I'm setting up a 90g reef tank and I'm contemplating getting a UV sterilizer for it. The tanks I've seen that run them are really clean. I've read mixed reviews on whether they're beneficial to a reef tank or not. I wanted to see if anyone out there is running them, and if so, what models are they running? Thanks in advance for the input.
UV Sterilizers, Anyone using them?
- Thread starter PiNaPLeX
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aquaclear500
New member
I have a 25wt Aqua Ultraviolet sterilizer running on a 140 gallon reef. It works great and keeps my water clear. Alot of people say it kills benificial plankton and bacteria, but I have tons of copepods and other little things swimming around in my refugium. I have alot of fish and corals in the tank that are doing well. It's been running for a year and its doing better than ever. It seems to work very well with large populations of fish. Without the sterilizer my fish would get sick and die more often.
I don't constantly run a sterilizer and our fish don't get sick and die off at all, and we also keep a heavily stocked tank.
Running UV has absolutely no affect on the pods in your fuge, nor would it prevent pods migrating from your tank into your fuge to seed it (unless the UV was on your drain, which they typically aren't). It would however prevent any pods and beneficial bacteria from migrating up to your tank, from your fuge, and thereby stop it from providing you with the general food benefits of maintaining a fuge. Most of the people who run UV either don't run a fuge, or only do so for the nutrient export, and not for any feeding benefit (for corals, mandarins, wrasses, psuedochromis, etc).
Running UV has absolutely no affect on the pods in your fuge, nor would it prevent pods migrating from your tank into your fuge to seed it (unless the UV was on your drain, which they typically aren't). It would however prevent any pods and beneficial bacteria from migrating up to your tank, from your fuge, and thereby stop it from providing you with the general food benefits of maintaining a fuge. Most of the people who run UV either don't run a fuge, or only do so for the nutrient export, and not for any feeding benefit (for corals, mandarins, wrasses, psuedochromis, etc).
aquaclear,
I'm along your lines of thinking when it comes to the UV sterilizer. Besides, most of the "beneficial" bacteria lives on the LR and LS, right? it's not free floating in the tank, so it shouldn't be affected too much by the UV. As far as pods are concerned, i'm keeping my fuge section in my sump separate from the intake section so I don't think I have to worry too much about that.
anyone see anything wrong with what this line of thinking? is there something i'm missing?
mobert
Active member
I have a 80 watt unit on my Koi pond but took it off line once I added a 5(?) watt ozone generator. The water looked much clearer with ozone than UV. I have an ozone on my 210 gallon reef also. You have to change the bulb on the UV light minimally every year and clean the inner tube. Not worth the the cost to run IMO.
Also, the flow through past UV light is important. Too fast and the stuff you are trying to kill won't have a long enough exposure time to to it any damage.
Also, the flow through past UV light is important. Too fast and the stuff you are trying to kill won't have a long enough exposure time to to it any damage.
that is why sizing the UV is important. One other thing that I did (don't know about anyone else) is to put in a bypass valve in parallel with the UV unit, that allowed me to adjust the flow through the unit and also a way to completely bypass it if I needed to take it off for maintenance. The down side is that only a percentage of the return water goes through the UV, which is you are trying to keep "bad bugs" out, could be a problem. The upside was that you could use an "undersized" UV for your tank flow and still ensure proper dwell time within the UV chamber.
To be honest, I haven't turned ours on in forever and am not sure if it will make the transition to the new tank once it gets set up, but I am still happy to answer any questions that I can
To be honest, I haven't turned ours on in forever and am not sure if it will make the transition to the new tank once it gets set up, but I am still happy to answer any questions that I can
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