Is a uv in a sump a disservice ?

[Tangdora]

Hi

Need to help a buddy of mine plump a uv into his system. His tank is in wall which make getting behind it very difficult. Would be very simple to just plumb the closed loop down in the sump. On my current and past tanks. I have alway ran the close loop from the tank it’s self. I have seen people plumb it down in sump. But I have no idea how much doing so hinder it’s overall effectiveness of the UV if at all. For people who have theirs down in the sump are you happy with the result your getting or do you wish you pulled directly from the tank.

 

[Amstar]

I am curious as well to what others say --

I have a 6 foot long sump (125 gallon tank) -- so I have it pull from almost the far left area of the sump (where the returns are/come in) and the return is the far right that flows right in the same chamber as the return pump - I am only running 250 GPH through my UV right now

 

[exnisstech]

I'm curious how we even tell if UV is actually doing anything beneficial EDIT to add: if run full time not just just to address a particular issue? I ran a 15 watt on a smaller tank that went from the sump to the DT and I ran a 55watt that was similar to @Amstar in a 6ft 125g DIY sump. When it can time for bulb replacements I decided to pull the units instead. That was a couple of years ago and nothing changed after they were removed.

 

[JumboShrimp]

It might not be optimal, but provided the flow through the UV unit is decent, and the GPH turn-over in the tank down to the sump is decent, "eventually" "all" the water should get processed through the UV, is the way I look at it.

 

[UncommonSense]

Here’s my most recent application of UV:

Two weeks of vacation with an auto feeder working a bit too well on my 180G FW tank… (waterborne unicellular algae bloom)

5 days of UV later; 49W, ~250gph, plumbed sump return chamber to sump return chamber…

Sump to sump UV plumbing clearly works for single-celled waterborne organisms quite well!

 

[Amstar]

I’ve always heard that If your water looks clearer, fish outbreaks are reduced, and your UV unit is sized/maintained correctly, then it’s doing its job. If your tank looks the same whether it’s on or off, you might have too much flow through it, an old bulb, or it’s simply not needed for your bioload.

 

[FishTruck]

I run one in my sump on it's own loop, just catching some water that goes by. It can clear a bacteria bloom in 12 hours. I have no idea about parasites.

 

[exnisstech]

I’ve always heard that If your water looks clearer, fish outbreaks are reduced, and your UV unit is sized/maintained correctly, then it’s doing its job. If your tank looks the same whether it’s on or off, you might have too much flow through it, an old bulb, or it’s simply not needed for your bioload.

What if the tank looks good without it and no outbreaks have a occurred in years?
Just discussing not arguing ;-)
winking because emoji's aren't working

EDIT: I think there are better ways to treat fish outbreaks like prevention or keeping the fish healthy but that's another subject.

EDIT2: They obviously serve a purpose to address certain issues as shown I just wondered about them running 24/7 like some do.

 

[hatfielj]

I run mine off my main return. It flows into my remote refugium and then back to the sump. I run it when I get new fish or if there’s an outbreak of algae or cyano in the main display. They work well when you apply them to a problem that is water borne. I also think they work very well at preventing fish disease outbreaks. I keep it turned off when everything is looking good and no new fish.

 

[Tangdora]

I am curious as well to what others say --

I have a 6 foot long sump (125 gallon tank) -- so I have it pull from almost the far left area of the sump (where the returns are/come in) and the return is the far right that flows right in the same chamber as the return pump - I am only running 250 GPH through my UV right now

Are you by bypassing the socks with your approach or are you pulling from the fist champer post socks.