear Supermodels running but I can hear water running. I check upstairs and don't see any water running, then I go to the basement which is finished and don't see any water running. Then my wife screams AAAAAAHHHHHHH WATER IF FLYING OUT ALL OVER THE KITCHEN, DO SOMETHING PAUL, PAUL, DO SOMETHING. and she dives under there and tries to put her hands around the leak. I run to the water main and shut it off then as I turn to go upstairs I notice the bathroom looks like Noah's flood on the third day when it was raining so hard the elephants had to put their trunks up in the air to breathe. Water is pouring our of the ceiling (think Niagara Falls) . I run to get the shop vac, but it is full of dirt, so I quickly empty it and take out the filter, just as the water starts coming over the marble saddle I get the vacuum running and start to suck it up. It fills up to it's seven gallon capacity so I empty it and suck some more. I happened to take a quick look at my reef tank and most of the fish had their noses pushed against the glass just waiting for the water to rise to the top of the tank so they could escape. But that didn't happen as I am quick with a shop vac. I ran upstairs and pull my soaking wife out from under the sink and crawl in there with a flashlight. This flexable hose that I installed 7 years ago burst. In five minutes we would have been out for the evening and the basement would have filled with water and I could have then had a really big reef tank. I would have had to sell the house because there are no drains in my basement and the water would have filled to about 2' deep.

I just finished that basement last year and luckily I installed a steel, diamond plate sheet metal ceiling so it didn't get damaged. I ran to the plumbing supply to get a new hose, 10 minutes later it was done and we went out to dinner. Of course we had to leave the ceiling open to dry and everything is out from under the sink. But since I installed that sink we have been to Europe twice and Hawaii. If that happened one of the times we were away. OMG. Now, being I am always prepared I am going to run a small copper line to my furnace so when I go away I can shut the entire house off except the boiler. Then I am going to install an electric valve on my main and leak detectors all over the house so if there is a leak, the main will shut off. I already built that system under my tank and boiler, but now I will make one on my main. I only want these things to happen to me once.

 

 

Wow that is some experience and indeed you were so lucky that you caught it right before leaving for dinner so it did not flood most of the house and cellar ...

 

And amazing that the braided tubing actually burst .... any idea why that happened or could happen as it must take a great deal of pressure for tubing like that to blow open like it did ?

 

Glad you caught it in time Paul

 

Albert

[albertthiel]

Les Thanks for the write up on the Oxydator. Lots of good info for everyone.

 

Yes too think it was a real good write up ... I am sure that one could write and write about Oxydators but I feel that Les covered the most important things and even additional detail very well ...

 

Albert

[albertthiel]

Turns out you had some insanely good luck couple with a bit of bad luck. I had some braided cable from an extendable kitchen faucet spring a leak on me earlier this year, nothing like a blow out that you experienced though. Glad you caught it!

 

Yes Paul was lucky he caught it when he did

 

Albert

[Reefwiser]

Les, one question I think I have after reading and think is how long does the catalyst last and how do you know when to change it out?

For those that want to buy extra catalyst when they purchase one.

[albertthiel]

Les, one question I think I have after reading and think is how long does the catalyst last and how do you know when to change it out?

For those that want to buy extra catalyst when they purchase one.

 

As I am sure Les will tell you, the catalyst does not wear out ... and if you want more of them you order them from the same place you get the Oxydator from ...

 

All I do with the catalysts I have is when I refill the container that holds the peroxide, I clean the catalyst little round bar off with a soft tissue to remove anything that may have accumulated on it but usually there is nothing really to remove

 

I am sure Les will confirm that

 

Albert

[atoll]

Yes the catalyst as Albert said is more or less ever lasting. (I belive near the end of my article I did cover this point) your more likely to loose one as they are very small pellets.

 

Thanks Albert. I hope your specialists will be able to come up with a permanent solution to your problem. Not a nice procedure you are having to go through for sure and painful at that. Hopefully modern medicine and surgery will fashion an answer for you I do hope so and good luck when you next visit your doctor.

[albertthiel]

Yes the catalyst as Albert said is more or less ever lasting. (I belive near the end of my article I did cover this point) your more likely to loose one as they are very small pellets.

 

Thanks Albert. I hope your specialists will be able to come up with a permanent solution to your problem. Not a nice procedure you are having to go through for sure and painful at that. Hopefully modern medicine and surgery will fashion an answer for you I do hope so and good luck when you next visit your doctor.

 

Thanks Les, and you are right, one is more likely to loose one than to see it wear out ...

 

Those who clean them over their sink should be careful that it does not fall into the sink hole and cannot be gotten out

 

And on your other remark which we discussed by PM, I hope so too Les

 

Albert

[Paul.b]

I don't know why that hose burst, but soon I wil have leak detectors all over the house that will shut off the main in the event of a leak

[albertthiel]

I don't know why that hose burst, but soon I wil have leak detectors all over the house that will shut off the main in the event of a leak

 

Well that should do it for you and prevent a recurrence of what happened that you described so wonderfully Paul ..

 

Albert

[hey]

I don't know why that hose burst, but soon I wil have leak detectors all over the house that will shut off the main in the event of a leak

looks to be a little rust that formed on the metal, not sure how old the hose was but the rubber section probably rotted a bit then blew it out. I never thought about putting the whole house on leak detectors but that is very smart although thinking about it placement of the detectors would have to be very careful to prevent accidental shutoffs every time you got out of the shower or something like that.

[albertthiel]

looks to be a little rust that formed on the metal, not sure how old the hose was but the rubber section probably rotted a bit then blew it out. I never thought about putting the whole house on leak detectors but that is very smart although thinking about it placement of the detectors would have to be very careful to prevent accidental shutoffs every time you got out of the shower or something like that.

 

Indeed .. good thinking ...

 

Albert

[Reefwiser]

Wanted that clarified for everyone following along at home. ?

[atrox]

 

Indeed Les ... and hopefully more and more Hobbyists will start to do so at some point especially when Oxydators become available again in the US

 

Unfortunately when that will happen remains an unknown.

 

The fact that Oxydators increase the water quality has been confirmed over and over by those who use them, as can be seen on other forums, esp. European ones where the Oxydators are widely available.

 

Hopefully North America will see them come on the market again in the not too distant future, but as I said " hopefully" as I have no indication yet at this point when or whether that may happen ...

 

Albert

http://www.aquariumoxygenator.com

Oxydators:

[albertthiel]

Wanted that clarified for everyone following along at home.

 

Good point ... the key is NOT to loose the catalyst as it does not wear out as was indicated

 

Albert

[atoll]

http://www.aquariumoxygenator.com

Oxydators:

 

Well at last they appear to have them in stock now but quite a bit dearer than I can buy them in the UK about 1/3 more expensive in the US .

Just looked again on back order it seems ............still.

[albertthiel]

http://www.aquariumoxygenator.com

Oxydators:

 

Yes that is the distributor but they have been out of stock for months and months and months and I doubt that they are getting stock back at any point in time

 

What the exact reason is does not seem to be known but the fact is that they keep advertising even though they never have any units available for sale

 

Albert

 

Well at last they appear to have them in stock now but quite a bit dearer than I can buy them in the UK about 1/3 more expensive in the US .

Just looked again on back order it seems ............still.

 

Les they do not have any in stock

 

Everything shows as back ordered based on what I see ...

 

Do you see anything different ? I do not ....

 

Albert

[atrox]

Try this. http://m.zooplus.co.uk/shop/fish/technic_and_accessories/oxygen/81512

[atoll]

Correct Albert that's why I edited my post and added a footnote to that affect.

Yes that is the distributor but they have been out of stock for months and months and months and I doubt that they are getting stock back at any point in time

 

What the exact reason is does not seem to be known but the fact is that they keep advertising even though they never have any units available for sale

 

Albert

 

Les they do not have any in stock

 

Everything shows as back ordered based on what I see ...

 

Do you see anything different ? I do not ....

 

Albert

That is where I bought my recent model "D" for my Fluval Edge 46L tank. They are quite cheap and the cheapest on the net inc eBay UK

Try this. http://m.zooplus.co.uk/shop/fish/technic_and_accessories/oxygen/81512