UV Sterilizer ?

[gasman059]

a 25 watt thats what i run its about $ 35 at my doorstep, I run mine only at night, lights out uv on( no issues so far). In my experience gives the system( the tank , mh's etc) time to function at its peak during normal circadian rythms. Reefing is all about wat works for u there's some guidelines but in general wat works for u works for u LOL

 

[Rogger Castells]

Ok, this is too deep for me, what in hell is circadian rythms??? is this a P.R. thing!

 

[bawla47]

50 bucks rogger

im only running about 200gph through mine. i should be able to get about 14-18 months out of it.

 

[gasman059]

LOL i just got creative, Circadian rhythms are important in determining the sleeping and feeding patterns of all animals, including human beings. There are clear patterns of brain wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration and other biological activities linked to this daily cycle.

The rhythm is linked to the light-dark cycle. Animals kept in total darkness for extended periods eventually function with a "free-running" rhythm. Evidence from a number of laboratories over the past 12 years has established that cyanobacteria, a group of photosynthetic eubacteria, possess a circadian pacemaker that controls metabolic and genetic functions.
SO BASICALLY MEANS THAT 14 YEARS OF SCHOOL. MEDICINE AND SO FORTH LEADS ME TO BELIVE THAT I KNOW NOTHING THUS I RUN MY UV AT NIGHT WHEN THE 'PHOTOSYNTETIOC BACTERIA R NOT WORKIN AND THE OTHER STUFF IS"
ITS ALL A BUCH OF BS BUT SOUND SCIENTIFICALLY CORRECT PLUS ITS WORKED FOR ME FOR 8 YEARS SO WHY CHANGE lol

 

[cayars]

Even it you run the UV is "slow flow" mode to kill off parasites the general worst that will happen is you will kill off the algea in the water column that pods eat and your pod population won't grow.

It's not a bid deal even if you have fish like manderins. You just need to be aware of it and maybe do a side culture of pods in a one gallon tank/jar/container of pods to see your tank refugium with.

I run a UV unit at 260 gph (slow enough to kill parasites on mine) 24/7. The manufacture says a flow rate of 290 will kill parasites so I leave a little margin for error for decreasing bulb wear and change them out at 6 month intervals. The water is so clear it looks like the fish are swimming in air.

I think the UV bulbs are cheap and really worth it considering how clear the water is.

I don't know how you guys track maintenance but I use outlook for my calendar and email so I just put all this info as a task with a date and get reminded. I do this with equipment and also with different filter pads, reactor media changes, etc...

Just a tip for you guys, you don't want to plumb the UV inline with the overflow/sump as many of you do. You'll only get about 10%-25% use of it. You want to run it isolated. The proper way to feed a UV unit is from the middle of the tank as close to the bottom as you can get and then have the return close to the surface. You can the return like a "powerhead". All the "nasty" things you want to kill generally live at the bottom of the tank, so if you plumb into the overflow/sump your missing out on the "good kills".

 

[Bret61081]

I've always read that you are ment to change the bulb every 6 months aswell...similar to PCs....not sure if Its true, but the guy I bought mine from told me that. Even so the bulbs are fairly cheap. I only have an 8W on my tank and the bulb shipped was about 15$. I just recieved a 15w version so I will be upgrading to that as soon as I get the bulb...which hopefully will be tomorrow!

 

[gasman059]

6 to 8 months for mine

 

[Qxsilver01]

I just got the Uv Sterilzer from a relative thats getting out of the hobby as a gift. It says 15 watts, GPH 200, Max PSi 10. Wondering what Gph is. Im assuming Gal. per hour? Anyway Its kind of old. The date of manufacture was 4/89 but its in good condition. I was also told the light has to be changed every 3 months in order for it to work efficently. If its no good Ide rather just buy a new one that works better? Post me on advice thanks.