UV Sterilizers, which unit to choose and why?

[Badilac]

You can just pick up 3/4” or 1” tubing from Lowe’s nothing special needed. Hose clamps can be the plastic type of metal type since it won’t be in contact with the actual water.

 

[Garf]

So if you can run multiple passes through a UV, why not just run as fast as possible. Is there not an accumulative effect with parasites such as ich?

 

[Chayo]

You can just pick up 3/4” or 1” tubing from Lowe’s nothing special needed. Hose clamps can be the plastic type of metal type since it won’t be in contact with the actual water.

Looks good! sorry for being a newb but when looking online at the UV I didn’t see the white/barb connection you have? Is that something you purchased separately?

 

[CMMorgan]

Im using lifegard. Its been great. I have the same size tank as you and i got a 90 watt lifegard i run off my return pump which is pushing about 900 gph through the uv. No more dinos. Would i buy another uv? Nope im happy with this one. Hard plumbing is easy but you can use soft pipes if needed.

90 seems like a LOT for a 125 / 30. I was looking at the 55 w or possibly the 25 w. I do not want to add any unnecessary heat to the tank. I'm in Florida, so every degree counts.

 

[Chayo]

90 seems like a LOT for a 125 / 30. I was looking at the 55 w or possibly the 25 w. I do not want to add any unnecessary heat to the tank. I'm in Florida, so every degree counts.

What flow rate are you targeting?

 

[CMMorgan]

What flow rate are you targeting?

Not entirely sure yet. I'll be running a 125 and a 30 sump with a coast to coast bean animal overflow. The UV will be plumbed to my return. I'll have to play around with the flow rate when I get it going. I'll be hooking up a Sicce SDC 9.0, which is rated for 1000 to 2500 gph. Considering the dual returns and the UV will both be running off of the same lines, the pump needs to be a good one.

 

[Cory]

Not entirely sure yet. I'll be running a 125 and a 30 sump with a coast to coast bean animal overflow. The UV will be plumbed to my return. I'll have to play around with the flow rate when I get it going. I'll be hooking up a Sicce SDC 9.0, which is rated for 1000 to 2500 gph. Considering the dual returns and the UV will both be running off of the same lines, the pump needs to be a good one.

Your sure its dinos? Id hate to see you buy a uv for cyano. Oh forget it wrong thread sorry.

 

[CMMorgan]

Your sure its dinos? Id hate to see you buy a uv for cyano. Oh forget it wrong thread sorry.

LOL - all good... I have dinos in my existing 90, too. LOL

 

[jaxteller007]

Looking to purchase a UV unit to combat dinos, I have a 125 gallon with 30 gallon sump. Wondering what size LifeGard UV to purchase and what pump to purchase to go with it. Wondering if I can use soft tubing as I am not experienced at all with hard plumbing. or maybe a Aqua UV brand as well. My head keeps spinning with all the brands out and sizes. thanks all for the help

I run a 40w AquaUV with soft plumbing and a controllable pump i bought off Amazon for under $100. Have a 180g with i think 30g sump

 

[Biff0rz]

I have a lifeguard 90w on the way. The max gph is 2800. What would be the minimum gph - trying to kills dinos. 233g tank, 40g sump. Not sure what turnover rate to target. Can I get away with a 1000 or 1500gph and be successful?

 

[Cory]

I have a lifeguard 90w on the way. The max gph is 2800. What would be the minimum gph - trying to kills dinos. 233g tank, 40g sump. Not sure what turnover rate to target. Can I get away with a 1000 or 1500gph and be successful?

The faster the better as they are easily killed with uv ime. I have a 90w uv and killed mine with 900gph using my return pump.

 

[Biff0rz]

The faster the better as they are easily killed with uv ime. I have a 90w uv and killed mine with 900gph using my return pump.

Ok cool, thanks for that. I can get a 1200-1500 easily for a descent price. The 2400+ are a bit pricey.

 

[Biff0rz]

I want to install this in my DT as a closed-loop, but I do not want a pump in the DT. Is there any way to make that happen? I was thinking I could have two U hooks in the water connected to tubing with the pump on the floor - basically make it pull the water. If I prime the intake tube wouldn't that cause enough suction to not need the pump in the DT?

My other thought was in the return section of sump to drain section but I heard that can cause issues too with 2500gph flowing.

Another option is in-line with the return which will be a pain to re-do the plumbing. I also will have a hard time finding a spot where to mount it,

 

[Biff0rz]

I want to install this in my DT as a closed-loop, but I do not want a pump in the DT. Is there any way to make that happen? I was thinking I could have two U hooks in the water connected to tubing with the pump on the floor - basically make it pull the water. If I prime the intake tube wouldn't that cause enough suction to not need the pump in the DT?

My other thought was in the return section of sump to drain section but I heard that can cause issues too with 2500gph flowing.

Another option is in-line with the return which will be a pain to re-do the plumbing. I also will have a hard time finding a spot where to mount it,

To help illustrate my idea of a closed loop I made a pic haha. Maybe I'm foolish in thinking it can work this way?

Blue = uv
Purple = pump
Plumbing = yellow

If I were to prime the pipes (yellow) with water then start the pump (purple) in a pull from uv (blue) then push to display (exit on top of pump), would this work? Assuming the yellow pipes are both below the water line

 

[CMMorgan]

To help illustrate my idea of a closed loop I made a pic haha. Maybe I'm foolish in thinking it can work this way?

Blue = uv
Purple = pump
Plumbing = yellow

If I were to prime the pipes (yellow) with water then start the pump (purple) in a pull from uv (blue) then push to display (exit on top of pump), would this work? Assuming the yellow pipes are both below the water line

So, what happens if you have a power outage while you are away... The pump needs to be reprinted and runs dry.
That could burn your house down.
Not saying it will happen... But it has happened.

 

[DaddyFish]

To help illustrate my idea of a closed loop I made a pic haha. Maybe I'm foolish in thinking it can work this way?

Blue = uv
Purple = pump
Plumbing = yellow

If I were to prime the pipes (yellow) with water then start the pump (purple) in a pull from uv (blue) then push to display (exit on top of pump), would this work? Assuming the yellow pipes are both below the water line

That would be no different than the typical canister filter piping system. You just have to make sure the pickup/input side of the plumbing sits well below the water line, including how low it goes during water changes.
Once primed, the system would only lose prime if there's a break, then you have a bigger mess anyway!

 

[Biff0rz]

So, what happens if you have a power outage while you are away... The pump needs to be reprinted and runs dry.
That could burn your house down.
Not saying it will happen... But it has happened.

Wouldn't that only happen if the water level goes below the intake pipe? I plan to run it deeper down in the water than depicted. But good info regardless - I'll place a fire alarm near this. I'll have some automation around that if it goes off.

That would be no different than the typical canister filter piping system. You just have to make sure the pickup/input side of the plumbing sits well below the water line, including how low it goes during water changes.
Once primed, the system would only lose prime if there's a break, then you have a bigger mess anyway!

Ok, then is sounds like this would work great! If I make U-hooks big enough to drop down let's say near the bottom of the tank it should never lose prime unless the waterline breaks it or if there is a major leak. I'll put an intake guard on it so it doesn't suck up any inhabitants. I have a leak detector kit so I can make sure to protect myself in case of an external leak. But even if I had a pump in the display I'd have the same concern. I also do awc so the water level doesn't change unless I'm draining it. And at that point I know to turn it off.

Am I ok to assume if it's pushing out 2500gph out the top it's also taking in 2500gph through the UV?

 

[DaddyFish]

Wouldn't that only happen if the water level goes below the intake pipe? I plan to run it deeper down in the water than depicted. But good info regardless - I'll place a fire alarm near this. I'll have some automation around that if it goes off.


Ok, then is sounds like this would work great! If I make U-hooks big enough to drop down let's say near the bottom of the tank it should never lose prime unless the waterline breaks it or if there is a major leak. I'll put an intake guard on it so it doesn't suck up any inhabitants. I have a leak detector kit so I can make sure to protect myself in case of an external leak. But even if I had a pump in the display I'd have the same concern. I also do awc so the water level doesn't change unless I'm draining it. And at that point I know to turn it off.

Am I ok to assume if it's pushing out 2500gph out the top it's also taking in 2500gph through the UV?

This thread is long and I admittedly have not read through it all. What size tank are you UV-ing?
I run 36-watt UVs at 400 gph through 3/4" pipe on 90-gallon tanks, and that kills EVERYTHING quite well.

I should stress that when you have that much head height (1.5 meters or so), you will need a 1200 gph pump to move 400 gph through 3/4 pipe.

 

[DaddyFish]

This is a fairly cheap piping setup I have used to experiment with exactly what you are attempting.

 

[Dark_Knightt]

I have a simple 20g nano and I had a bacteria outbreak a few months ago which made my water super cloudy one day I couldnt see ANYTHING. i went and bought an in tank UV, because its a 20g with a simple HOB powerfilter, so i had to get something small but efficient. 2 days later my water was CRYSTAL clear. I love having crystal clear water its just so satisfying lol