ORP

[Frop]

My coworker has been all into alkaline water. Doing my side of googling I see it's the antioxidents that are the real good (imo). Which makes me wonder about my fish. I googled ORP (oxidation reduction potential, basically if it is an antioxidant and how strong) for the aquarium and found this long article. Not going to lie I have super ADD when it comes to reading articles and made it through just a couple paragraphs.

Anyone have the Cliffs Note version? ;p

What do you guys think about ORP for the aquarium?

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/

P.s. Seeing ORP directly linked to pH I thought was cool.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Did you read my Simplified ORP section of that article? That simplifies it as much as possible.

That said, ORP is not an important thing to monitor unless you are using oxidants such as ozone.

 

[Frop]

Did you read my Simplified ORP section of that article? That simplifies it as much as possible.

That said, ORP is not an important thing to monitor unless you are using oxidants such as ozone.

Ya I read about half of it the first time then I just reread it now.

I guess I'm wondering is there a desired range it should be in? Seems like if it is killing bacteria would that be bad on the livestock? I did horrible in chemistry btw. Too many Romanized characters, I like just numbers ;p

 

[trido]

I run Ozone and have an Orp probe. Desired range is a relative term. If you're keeping SPS you want super clean water, but with LPS and softies is not as important to have pristine water. My Orp probe typically reads anywhere from 240s- 380's depending on whether its clean or not. It has never been calibrated because I use it only as a reference number for normal. Others with Orp probes (that also have never calibrated) get readings in the Low 400's but I can guarantee their water is not cleaner than mine since they don't actually run ozone. Having said all that, the higher the number the cleaner the water. A reading of 450 with a calibrated probe is as high as most ever want to see. Readings of around 600 would be deadly to most of the tank life.

 

[Frop]

I run Ozone and have an Orp probe. Desired range is a relative term. If you're keeping SPS you want super clean water, but with LPS and softies is not as important to have pristine water. My Orp probe typically reads anywhere from 240s- 380's depending on whether its clean or not. It has never been calibrated because I use it only as a reference number for normal. Others with Orp probes (that also have never calibrated) get readings in the Low 400's but I can guarantee their water is not cleaner than mine since they don't actually run ozone. Having said all that, the higher the number the cleaner the water. A reading of 450 with a calibrated probe is as high as most ever want to see. Readings of around 600 would be deadly to most of the tank life.

Okay thanks. I'll probably check my water after I buy a hand held meter.

So if the water is dirty it would associate to lower ORP and by doing so raise my pH? I need to raise my pH

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ya I read about half of it the first time then I just reread it now.

I guess I'm wondering is there a desired range it should be in? p

Nope.

Just don't want it too high, which it never will be without ozone or other oxidizers.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Okay thanks. I'll probably check my water after I buy a hand held meter.

So if the water is dirty it would associate to lower ORP and by doing so raise my pH? I need to raise my pH

No, definitely not.

The ORP does not impact the pH directly. The pH impacts the ORP measurement for reasons that have nothing to do with water cleanliness.

I also would not associate ORP with water cleanliness at all.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I run Ozone and have an Orp probe. Desired range is a relative term. If you're keeping SPS you want super clean water, but with LPS and softies is not as important to have pristine water. My Orp probe typically reads anywhere from 240s- 380's depending on whether its clean or not. It has never been calibrated because I use it only as a reference number for normal. Others with Orp probes (that also have never calibrated) get readings in the Low 400's but I can guarantee their water is not cleaner than mine since they don't actually run ozone. Having said all that, the higher the number the cleaner the water. A reading of 450 with a calibrated probe is as high as most ever want to see. Readings of around 600 would be deadly to most of the tank life.

Ozone can and will raise ORP without reducing the organics in the water at all. It just changes their form to more oxidized species, which happen to be less yellow.