Need advice on fixing fire damage with Ozone

[Sarcophine]

We hired a company to install a new water softening kit in our garage and the guy they sent out accidentally set the house on fire while soldering too close to the wooden wall -.- luckily the fish tank is on the other side of the house but the house was filled with smoke and now everything smells. The water company's insurance said they'll pay for a "wipe down" to get soot off the furniture and household items, and then theyre going to fill the house with Ozone for 24 hours to remove the last of the smell out of the furniture and air vents. Well apparently ozone removes all the oxygen out of the house so we have to stay in a hotel overnight while they do it. My roommate spoke to the guy (I was at work) and they noted the fish tank and, after my roommate informed them they cant just "pick it up and move it" into the sunroom, which is not being ozoned, they said they could put a barrier around it to keep it safe. But it doesnt make sense to put an airtight seal around my tank and sump for 24 hours because then I dont get any oxygen exchange and my fish suffocate... So........

If I *have* to drain it and move all the live rock and fish and corals to 5 gallon buckets in the sunroom, and hopefully most of the 60 gallons of water.... my roommate said insurance would have to compensate me for the manual labor and I would have to come up with an estimate of money for them to give me.

Have any of you dealt with this before? Is there a better solution Im not seeing? (I reeeeally dont feel like moving it all). What do you guys think is a fair estimate for having to disassemble a 40gallon tank and 20 gallon sump for 24 hours?

[CMD2213]

If they can do a isolation chamber on the tank.with an extension of some sort to the outside for fresh air that may work.

[cHRoNzZe]

Sorry to hear bud,I Never experience anything like that personally,but yes they should be held lieable for there mistake. That's why they have insurance...... I would first talk to their insurance and make sure that they will pay for the move of the tank.. if they don't then tell them you are going to write a bad review on there company and also you will leave the tank in there hands and any livestock you lose, they will have to pay for it.... if they refuse again or give you any BS... Tell them you'll going to take them to court and will pay for everything you have lost at FULL price(store prices) plus for your equipment cause now since chemicals have been in your stuff it's not good for your tank and they will have to pay for all your equipment now!!! .... iTS NOT YOUR FAULT that there employee(must be a trainee lol ) screwed up and didn't know how to perform his job right !!!!!

I would say the move will cost about 500$-600$ in labor and the hassle you will have to go threw,again if they say it's to much or any bs... Throw the "hey your employee or client screwed up NOT me" again lol...if they give you bs I would call the company tell them what happen with the insurance and advise them the same. Any livestock you lost and equipment that has been in your opinion tarnish / damage (chemical wise) they will pay for it or you will take them to court ..... Tell them that YOU are lucky that your family didn't get effected by this health wise!! Luckily your house didn't get burn down !!!!!!!!!!! Good luck bro

Also take lots pictures of your tank i would include a few of my pics of my macro tank and just say it was in the sump .... Lol ......
Hey my macros are not cheap good luck bro

This is something I would do but then again everyone does call me a a$$h0L3.....lol

[Kris]

I don't think adding O3 to the house removes O2, but it is harmful to breathe O3! O3 is reactive, and oxidizes smoke particles to remove the smell.

I think they are just trying to scare you away to keep you from breathing the (toxic!) O3. It should not harm the tank unless they are planning on pumping so much O3 into the house that they displace all of the air. I think that would require using compressed gas cylinders similar to a home termite fumigation. If they are just using an ozone generator(s) they are not likely to displace much of the atmosphere unless they Tent or SEAL the entire house.

Partial pressure laws of physics apply. The diffusion of gases is very rapid, so if they are not tenting the house it would be almost impossible to displace all of the atmospheric O2. The small amount of O3 that is likely to occur in the local atmosphere from the generators will not likely impact the water/animals in your tank as O3 is highly unstable and that is why it can be used to sterilize rooms. I would run fresh carbon on the tank as a safety measure, and document all of your animals health before and immediately after their treatment. They can replace anything they ruin.... and I would also document the paint condition inside the house before and after, as ozone can cause damage to older paint, carpets, and other man made stuff.

Here's what other people say:
http://www.gwsavage.com/are-ozone-tr...or-your-stuff/

Non-scientific observations: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...4205548AAOuDhn

This guy says your tank will be fine : http://www.airtrona.com/ozone-articl...ad-smells.aspx


Again, carpets, paint, plastic, are more likely to be damaged from ozone than things living in the aquarium.

[FDdragon]

Wow, that's crazy. Sorry for what happened but good that nobody was injured.

For cost estimate, see if LotsaFishies has any ideas since they do things like that for their clients.(at least I think that's what they do. Ha ha)

Good luck.

[DaveMorris]

People purposely pump ozone into their tank for filtration purposes. I wouldn't worry about it. I seriously doubt that you would win any court battles over livestock. I would definitely take some pics and document everything just in case. If something goes wrong it would be good to have some evidence of what it looked like before.

[LotsaFishies]

If they mess up, they pay to make it right, and properly.

Feel free to give our number to the insurance and/or water softener company if you would like to make sure your tank gets moved properly. We work with several other packing / remodeling companies and have done this type of job MANY times before.

Chris H
LotsaFishies Inc.
760-803-9447
Lotsafishiesaquarium@gmail.com

[Sarcophine]

So I talked to the guy in person today and it turns out my roommate got a little confused. They are NOT pumping O3 throughout the house, they are sealing specific rooms off with plastic sheets and tape, and putting an ozone generator in those rooms. So their plan was to do 2 of the bedrooms, the guest bathroom, and the kitchen/dining room (it's like one big space). My tank is in the dining room but they said they could just cut the room in half with a plastic sheet and not worry about the dining room. THAT'S what the guy meant when he said he could make a containment area. So it's not even an issue. AND it sounds like they changed their minds about doing it in the kitchen anyway. They came in and wiped the soot off and we now have 4 carbon filters running through the house. They mentioned "if They have to" they would replace the carbon filters in the bedrooms with 03 generators, but the kitchen and bathroom are pretty much done.

Sometimes I wonder why I leave my roommates in charge of anything, haha. Thanks for all the advice though. If anything changes, this will all be good info to have on hand