UV sterilizer in reef tank

[T206]

I setup my new reef tank (100 gallon system) with a commercial grade 25 watt UV sterilizer with wiper. The system is from Aqua UV. I have UV on all my tanks but don't run it all the time. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that is a great tool to have at your disposal. I always have excellent water claririty so it would be hard to say if it improves that but it is generally accepted in the industry that UV does improve it as well as help kill parasites, and bacteria. Those that understand the life cycle of parasites like ich know that this only has the ability to affect one part of the life cycle and even that is not 100%. I will say that for a couple hundred dollars it'll it helps protect livestock it is a worth while investment. I like to run UV when adding new additions. The problem with UV though and a lot of debate stems from low cost gimmicks and improper setups. For example the water needs maximum contact time and the wattage needs to be properly matched to the system size. Aqua UV and emperor aquatics are commercial grade options that are excellent if properly implemented. They are used by zoos, aquariums and stores that need to protect their stock. Follow the guidelines for flow and wattage and you will surely find success.

[theMerchant]

Originally Posted by T206

I setup my new reef tank (100 gallon system) with a commercial grade 25 watt UV sterilizer with wiper. The system is from Aqua UV. I have UV on all my tanks but don't run it all the time. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that is a great tool to have at your disposal. I always have excellent water claririty so it would be hard to say if it improves that but it is generally accepted in the industry that UV does improve it as well as help kill parasites, and bacteria. Those that understand the life cycle of parasites like ich know that this only has the ability to affect one part of the life cycle and even that is not 100%. I will say that for a couple hundred dollars it'll it helps protect livestock it is a worth while investment. I like to run UV when adding new additions. The problem with UV though and a lot of debate stems from low cost gimmicks and improper setups. For example the water needs maximum contact time and the wattage needs to be properly matched to the system size. Aqua UV and emperor aquatics are commercial grade options that are excellent if properly implemented. They are used by zoos, aquariums and stores that need to protect their stock. Follow the guidelines for flow and wattage and you will surely find success.

I just installed a Emperor Aqautics Smart UV25w. I read the 'wiper' is not recommended for saltwater tanks because of the metal rod.
So far so good, water is already showing improvement for me. I got it mainly to interrupt the Ick life cycle. Also the beneficial bacteria lives on rocks ans not in the water column. That being said I was still wondering if I should run the UV on a schedule.

[ArmanS]

I have a Emperor Aquatics High Output 80 Watt. I love mine. I run very slow flow threw my Reactor and the Water Clarity after 1 day is unbelievable. Even if you think your water is extremely clean, if you add a properly sized UV with the correct flow rate you will be shocked at how much cleaner it becomes.

Do not get a UV if you think it will prevent all diseases, prevent ich, instead of setting up a QT tank, or to get rid of all algae outbreaks because it cannot do those things. If you want cleaner water and to reduce the chance of large algae outbrakes then I would get one.

Make sure you purchase the correct one for your system and properly size it and use the correct flow rate and keep in mind the larger units are very very big and take up lots of real estate.

[SLICKTOP]

I have one on my 100 gallon SPS dominated Cube, I only run when I see an increase in algae and want to polish water. I don't see any difference in color in SPS with or without it on but do see clearer water and less algae. That being said, only run @ 2 weeks at a time.

[DuleTnT]

Hi guys.
I need to tell you that installing UV sterilizer on my 100 gallons tank was the best thing I ever did!
I had some bacteria infestation after I added new coral to the tank... Water become milky blurry...
After some research I decided to install sterilizer...
18 watts sterilizer connected with small power head of only 370 gallons per hour, and after only 2-3 hours water was crystal clear again.
Corals and all other animals in the tank doing great...

I am very satisfied with this. And all together cost me less than 200 dollars.
Great stuff. I have no idea why I didn't do this before hehehe

[BlackTip]

UV technology is proven to kill pathogen and free-floating protozoa in THE RIGHT DOSE

Charleston public aquarium uses UV to sterilize the water coming from the ocean, and they in all of their aquariums.

[DuleTnT]

Originally Posted by BlackTip

UV technology is proven to kill pathogen and free-floating protozoa in THE RIGHT DOSE

Charleston public aquarium uses UV to sterilize the water coming from the ocean, and they in all of their aquariums.

Hmmm what is the "right dose"?
How much I know (while I was doing a research about it), majority of people keep them on 24/7 ..all the time.

...because most of beneficial bacteria live on surfaces (that's why live rock with all those holes that dramatically increase it's surface is best bio filter), and pathogen bacteria and some parasites usually floating in water column.

[DuleTnT]

Hi guys, I have a question.

Because my previous 100 gallon tank had a "glass exploding disaster" recently , I figured that could be a perfect opportunity to upgrade the tank to the final wanted size.

So I did it. Now I have a 350 gallons reef tank.
But I still use the old 18 Watts sterilizer which I used in old tank. Obviously that UV is not strong enough for this new amount of water, or the power head is not capable to circulate that amount of water through UV.

My question is - would I solve the problem if I buy one more 18 watts UV sterilizer (like old one) and the same power head like old one? So, basically to double the previous UV system... Would I get double effect in that way and practically 36 Watts UV, and double water flow?

That seems like a cheapest option.

Or should I buy one bigger UV and stronger power head and remove the old one?

Or maybe even to get the same 18 watts UV and connect old one and new one to each other but get stronger power head which will push more water but in both UV's at the same time?

What is your opinion?

[Sense of nature]

IMO better to go w a 36w instead of 2 x 18w

[JMorris271]

You want to have a flow rate through the tube 1 to 1.5 times of your tanks water volume per hour for a clarifier and two times that for a sterilizer. You can run it slower if you choose to but faster rate will result in loss efficiency so technically you can't run through too slow but that is not necessary and wasteful. There is absolutely no difference between running 2 16 Watt units or 1 36 watt . Only the cost of the equipment

[Twoface14]

I purchased a UV sterilizer a few months after setting up my 75. Had an issue with white hazy water. Tested everything and couldn't figure it out. Did water changes till I could t do any more. Was gonna give up the hobby if I couldn't find anything to fix it. Read about similar cases where people used them and figured I'd give it a shot. Bought a 9w coralife turbo twist and in 3 days, crystal clear water. Couldn'tt be happier. Still not sure what caused the haziness. I bought a tang that had ich(stupid me) and added him to my display. He was a rescue. Had torn fins and looked pretty bad. Within a week he showed signs of healing on his fins and the ich had went away within 3 days. That was 8 1/2 months ago. Not sure if the UV had anything to do with that as I didn't treat the tang. None of my other fish got ich either. Do I think UV takes away anything good? Possibly. Then again so do water changes. But here's my 11 month old reef running a UV sterilizer 24/7 for the past 9 months. 50+ different corals

[ca1ore]

Doesn't seem to me there's much useful data one way or the other. I do run one, though for the specific purpose of 'isolating' my frag tank from the rest of the system. Seems to me the pros are mostly about water clarity, though it seems reasonable to assume that it can play a role in reducing parasite 'pressure'. Cons are cost and reduction of beneficial water borne organisms. It is not the first piece of equipment I would buy for a tank however.

[Dank koral]

UV commercial grade is one of the most useful tools for a reef tank SPS tank.. I've been using it for over 15 years exclusively SPS only.... It helps with polishing the water amazingly clear and that in itself increases your par level I would think, it helps with keeping parasites off your fish... And I also feel the clear water helps in a SPS tank... In a really nice display tank in your house it's must... If you're running a propagation system with no fish then I don't think it's a must.. but then again my propagation systems are attached to my main display. I also think there's something to be said for a bunch of SPS packed into an aquarium.. let's say an SPS starts to slime for whatever reason I would want a sterilizer to help.

[Subsea]

Dank,
While I agree about UV use in reef keeping for a differrent reason than keeping SPS do you have pictures of your 15 year old SPS system.

[earwicker7]

Originally Posted by pciscott

I run UV on both my Reef Systems and the water is clearer and it helps nuke ick when in the free floating stage. I think Emperor Aquatics has the best literature that explains how to set a system to clarify, or kill pathogens. I still have pods and most of the benificial bacteria live within the Rock and Substrate. I feel most people who see no benifit use a undersized unit with the wrong amount of flow. I run the UV filter on a closed loop and my refugium overflows into my main display so pods seem to be prolific. In my opinion when sized properly a UV filter is very benificial to a closed system.

This. It needs to be properly sized (AKA an expensive model) and you need to use a decent flowmeter to make sure you're getting the manufacturer's suggested flow for your purpose... low flow is more for disease control between tanks, and will probably nuke your pods. High flow is for water clarity.