Cleaned my UV sterilizer today

[Miami Reef]

Some parts of my system were built for my convenience. Others, maybe not so much.

This is the process of how I clean my UV.

First, drain and take out ATO. Then, drain out the UV (notice the PVC extending toward the camera on the bottom):

Unscrew the bulbs, then quartz sleeves through the holes that go through the right cabinet:

The quartz and bulbs must come out from here. I spent a few minutes wrestling through dosing tube lines and hoping I won’t accidentally crack the quartz sleeves in the process:

Here are the quartz sleeves. They usually look yellow and tinted, but this time, they had encrusted “sand” that likely produced from a precipitation event I had earlier this year:

Usually, sliding a vinegar soaked paper towel through the sleeve easily removes the yellow tint and calcium carbonate build up. This time was much harder, and the vinegar wasn’t cutting it.

I made a muriatic acid solution, put it in a spray bottle, then laid the quartz sleeves outside and sprayed from a distance. I heard lots of sizzling, and the sand material fell off after 40 seconds of continuous spraying. I rinsed it out with a hose prior to touching them.

Here’s the final product:

I then had to reverse the process to put the UV and ATO back into place.


It’s annoying, but I got used it. I only do it 2-3x per year. I don’t use the UV year-round; only when I want an extra polish here and there.



Side note:
I mounted my battle coral frags to the new rock structure earlier today:

1. S*x fest
2. Garden of Eden
3. Goldie bon r
4. Homewreckerish blue lighter
5. High rainbow
6. BC Flamenco milli
7. Insane sunset
8. Reading rainbow
9. Hellraiser
10. Trash compactor
11. shag priority
12. Mc fly sub
13. Raindrop on roses milli
14. Yellow spath

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

There is never anything on my two UV Quartz Sleeves. Also have UV on my Central Air, the tubes are perfectly clean. When I did Commercial HVAC, I had to remove UV Lamps at a Hospital and test them. Even before they were put in the test box I knew if they were bad if they had a film on them. Maybe you should put them on a timer to run a certain times a day, for a short period.