UV setup questions

[acshaw80]

I have dinos and am thinking I would like to get a UV sterilizer to help reduce nuisance algae.

I’m confused as to how I plumb this because I’m a noob. Is the idea that you have one line from your return pump feeding in to the sterilizer and one line returning water into you display tank?

I’m also concerned about flow rate. I have a Red Sea max e170 and I believe the stock return pump is about 560/gph. I’m not sure what the manufacturer recommends for flow rate for nuisance algae but I’ve read that it can be 200-400gph.

I’m thinking of only running UV on and off a few times a year rather than continuously (watched a video from BRS and they indicated this was fine to do). If I intend to do this would it just make sense to buy a lower flow pump and plumb the sterilizer into that for a week and then switch back to my return pump when I’m ready to disconnect the sterilizer?

 

[Ludders]

Yes that would make sense. The lower the flow the more contact time the undesirables have exposed to the UV.

 

[Dj City]

I BEAT DINOS!!! You can too... Heres how to do it.

I posted this in the Dino thread but wanted to create a thread of my own detailing exactly what I did to defeat this scourge. I BEAT DINOS!!! It was not especially hard to do but I did need the right equipment and a multi pronged approach. 3 day blackouts Diatomaceous earth filter (optional...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Dabcrusher]

I would getba dedicated pump or a bigger pump and build a manifold but keep in mind the more you turn the bulb off and on it takes a a ay from the battery life