UV Sterilizer Setup Advice

[Greg Depo]

Hey guys so I just recently bought a UV sterilizer to try and help with some unwanted dinos and help with fish parasites. After watching some BRS videos I have a few questions before I install. I currently have a 110g display and a 34g Trigger sump. My sump is practically full with gear and with the uv being so long I'm most likely going to be forced into installing it outside the cabinet. I currently have 2 return pumps installed (2 - Hydor Seltz D 1200 DC). My questions are the following.

1. If I decide to install it horizontal does the inlet and outlets must be facing up? It sounds like it does. Which would be very difficult in my setup since I was hoping to attach it to the ceiling of the cabinet.
2. If I install outside the the outside do you guys suggest plumbing it with PVC? I'd imagine it would be easier to move or manage using something a but more flexible but the clamps would make me very nervous.
3. My most pressing concern is if I use one of the 2 return pumps what will this do to my return systems output? Will I have to increase the "non-uv" side to make up for the difference going back to the display? Maybe I'm overthinking it but if I wanted to get more light exposure to get to fish parasites I would have to drastically slow the rate through the uv and in turn wouldn't that majorly chance the return output??

I enclosed some pictures sorry for the mess too just did a sump clean out and haven't had a chance to tidy up!

Thanks guys

 

[jefra]

Why don't you get an external canister filter with built-in UV? Then you don't have to mess around with plumbing too much. Jebao is definitely not a brand that lasts forever. In my experience it does do a decent enough job especially for the low price.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Mine is on the outside, with the BRS brackets holding it tightly (screwed in to the back of the cabinet). I used flexible silicone tubing, out from a dedicated variable speed return pump In the sump, and back into the sump. (If you go sump- to-display-tank, it could even be more efficient; but over time I think I’m good with water flowing sump-to-sump.) Best wishes!

 

[Greg Depo]

Mine is on the outside, with the BRS brackets holding it tightly (screwed in to the back of the cabinet). I used flexible silicone tubing, out from a dedicated variable speed return pump In the sump, and back into the sump. (If you go sump- to-display-tank, it could even be more efficient; but over time I think I’m good with water flowing sump-to-sump.) Best wishes!

Did you install this before you added water/fish? If so did you increase the pump to make up for the difference in head pressure?

thanks!

 

[Waboss]

I've run UV on all my tanks (well, except the first tank, but that was more of a learning mode tank). And I run mine outside the sump as well, usually vertically, but I have run them horizontally as well. Generally speaking I oversize my UV so I can run it in line with my return (single return) at "higher" GPH (to get the turn over I want) and still get the dwell/exposure time I'm looking for in the UV. I'm not getting into how much tank/sump turnover per hour one should have......that's a whole different topic! Haha!

Anyway, specific to your questions:
1. It should be, to minimize the risk of air getting trapped in the UV filter (which is not ideal).
2. I've done both PVC and silicon tubing, both work, just plan it out well and you should be fine. Oh, and please make sure to secure the UV and don't just leave it "loose".
3. You'll need to match your GPH on the pump connected to the UV to whatever the dwell/exposure time is recommended by the manufacturer for your chosen use case. If that's lower than what you have now, then up the GPH on the other pump. If it's higher, then lower the GPH on the other return pump (if you want to keep the GPH the same that is). Or you can always just tune your drain to match your new GPH (assuming you're happy with the turn over rate).

 

[Matt L.]

To answer the first question, the quartz tube that houses the UV filter must be submerged at all time. For horizontal installation, I had tried at one time to have the inlet and outlet to the side, but I ended up with air in the uv filter which is unacceptable. If you mount horizontally, you will need to put the inlet and outlet on the top. As others have noted, you can also mount vertically as per the manufacturer instruction. Here are my two uv filters, outside the main system.

I do recommend hard plumbing if you’re going to mount outside the tank. The clamps will hold it securely. If you feel the need to remove the uv filter, you could add true union ball valves to the inlet and outlet and a bypass. My experience is the unions on some of these uv units are flimsy and don’t hold up to repeated threading and I threading.

Yes, you are overthinking this. A little. When they give you recommended flow rates through the filter, they are for an open system. Our tanks are closed systems. Let’s say you slow the flow down to your pump. Your pump
Output was 5 units of flow. Now it’s 1 unit of flow. 1 unit of flow gives you a full recommended residence time per hour. But 5 units of flow gives you only 20% the recommended residence time, but you get it 5 times an hour. Does it really work like this? Not exactly, but you have some leeway on flow. What is your return flow and what does the uv sterilizer recommend?

Matt

 

[JumboShrimp]

@Greg Depo , the UV unit is on it’s own separate (dedicated) pump that sits in the sump; a cheap Jaebo.

 

[Greg Depo]

To answer the first question, the quartz tube that houses the UV filter must be submerged at all time. For horizontal installation, I had tried at one time to have the inlet and outlet to the side, but I ended up with air in the uv filter which is unacceptable. If you mount horizontally, you will need to put the inlet and outlet on the top. As others have noted, you can also mount vertically as per the manufacturer instruction. Here are my two uv filters, outside the main system.

I do recommend hard plumbing if you’re going to mount outside the tank. The clamps will hold it securely. If you feel the need to remove the uv filter, you could add true union ball valves to the inlet and outlet and a bypass. My experience is the unions on some of these uv units are flimsy and don’t hold up to repeated threading and I threading.

Yes, you are overthinking this. A little. When they give you recommended flow rates through the filter, they are for an open system. Our tanks are closed systems. Let’s say you slow the flow down to your pump. Your pump
Output was 5 units of flow. Now it’s 1 unit of flow. 1 unit of flow gives you a full recommended residence time per hour. But 5 units of flow gives you only 20% the recommended residence time, but you get it 5 times an hour. Does it really work like this? Not exactly, but you have some leeway on flow. What is your return flow and what does the uv sterilizer recommend?

Matt

So currently I'm sitting at roughly 2000 gph. I could slow that down a bit the uv sterilizer recommends no more than 1500 gph. I have two returns and they can do 1200 max per pump so it will depend on the documentation on which speed to use. I have a mixed reef tank so I have been running it at a high turnover but I'm wondering now reading about flow again if I have too much turnover.

 

[Matt L.]

So currently I'm sitting at roughly 2000 gph. I could slow that down a bit the uv sterilizer recommends no more than 1500 gph. I have two returns and they can do 1200 max per pump so it will depend on the documentation on which speed to use. I have a mixed reef tank so I have been running it at a high turnover but I'm wondering now reading about flow again if I have too much turnover.

As another poster above, said, you could just put the sterilizer on a dedicated pump. I like the maxijet pumps. Do you have a controller?

The benefits of super high turnover are, to me, a little suspect. It takes a lot of flow.

What is your uv rated for? What model pump do you have? I can take a look at the pump curve and see if it can handle being throttled back.

Matt

 

[Greg Depo]

@Greg Depo , the UV unit is on it’s own separate (dedicated) pump that sits in the sump; a cheap Jaebo.

I dont think i want to go sump to sump

As another poster above, said, you could just put the sterilizer on a dedicated pump. I like the maxijet pumps. Do you have a controller?

The benefits of super high turnover are, to me, a little suspect. It takes a lot of flow.

What is your uv rated for? What model pump do you have? I can take a look at the pump curve and see if it can handle being throttled back.

Matt

Matt I really don’t want to add another pump in the sump. That would be the 5th! The return pump I have is hydor seltz D 1200. The uv I bought was pentair Smart 40 watt. My thought was that way I wouldn’t need to reduce the gph much and wouldn’t lose much return pressure.

And I have an apex and I’ll be installing a flow meter to monitor how much I’m putting through the uv.

 

[JumboShrimp]

A flow meter should save yourself a lot of guesswork. ;Smuggrin

 

[Matt L.]

If you don’t want a separate pump, you can use a partial bypass. What you do is you keep your main return from the pump discharge to the tank. You add a tee on this return line where the branch of the tee goes to a high quality ball valve and then the inlet of the uv sterilizer. You then put a flow meter on the effluent end of the us sterilizer. Be sure to include the recommended length of straight pipe upstream and downstream of the flow meter. Then you run from the flow meter effluent to (I would recommend another high quality ball valve then to) a second tee that you’ve installed on your return line. This would typically be very stable and allow you to send just the return flow through the uv filter that you want while not needing a separate pump.

Matt

 

[Greg Depo]

If you don’t want a separate pump, you can use a partial bypass. What you do is you keep your main return from the pump discharge to the tank. You add a tee on this return line where the branch of the tee goes to a high quality ball valve and then the inlet of the uv sterilizer. You then put a flow meter on the effluent end of the us sterilizer. Be sure to include the recommended length of straight pipe upstream and downstream of the flow meter. Then you run from the flow meter effluent to (I would recommend another high quality ball valve then to) a second tee that you’ve installed on your return line. This would typically be very stable and allow you to send just the return flow through the uv filter that you want while not needing a separate pump.

Matt

So I got it all installed and plumbed yesterday. What a pain in the *** ha. So I did the bypass manifold and thank goodness I did had a fitting leak going into the sterilizer! The bypass worked awesome and I was able to repair it today with out even turning off the pump! Thanks for the advice.

 

[JumboShrimp]

We love success stories-- congratulations! Will you be going with more of an 'algae' setting, or 'Ich' setting, in terms of flow?

 

[BostonReefer300]

If you don’t want a separate pump, you can use a partial bypass. What you do is you keep your main return from the pump discharge to the tank. You add a tee on this return line where the branch of the tee goes to a high quality ball valve and then the inlet of the uv sterilizer. You then put a flow meter on the effluent end of the us sterilizer. Be sure to include the recommended length of straight pipe upstream and downstream of the flow meter. Then you run from the flow meter effluent to (I would recommend another high quality ball valve then to) a second tee that you’ve installed on your return line. This would typically be very stable and allow you to send just the return flow through the uv filter that you want while not needing a separate pump.

Matt

I'm planning the exact same plumbing for my UV. What are you using for a flow meter? The Apex one? I can't find anything else that looks suitable, but the reviews haven't been great. Thanks

 

[Greg Depo]

We love success stories-- congratulations! Will you be going with more of an 'algae' setting, or 'Ich' setting, in terms of flow?

Well that’s the the next problem I’m running into now. At first I thought algae cause no way I could only do 200gph but unless the flow meter is off I’ve drastically over valued my past hydor pumps. I installed 2 new M2s and I can’t go over 500 gph or my bean animal overflow can’t keep up! In order to effectively reduce algae pentair recommends like 1250! At that flow I’d have to redesign my returns totally! I believe I ran 1” returns assuming that would be plenty but it appears not.

 

[Greg Depo]

I'm planning the exact same plumbing for my UV. What are you using for a flow meter? The Apex one? I can't find anything else that looks suitable, but the reviews haven't been great. Thanks

Yeah I’m using the 1” apex flow meter. As I mentioned in my last post I’m not sure if it’s calibrated right yet seems low to me but if not it’s eye opening how under utilized my sump has been.

 

[PeterC99]

To answer the first question, the quartz tube that houses the UV filter must be submerged at all time. For horizontal installation, I had tried at one time to have the inlet and outlet to the side, but I ended up with air in the uv filter which is unacceptable. If you mount horizontally, you will need to put the inlet and outlet on the top. As others have noted, you can also mount vertically as per the manufacturer instruction. Here are my two uv filters, outside the main system.

I do recommend hard plumbing if you’re going to mount outside the tank. The clamps will hold it securely. If you feel the need to remove the uv filter, you could add true union ball valves to the inlet and outlet and a bypass. My experience is the unions on some of these uv units are flimsy and don’t hold up to repeated threading and I threading.

Yes, you are overthinking this. A little. When they give you recommended flow rates through the filter, they are for an open system. Our tanks are closed systems. Let’s say you slow the flow down to your pump. Your pump
Output was 5 units of flow. Now it’s 1 unit of flow. 1 unit of flow gives you a full recommended residence time per hour. But 5 units of flow gives you only 20% the recommended residence time, but you get it 5 times an hour. Does it really work like this? Not exactly, but you have some leeway on flow. What is your return flow and what does the uv sterilizer recommend?

Matt

Matt - what size aquarium are you running?..

 

[Matt L.]

@PeterC99 , I have about 350 gallons in the main display tank. Are you in White Plains, NY?

Matt