375 and what size UV

[marinelife]

I am looking at adding a UV unit to my 375 with total water volume of 400gallons. What size do I get, I am looking at the AquUV units. My return is 1200gph and I would like to Control
Parasites and Bacteria. I talked to Several and I get everywhere from 25w to 80w. I am looking at the 80w unit, would that be over kill. I hope to run it off my return pump with all water going thru it.

 

[petedoc]

I just went through the same question regarding my 270 reef and the answer seems to be you don't need it. You would be eliminating many helpful organisms that you built your refugium to supply and the concerns about damage from ozone/UV may out weigh the the benefits.

 

[marinelife]

Yeah I guess before I jump on this UV wagon, I should say. I had a case of marine velvet that I think has been in my rock for years. about 2 years ago my fish in my 120 all died from it, then I sold the 120 and moved everything to my other tank with no problems to the fish, I just upgraded to a 375 and lost all my fish but two hippo tangs, 3 chromis, 2 6-line wrasse. So how do I get the marine velvet out of the system now

 

[petedoc]

That one is beyond me! Good luck and I hope I never get one of those plagues in my tank.

 

[jacob30]

Here is a good article on Marine Velvet if you have not read it:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/sp/feature/index.php

I have recently gone through possibly a velvet outbreak and lost many fish. I am not sure if it is completely erradicated but so far so good. I used daily formalin dips for five days followed by a treatment with copper in a QT. I left my main display fallow for 2 months and also followed a strict protocal of bleaching and decholorinating any nets or tools used.

Good luck.

 

[marinelife]

I would love to leave my display empty but I can not get all the fish out

 

[jacob30]

An 80 watt unit is definitely not overkill. You must achieve 336,000 uw/cm2 of exposure to kill marine ich (I am sure velvet is also close to this number since they are both protozoa but I am not sure)

Here is a link that will show the exposure amounts with the various units up to 90,000 uw/cm2 (if you do the math to achieve the 336,000 uw/cm2 the flow through an 80 watt is very low. About 600 gph through a 240 watt unit will get you there.

http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/instructions/uvnowipelr.pdf

 

[jacob30]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9843870#post9843870 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marinelife
I would love to leave my display empty but I can not get all the fish out

Two hippo tangs, 3 chromis, 2 6-line wrasse should not be to much trouble. I thought the same thing. It took about a month but I was able to get them all out using nightime snatch and grab, fish traps and good old fashion fishing (six line wrasse) to catch them.

 

[marinelife]

Should I skip the UV and let things go or get one, I am not sure how much it would help. I do not know how much is floating in the water to kill

 

[petedoc]

Just read your current tank description, maybe adding a skimmer might be a greater priority.

 

[marinelife]

why, coral are growing like mad, I have a disease not a dirty tank.

 

[petedoc]

If you add ozone or UV you will have a lot of dead bacteria and other micro-organisms to remove.

 

[marinelife]

I do not think I am adding UV at all, just seems like UV would not help on a reef tank

 

[petedoc]

My conclusion exactly, but I also asked Vitor the same question in his thread on "Sun Powered Reef". I will be interested in his reply.

 

[Bebo77]

i would run ozone... all the big stores run it.. its the best way to go with large volumes of water

 

[marinelife]

Ozone was a thought