Ozonizers don't get nearly enough attention as they deserve, and rarely does a new ozonizer hit the market. Commercial systems and public aquariums don't leave home without ozone, and neither should you. I put TMC's foray into the ozonizer market through its paces over the last few months, so read on to see how it performed!
Using ozone offers many benefits, most notably the rapid oxidation of organics, antiseptic/sterlization action, improved dissolved oxygen lvels, and the best non-mechanical boost to water clarity there is (yes, better than using activated carbon!) A few companies have made ozonizers for a while (Sanders, Red Sea, Ultralife), but TMC is a newcomer on the ozonizer market, but a good one that stands out from the crowd.
Unlike coronal discharge or other generation techniques typically used, TMC uses a "High Purity Ceramic" cell to generate O3, although doens't elaborate on the exact method of production. The method is very efficient: the TMC produces a ton of O3 with very little electrical consumption. Also included in the box is a mounting bracket for vertical or horizontal installation, flexible silicon tubing, product manual, and a screwdriver for disassembly/cleaning.
The unit is programmable, and can be adjusted to produce 25 to a whopping 250mg/hr of ozone for 1-10 hours out of a 12 hour period (the 'program-by-hour' approach is great for freshwater aquariums). O3 production and timing info is displayed via a simple LED bar on a "splash-resistant" front panel. Programming is fairly simple as there are only two buttons, but it would have been nice to have a label on the unit to determine which flash pattern pertains to the amount of O3 being generated and the duration. When higher levels of ozone are being produced, the built-in control chip adjusts the fan speed so that the unit doens't overheat, a nice touch.
I've spent the last two months using the TMC ozonizer to produce 50mg/hr for 22 out of 24 hours on my 200 gallon FOWLR aquarium, and in comparison to other ozonizers, the TMC is performing very well. While a constant 50mg/hr production approaches the high end of other models in terms of output, the fan doens't even kick on in the TMC unit. Feeding the O3 into the skimmer intake has yielded crystal clear water and virtually no microalgae growth, even though the aquarium has a high bioload and receives frequent, messy feedings!
Overall, the unit is well made, easy to use, and while some may consider it pricey at $275 (and you'll still want to buy an ORP controller), it's the most economical unit available right now in terms of efficiency and output. For the hobbyist market, those with larger aquariums (200-650 gallons) will love TMC due to the large amount of O3 this unit is capable of producing.
Pros: very efficient, built in timer, adjustable output, produces a ton of O3
Cons: Somewhat difficult to program, flashing LED patterns are easy to confuse without a printed legend
Captive Aquatics Blog Verdict: Excellent
$275, www.tmc-ltd.co.uk
All reviews are the opinion of the reviewer. See our review policy here.
Comments