UV Sterilizer question

[Reef.Blue]

I have been looking for countless hours trying to find out how exactly the UV sterilizer is supposed to be set up in my tank. I am currently purchasing a 25w Aqua UV sterilizer for my 100g tank to put in my sump. Im not sure this is how the UV is supposed to be placed, but from my understanding, the UV is supposed to be placed on the return pump line. So the water goes through the filtration in the sump first and then once the water is shot out of the return pump back into the display tank is where the UV should go. So basically the UV sterilizer is the last piece of equipment the water goes through before returning to the tank. Is this correct I have no idea. Also what flow meter would you recommend because I was looking at the Neptune one, but I am not planning on purchasing an apex for a while. Any insight is helpful.

 

[Mikeltee]

I have the 57 watt pumped inline with the return on my 130g at 380gph to target protzoa. 25w is cutting it if you want to target protozoa. I'd run it at max 250gph if you do. You don't need a flow meter. Put a gallon bucket in the return lineloc and time it. For 250gph, you want to be able to fill a gallon jug in about 14.5 seconds. If you just want clearer water, you can run whatever flow you want. Whatever you do, don't do a closed loop in your sump.

 

[Leon.NYC]

Hey there.. I recently purchased the Aqua UV 40w as well. Loving it so far!
As far as your question goes; You are correct. The general use has it connected to the return as far as what I see from everyone who uses one (hobbyist & commercial).

There are two general directions;
1. connected directly to your return pump & match the GPH recommendation - Yours is 400GPH.
2. The second option would be to set it up with separate pump and have it either hooked up to a manifold or pumping back into your sump. You can pull from one chamber (ideally after your skimmer) and have it return back to your chamber with the return pump is located. This depends on your filtration setup & sump design.

Personally I feel as though 400GPH is a bit low for my liking as i stay around 7-9x turnover per hour. I purchased the Sicce SDC pump which I can use to dial in the flow.

Another thing to keep in mind is the orientation of the UV. If you have it setup vertically, make sure your flow enters from the bottom & returns through the top. If you have it setup horizontally, make sure your your connectors are pointed upwards (needs a bit more planning for tubing/plumbing - depending on your space).

Final thing is to find out the GPH. If you have a flow meter, its simple enough. In my case, I put the return end in a bucket and marked off a line for each gallon. From their you can calculate based on how many gallons a minute or how many seconds per gallon. In my case, I was at 1 gallon per 4-seconds which puts me slightly under 1,000 GPH. Per my model, its recommended for 967 GPH or 3.72 seconds per gallon.

Hope this helps & you enjoy your Aqua UV!

 

[Reef.Blue]

I have the 57 watt pumped inline with the return on my 130g at 380gph to target protzoa. 25w is cutting it if you want to target protozoa. I'd run it at max 250gph if you do. You don't need a flow meter. Put a gallon bucket in the return lineloc and time it. For 250gph, you want to be able to fill a gallon jug in about 14.5 seconds. If you just want clearer water, you can run whatever flow you want. Whatever you do, don't do a closed loop in your sump.

You really think that 25w is too low? On BRS it says up to 150g.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I have been looking for countless hours trying to find out how exactly the UV sterilizer is supposed to be set up in my tank. I am currently purchasing a 25w Aqua UV sterilizer for my 100g tank to put in my sump. Im not sure this is how the UV is supposed to be placed, but from my understanding, the UV is supposed to be placed on the return pump line. So the water goes through the filtration in the sump first and then once the water is shot out of the return pump back into the display tank is where the UV should go. So basically the UV sterilizer is the last piece of equipment the water goes through before returning to the tank. Is this correct I have no idea. Also what flow meter would you recommend because I was looking at the Neptune one, but I am not planning on purchasing an apex for a while. Any insight is helpful.

What do you want to eliminate? Fish parasites, dino, or algae?

 

[Reef.Blue]

What do you want to eliminate? Fish parasites, dino, or algae?

Algae and parasites.

 

[SPS2020]

Overkill is better in UV, IMO. I have a 57 watt on my 100g and a 40watt on my 60g.

 

[Reef.Blue]

Overkill is better in UV, IMO. I have a 57 watt on my 100g and a 40watt on my 60g.

But do you really think a 25w is not sufficient enough for my tank size? It's just If I upgrade to a 40w its almost 200 dollars more and if I upgrade to the 57 its even more than that.

 

[ThaBeast]

I'd run at least the 57w, I have a 120W on my 185. The Aqua 57w is rated at 533gph for 180,000 μw/cm2 for parasite control, I'd run it at 266 gph for 360,000 μw/cm2 if I was going to use it for ich. Also Look at the Lifegard Pro Max series as the Pro Max has a replaceable liner. Do a search here about sterilizer casings degrading to see why a replaceable liner is an important feature

 

[Leon.NYC]

But do you really think a 25w is not sufficient enough for my tank size? It's just If I upgrade to a 40w its almost 200 dollars more and if I upgrade to the 57 its even more than that.

Personally, I believe it'll be more important to get your flow right than oversizing. Everyone does it different, but the UV you have is rated for 150 gallons I believe so you have some flexibility on flow. Worse case, if you're trying to fight protozoan, put on a second return pump & slow down the flow.

 

[SPS2020]

But do you really think a 25w is not sufficient enough for my tank size? It's just If I upgrade to a 40w its almost 200 dollars more and if I upgrade to the 57 its even more than that.

Good info here regarding UV

 

[Reef.Blue]

Personally, I believe it'll be more important to get your flow right than oversizing. Everyone does it different, but the UV you have is rated for 150 gallons I believe so you have some flexibility on flow. Worse case, if you're trying to fight protozoan, put on a second return pump & slow down the flow.

So what do you suggest I should do in this situation based on my tank size? I don't think I mentioned this above, but it is a 57g sump.

 

[Idech]

But do you really think a 25w is not sufficient enough for my tank size? It's just If I upgrade to a 40w its almost 200 dollars more and if I upgrade to the 57 its even more than that.

That’s what I bought for my 110 + 40 tank. I had a 15 watts on my 75 gallons, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and it worked. I was using it for ich management. I called the company before purchasing the 15 watts, to make sure it was okay.

I am confident the 25 watts will also work on my new tank.

 

[Leon.NYC]

So what do you suggest I should do in this situation based on my tank size? I don't think I mentioned this above, but it is a 57g sump.

If it were me, I'd stay the course. As mentioned, proper flow is the most important thing when it comes to UV sterilization.
I bought the 40w version for an upcoming 280 gallon upgrade but have it connected to my 150 at the moment so I don't have to purchase twice, which as you know is quite expensive. There's a number of resources & videos out there on UV, especially BRS that get pretty in-detailed about it in a few videos. I also believe there's an article here somewhere from Humblefish about irradiation vs management.




Personally, I think you're on the right course & may be overthinking it! - Always a good thing in this hobby as I've learned.
If your going for protozoan as a main target, remember UV will not irradiate, but rather keep the numbers in check from overwhelming your tank. I've had conversations with Elliott Lam from Marine Collectors regarding this matter as we're planning the livestock on the 280 gallon. He's one of the few vendors I purchase livestock from if I don't feel like quarantining a particular addition.

But since you're going down this rabbit-hole ; Think about a battery backup for your system. Whether there's UV or not, depending on your location, power outages are fairly common - I'm in Florida so during the summer months we do get a good amount. Something like this would make greatly impact your livestock.

 

[Indymann99]

All good comments above. You need to be aware of the physical dimensions of the UV. My 40w just barely fits in the stand for my 120g. 4x4x2. Also you need access to change the bulb yearly.

 

[MrGisonni]

Take all of the guess work out with one of these. Set it in your sump and forget it. Change the bulb every year. Clean out the foam monthly. They work great

 

[spacedcowboy]

I've got a 50W Pentair (née Emperor Aquatics) HO unit on my return (picture from my build thread) ...

According to their docs, to kill off protozoa, you should be running a maximum of 260GPH (at end-of-life for the bulb, so I just use this value) through the device to get the 180k µWs/㎠ that is required. That translates down to 4.3 gallons/minute, so if I'm targeting ich, I tend to run it at 4.1gpm - you can see the flow-meter set in just above the UV output which is used to set it reliably.

All this is nice and dandy, and it's actually what I do, but it also occurs to me that the typical flow-rates are for a single-pass through the device - and I don't know about you folks, but my tank is a closed system. It seems to me that even if you're running at about half the "lethal" dose, you are probably damaging the ich as it goes through the first time, and it's almost certainly additive for when it goes through a second (and every subsequent) time. I guess it's possible the ich could heal itself in the meantime, but in the relatively small volumes compared to flow-rates in our tanks, I would be surprised if that were the case.

So I think there's a case for a lower-capacity UV system actually being of significant use during an ich breakout, even on a large tank, even if you don't have a long-enough contact-time to actually kill the ich outright. Of course, the higher the power of the unit the better, but I think it may be a fallacy to dismiss the use of UV even at lower irradiative power.

 

[Mikeltee]

But do you really think a 25w is not sufficient enough for my tank size? It's just If I upgrade to a 40w its almost 200 dollars more and if I upgrade to the 57 its even more than that.

It is not insufficient if you want to plumb a closed loop in the display. Your other option is to run a second return from the sump at a lower rate. BRS rates them like this because of sticker price shock for the proper size. It's best to just get a used 57w here. I've seen Aqua UVs for $200. BRS' job is to sell gear and that is their prime motivation with everything they say on their website and videos.

 

[Mikeltee]

Take all of the guess work out with one of these. Set it in your sump and forget it. Change the bulb every year. Clean out the foam monthly. They work great

A closed loop in the sump is a waste of time and money. This won't do much at all if anything.

 

[Mikeltee]

Dude you are getting a lot of bad advice from people that have probably had a tank for 3 months and don't even have UV. It boils down to this... if you want 25w to work, you must pull water out of your display, run it through the UV and then return it to the display. This us called a closed loop display. People are recommended certain pumps. Those pumps advertise a certain flow rate but you will be lucky to get 25% of that advertised flow rate. For something as important as killing protozoa you want to get a timer and a gallon jug. I don't even recommend running it inline from your sump's return to display. It's just too small. You won't have a high enough turnover rate once you set the proper flow rate. If it's not too late, send it back and get a minimum of 40w. Another thing to consider is that if you have a proper quarantine protocol, you shouldn't need to target protozoa.