The Gray Area of Flow Rates for UV Sterilizers

[metalle]

Wonder if anyone runs 2, one for algae and one for parasites?

I run a variable speed pump on a neptune based schedule

 

[metalle]

As we touched on earlier, reducing the flow rate can increase the dose and so people tend to lean towards this when targeting Ich. This theory is well founded, but the reality is that you’re unlikely to hit the dose rates needed to kill Whitespot. It is further compounded by the fact that the UV sterilizer can only kill organisms that pass through the reaction chamber(velocity in the UV chamber can be reduced by the diameter profile of the chamber), so the parasites can still remain on the fish and in other areas of the system. The better way to approach this is to see the UV as a control. It may not kill the Ich passing through, but it will deactivate those organisms meaning that the population is controlled and will wane over time. When paired with good husbandry and maintenance, the appearance of Ich can be eradicated in this way.