Using a home UV sterilizer

[ATC]

So as I was turning my RODI on to replenish my stock this evening and I looked over at my whole house filtration and had an epiphany well maybe an epiphany lol I might just be delusional. I have a massive uv sterilizer for the house that’s 110watts and rated for 24gpm my question would be why wouldn’t that work on my 90 Gallon reef tank. Stainless steel body should hold up to the saltwater and wattage and flow capacity should be sufficient and since my buddy is a plumber I only pay about $300 for them. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

We have one of those that we are testing on a freshwater system. However, they will not work on saltwater. Stainless steel isn't impervious to saltwater due to what is called "crevice corrosion". It has to do with threaded fittings; water gets into the threads and everything is fine for awhile. Then, in the absence of oxygen, stainless steel begins to rust very severely. Eventually, the fitting will rust out. Meanwhile, stainless steel contains chromium, and some of that gets released into the water during this process and that is thought to be toxic to invertebrates.

So - it would work for awhile. You can extend that time by periodically dismantling and cleaning all threaded fittings, but it is also possible that there are screws and such that you can't reach that will also corrode.

Jay