UV Flow Rate for Dinos?

[PopBot16]

I see lots of posts touting higher flow rates though UV to beat Dinos (supposedly because they reproduce fast), and I see lots of posts touting lower flow rates for beating Dinos (supposedly because more contact time with the UV is better at killing them). Specifically, for Ostreopsis. Does anyone know of any sources of information that aren't anecdotal regarding this question? For a while I was running a Sicce Syncra 5.0 (max FR 1300 gph) at it's lowest setting through a Coralife Turbo Twist 12X with minimal impact. I recently (2 days ago) switched the pump to a Sicce Syncra 1.5 (max FR 350 gph) at it's lowest setting. I suppose time will tell, but again, are there any non-anecdotal sources of info on this?

 

[Quietman]

Here's a general summary of dinoflaggellate lifecycle. PSU

There are others on very specific species studies if you search on Ostreopsis you'll find studies from Japan, the Mediterranean and Brazil. Those discuss at division rate of up to 2x daily. I've also read a two stage "bloom" initially and then "stability" phase.

Not being a marine microbiologist I just make educated practices on summary of information. Some species can reproduce exponentially under the right conditions. This means that sufficient turnover would be necessary.

As far as exposure for damaging and/or killing ostreopsis. Much harder to find information but since it's broadly categorized as plankton I assumed the lower rates. Also lucky in that the species became water borne during lifecycle. Some do not and UV will be less helpful.

In my experience I used at new 15w AquaUV on a 170 liter tank with Ostreopsis (do not know if there's a subspecies variety - again, not a microbiologist). The exposure rates can be calculated from AquaUV data. At 500 gph (approx 40K uw/cm2 I saw a reduction in the outbreak and it was no longer visible after several days. I turned down the flow to my normal 150 gph (100K uw/cm2) and my outbreak reoccurred. Turning flow back up again reduced the outbreak so no longer visible and I kept it there for several weeks. After that a reduction in flow no longer resulted in an outbreak. I assumed that the population reduced below some selfstaining level.

I can see higher exposure rates at higher flow is optimal but gets expensive. I was fine with low exposure and high flow.

Hope this helps some.