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View Full Version : Refugium U V sterilize


marve467
03/07/2007, 12:18 AM
Hey guys I have a 55 gallon reef with a 49 gallon sump with a now added 30 gallon grow out refugium.
The sump has a 3 inch sand bed 10 lbs of live rock and three large and mean hermit crabs. I

Just added another tank to the system, the thirty gallon. Presently it is full of chaeto and some other form of macro. There is an overflow on the 30 gallon refugium to the sump.

So All three tanks share the same system maing my system 134 gallons. The hermits get any food that makes its way to the sump.
The refugium presently does not have sand, would sand be a good idea and would it trigger a cycle?

Final question I am thinking of purchasing a UV sterilizer 18 w. It would be in tube from the sump to the fuge. Do UV sterilizers affect nutrient exportation and will it kill pods?

billsreef
03/07/2007, 11:37 AM
I like substrate in refugiums, it provides more places for critters to live and grow ;) As for the UV, it will kill pods and anything else that passes through it. IMO it will defeat the purpose of the refugium.

DrBegalke
03/07/2007, 06:25 PM
I think you would still get good nutrient export and your pod population would be fine.

In theory, the organics released by anything killed in the UV light would be easier to process by the fuge.

UV light is much better at killing microscopic life (algae, bacteria) then it is at killing macroscopic life (pods)..

The wattages/flow rates that the manufacturers recommend is for the algae killing application, to kill anything bigger then that (like marine ich) requires much higher wattages to flow rate ratios.... to kill even bigger yet macro crusteans like pods, even more wattage per flow....

Beyond that, not many of the pods will go thru the UV if its plumbed up-stream of the fuge...

I agree that adding sand/mud would be a good idea. As long as it was clean, there would be no new cycle to contend with.

marcsmith73
03/09/2007, 03:01 PM
Touchy subject. Lots of people told me that a uv does more harm then good. So, I have stayed away. i am intrested in seeing what everyone says.

Steve 926
03/13/2007, 08:01 PM
I was going to combine a UV on a timer with the sump / fudge light on together for the overnight period. I plumbed the UV to drain into the fudge & added a valve to adjust the flow of it. I figure that the flow rate would be constant, ( good for the fudge & UV performance) & the UV only on for a portion of the day.

Just my opinion !

Star Fish Jones
03/13/2007, 08:16 PM
go for the UV on a timer for half day to get the pros and limit the cons, deep sand beds are what my readings tell for the fuge