Orp

[Frogspawn]

Can some one explain ORP better to me? what is it used for and is it important? i have been doing some research on this but i cant find something that will put it in Non-Scientist form. i know its the measure of electrons but thats about all i can pull out of it.
thanks

 

[SparKy697]

Here is my version:

Not really sure how it comes into play in aquaria, I see it mostly in waste water applications. Basically when you are trying to oxidize an organic material, you might introduce something like chlorine, or sodium hypochlorite (bleach). There is an actual exchange of electrons as the organics are broken down. The ORP probe picks up on that exchange and reads it as a milivolt measurement. As the oxidation process consumes more and more of the organics, the milivolt reading drops.

Simply put, ORP is used as a way to tell when adequate oxidation has taken place.

HTH

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Here's a good article - it's scientific in spots, but also has some good understandable info:

ORP and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

In a nutshell... for most of us, ORP is something that *may* be of interest, but something we really can't control. ORP is more or less an indicator of the biological activity of the tank. Stable is good. If it's high or low, it may be your first indicator that something may be wrong. Kind of like pH... good indicator of what's going on in your tank, but darn near impossible to control. You usually get what you get.

 

[Frogspawn]

thats so funny you happen to link the same article i read last night. i like the way he compared i to a battle field. nice article. i just trying to see if its some i may need to test for later on when my tank becomes more stable.

 

[SparKy697]

Wow quite an article! My head hurts. That is a bit different than how ORP is used in treating waste water, very good info. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I've often thought about getting a probe and measuring ORP, but I usually find better things to spend the $$ on! I think it's one of those things that isn't meaningful unless you're monitoring it 24/7. And even then, it's just monitoring - you can't really do much to control it. So it just becomes one of those "interesting things to know."

Now if you're injecting ozone into your tank, that's a different story. I think folks that do, monitor ORP to make sure everything is dialed in correctly. Kind of like folks with calcium reactors monitoring pH.