To UV or not to UV, that is the question

[gt44ever]

Hello reefers! I'm working on reworking/revitalizing my 750g FOWLR system and could use some input on a UV sterilizer.

The short story: tank came with the house we bought about 2.5 years ago, complete with fish (including 2 sharks). Over that time things have steadily declined, mostly due to my own ignorance in the hobby and some questionable setup decisions that I inherited with the tank (like a giant undergravel filter in the sump). I've been trying to steadily improve my filtration and general setup so I'm not trying to just keep up with frequent water changes.

One item that went out was a Coralife Turbo-Twist 12x UV sterilizer. I was going to just fix it up, but the internal glass is cracked and there's some corrosion. Right now, it's just part of the plumbing for one of the return lines (off a Mag Drive 18) as an empty shell because I haven't gotten around to replacing the connections or replacing the unit. I'm wondering if it's even worth my time to replace it or should I just run without? What's the real benefit I would be gaining with it?

Abbreviated setup:
Coralife Turbo-Twist 12x
Mag Drive 18 return pump w/ ~7ft of head (so ~1000gph runing through the UV)
Other return pump is a Current eFlux loop 3170. I'm estimating around 2300gph through that line.
So 1000gph through the UV, which is about 1/3 of the system flow.

I'm gonna post a poll to help summarize results
Thanks!

 

[brandon429]

benefits: it could save your tank from dino infestation.

con: the cost. there is no harm or negativity from running one, the outcome options regarding the ecosystem are only neutral to positive. cannot be negative.

killing suspended planktors as a concern/ try stopping feeding altogether and see if the planktors are sufficient to sustain...they are just there, but not the breakpoint. we have to buy supplement feeds bc planktors are so sparse in our systems, don't opt out of saving your tank for something as trivial. see any tank of the month at nano-reef.com, they usually have large volume water changes which strips the column of planktors much worse than weak uv yet they'll have three thousand in corals inside a 15 gallon.

strong uv, 50 watts etc, is where its at. yours is borderline to make a dent, keep what you got

a place I wouldn't run UV is a place where live phyto is being used by design. in a normal reef tank using normal feeds, run five of them the more the merrier as long as you don't heat up the water. physical temp is the upper limit range.

UV is a known cheat against dino invasions, cyano invasions, cloudy water, they're wonderful Id be using one requisitely if I had a system so big I couldn't easily take it apart to remedy invasions.

The only reef I wouldn't run UV on/expend the cost/is one where I could change out all the tank water on command without delay. if one can do that, they have permanent control over what the reef does and the biological lifespan is infinite. this is why ill only keep gallon reefs. easy peasy.

 

[MnFish1]

Hello reefers! I'm working on reworking/revitalizing my 750g FOWLR system and could use some input on a UV sterilizer.

The short story: tank came with the house we bought about 2.5 years ago, complete with fish (including 2 sharks). Over that time things have steadily declined, mostly due to my own ignorance in the hobby and some questionable setup decisions that I inherited with the tank (like a giant undergravel filter in the sump). I've been trying to steadily improve my filtration and general setup so I'm not trying to just keep up with frequent water changes.

One item that went out was a Coralife Turbo-Twist 12x UV sterilizer. I was going to just fix it up, but the internal glass is cracked and there's some corrosion. Right now, it's just part of the plumbing for one of the return lines (off a Mag Drive 18) as an empty shell because I haven't gotten around to replacing the connections or replacing the unit. I'm wondering if it's even worth my time to replace it or should I just run without? What's the real benefit I would be gaining with it?

Abbreviated setup:
Coralife Turbo-Twist 12x
Mag Drive 18 return pump w/ ~7ft of head (so ~1000gph runing through the UV)
Other return pump is a Current eFlux loop 3170. I'm estimating around 2300gph through that line.
So 1000gph through the UV, which is about 1/3 of the system flow.

I'm gonna post a poll to help summarize results
Thanks!

For a 750 gallon tank the least of the questions is a UV sterilizer. I would recommend you get ahold of a local fish maintenance place (*that seems legit) - and get their advice - then post their advice here to get an answer. (the only reason for saying this is that you said things have gone 'downhill'. thats probably not due to the UV sterilizer. Good luck... BTW some pics would be nice. as well as the rest of your chemistries

 

[gt44ever]

For a 750 gallon tank the least of the questions is a UV sterilizer. I would recommend you get ahold of a local fish maintenance place (*that seems legit) - and get their advice - then post their advice here to get an answer. (the only reason for saying this is that you said things have gone 'downhill'. thats probably not due to the UV sterilizer. Good luck... BTW some pics would be nice. as well as the rest of your chemistries

O I'm sure it's not part of why the tank went downhill. The massive undergravel was likely a major source for that. Just something that's broken and figure it's about time I got around to doing something more than gutting it so I can keep the pumbing and figured I'd get some additional advice on if it's worth replacing.

Also, added a "replace but upgrade" to the poll

 

[brandon429]

agreed

we used uv in our lab, for it to sterilize they had to grossly oversize it, pay a crew of maintainers to come out quarterly, descale and de scum the lines and keep bulbs fresh. we then used water from the uv system in the autoclaving machine (carbouy and foil cap) to make it sterile so we could make agar plates. the uv got the animals out mostly but not always, pipe scum post output was an enduring source of colonies. but uv helped

these in tank ones are not near sterilizing.

pick any large UV runner here, cheap amazon microscope + water sample

moving planktors. reduced by uv, but nothing like the impacts of a 100% water change. biggest planktor insult there is

 

[Teemingtank]

Hello reefers! I'm working on reworking/revitalizing my 750g FOWLR system and could use some input on a UV sterilizer.

The short story: tank came with the house we bought about 2.5 years ago, complete with fish (including 2 sharks). Over that time things have steadily declined, mostly due to my own ignorance in the hobby and some questionable setup decisions that I inherited with the tank (like a giant undergravel filter in the sump). I've been trying to steadily improve my filtration and general setup so I'm not trying to just keep up with frequent water changes.

One item that went out was a Coralife Turbo-Twist 12x UV sterilizer. I was going to just fix it up, but the internal glass is cracked and there's some corrosion. Right now, it's just part of the plumbing for one of the return lines (off a Mag Drive 18) as an empty shell because I haven't gotten around to replacing the connections or replacing the unit. I'm wondering if it's even worth my time to replace it or should I just run without? What's the real benefit I would be gaining with it?

Abbreviated setup:
Coralife Turbo-Twist 12x
Mag Drive 18 return pump w/ ~7ft of head (so ~1000gph runing through the UV)
Other return pump is a Current eFlux loop 3170. I'm estimating around 2300gph through that line.
So 1000gph through the UV, which is about 1/3 of the system flow.

I'm gonna post a poll to help summarize results
Thanks!

Wish my house came with a 750 gallon aquarium

 

[hart24601]

I voted to replace it, but really with 750g and fish only you probably don't need to. I run UV on all my FW and salt tanks. I never used to and set each system up without wanting to run them, but seems like for SW dinos keep calling and for what I had in my systems at least, UV sure killed them fast. Every time I think "why did I wait so long".

 

[FlyPenFly]

Get a serious unit, they're not much more like a Vecton or one of the large setups from BRS.

 

[MnFish1]

Reading the rest of the posts - Depending on your stocking density - don't replace it . To me the goal would be reducing parasite burden. If im reading correctly - the size you have is not that big - and as @brandon429 says the tanks in which UV 'works' tend to grossly oversize - and the maintenance is a total hassle....

 

[ca1ore]

I’m too lazy to go and look up the turbo12x wattage, but my knee jerk reaction is that on a 750 gallon system it’s waaaay too small and probably doing nothing. 1,000 gallons per hour is likely barely clarifying territory. If you are going to use one, get something substantially beefier. I’m using the TMC110 and have been quite pleased with it. The whole suspended plankton is a big red herring, particularly in a FOWLR. Oh, and I do agree about the maintenance hassle. A poorly maintained UV is next to useless.

 

[brandon429]

Agreed

I myself like these cheapo amazon pond sterilizers, I saw 55 watts rated for fifteen hundred gallon ponds in full sun for $275

Probably don't last as long as emperor aquatics $950 one, but oversized uv helps just read the reviews, many are from saltwater tanks

Undersized is likely performing close to neutral total impact, unable to measure any difference with or without

 

[gt44ever]

I’m too lazy to go and look up the turbo12x wattage, but my knee jerk reaction is that on a 750 gallon system it’s waaaay too small and probably doing nothing. 1,000 gallons per hour is likely barely clarifying territory. If you are going to use one, get something substantially beefier. I’m using the TMC110 and have been quite pleased with it. The whole suspended plankton is a big red herring, particularly in a FOWLR. Oh, and I do agree about the maintenance hassle. A poorly maintained UV is next to useless.

It's a 36 watt... They claim its rated up to 500g and the internal flow moves in a helical pattern around the light to extend exposure time. It's been down for a while and while my water may have clouded a little, that may be more from other parts of the filtration breaking down from built up detritus, or it just took a while because its a lot of water.

Assuming I've interpreted what I kmow aboit it correctly, really the only areas of benefit I seem to be able to get from UV would be reduction of potential illness (parasites amd bacteria), reduction in bacterial nuisance algae proliferation (cyano), and water clarity.
I don't have any sort of filter feeders amd everything eats meaty items except my small angel who likes a little algae occasionally.

 

[High ICP]

I’m too lazy to go and look up the turbo12x wattage, but my knee jerk reaction is that on a 750 gallon system it’s waaaay too small and probably doing nothing. 1,000 gallons per hour is likely barely clarifying territory. If you are going to use one, get something substantially beefier. I’m using the TMC110 and have been quite pleased with it. The whole suspended plankton is a big red herring, particularly in a FOWLR. Oh, and I do agree about the maintenance hassle. A poorly maintained UV is next to useless.

It’s like 35watts.

And $200

They are hangon on the sump designed. I think I saw a manufacturer pic of the little one inside an AIO akimmer section. Do not do that. They are not waterproof.

Anyway. I would buy 3 of them before I would buy a $600 model. It’s redundant that way. One fails. Replace one, or 2 are better than none. And keep spare bulbs. They last about a year

And run the water slowly through it. A little Sicce micro or Sicce 1 pump.

I am a fan of Zeovit. That’s the only downside. You are killing your expensive German bacteria with all the nuisance bugs when you use UV.

 

[ca1ore]

BTW, I saw your thread in the monster tank forum (go big or go home). Made me chuckle because a buddy of mine just bought a fixer home with a large installed aquarium in major state of disrepair. In your case, I’d be inclined to get things like flow worked out before worrying about a UV. It’s definitely a nice rather than must have. Sterilizer is something of a misnomer. More of a clarifier. Unless you run slow flow rates, yet have a big enough unit to move a sizable percentage of the tank volume through per hour, you’re probably not getting sterilization.

 

[gt44ever]

BTW, I saw your thread in the monster tank forum (go big or go home). Made me chuckle because a buddy of mine just bought a fixer home with a large installed aquarium in major state of disrepair. In your case, I’d be inclined to get things like flow worked out before worrying about a UV. It’s definitely a nice rather than must have. Sterilizer is something of a misnomer. More of a clarifier. Unless you run slow flow rates, yet have a big enough unit to move a sizable percentage of the tank volume through per hour, you’re probably not getting sterilization.

Ya its low on the priority list but came across a couple used replacements for around half full retail which got me thinking I should at least figure out if it's worth replacing long term so I can keep an eye out for well priced examples. I also already have a spare bulb and seal set since I was just expecting a repair job. Come to think of it, theres a fair chance i never saw the thing fully operational since the bulbs only lost lile 6 months, and I'm not sure the previous owners replaced various home filter regularly, let alone an aquarium UV bulb.

 

[MnFish1]

It's a 36 watt... They claim its rated up to 500g and the internal flow moves in a helical pattern around the light to extend exposure time. It's been down for a while and while my water may have clouded a little, that may be more from other parts of the filtration breaking down from built up detritus, or it just took a while because its a lot of water.

Assuming I've interpreted what I kmow aboit it correctly, really the only areas of benefit I seem to be able to get from UV would be reduction of potential illness (parasites amd bacteria), reduction in bacterial nuisance algae proliferation (cyano), and water clarity.
I don't have any sort of filter feeders amd everything eats meaty items except my small angel who likes a little algae occasionally.

The question I would ask the company (probably) - is though its rated to 500 Gallons - what is that rating 'for' ie is it for parasites or algae or bacteria. Forgetting the fact that you're tank is 750 gallons (meaning that its too small anyway) - my guess is that even if you had a 500 gallon tank it would not have much/any affect on parasites.

Im not sure that slowing the water flow will be that helpful - ie even though it means that the water that goes through will be more likely to kill parasites - the amount of water going through is likely not enough to keep them in check. I used one (same model as yours) - on a freshwater tank (200 gallons) - Personally I didn't see much difference - and it was a major hassle to maintain.