UV plumbing/Flow Advice

[gnashty]

I am getting ready to hook up my Aqua UV 114 watt to my system, i plan on running it thru my return vs buying a pump to run it.

2 questions:

1. Since I have 2 returns I " T" off of my Mag 18 back into the DT, If i ran my UV off of just one return would I be defeating the purpose?

2. My Mag 18 on the return runs about 3-4" ft of vertical head so it would about 1400-1500gph, My UV says 3900 gph for 30,000 UV Dosage, 1560 gph for 75,000 cm and 1300 (ill likely be in this range) for 90,000 cm. Am i defeating the purpose here too?

I forget what the numbers mean -higher (90,000) means more of a parasitic kill, lower means more algae kill?

I just dont want to do this wrong

 

[weaglereefer]

Why not run through the skimmer pump? Then all the dead stuff gets skimmed out (hopefully).


Look for mojo's thread letting you know how much flow you need.

 

[gnashty]

au01st;526860 wrote: Why not run through the skimmer pump? Then all the dead stuff gets skimmed out (hopefully).


Look for mojo's thread letting you know how much flow you need.

My skimmer pump is a Mag 24 so that may be a lil overkill, plus im so tight as it is i doubt i could make it work..

Ill try to find Mojo's thread

 

[elfloyd]

Without considering any loss due to head or plumbing, lets assume the MAG 18 is delivering the full 1500 gph, and 1500 gph is being returned to the tank. Since you are splitting the 1500 gph to the display tank, only 750 gph are flowing through each return line. If one line is feeding the UV, then only 750 gph is passing through the UV. This will give way more than enough kill time in the UV.

You could either feed the UV with a separate pump, or plumb as you stated. Although not the most efficient used of 114 watts, plumbing as you suggested should still be effective in killing the bad stuff in your tank.

Just my thoughts!

 

[elfloyd]

MoJo's thread...

 

[gnashty]

Mojo's thread stresses at or below 1x system volume per hour which for me would be 240 gph - that being said it would need its own pump (not a very big one) to acheive this - i would have to run it in and out of the sump so it wouldnt capture a good deal of the water in a given hour.

Im really looking for water clarity and to keep the algae under conrol

Good point floyd, i forgot that part - that will get me closer to Mojo's target suggested flow rates. Is the recommendation to run ALL water thru the UV? I can probably make it happen but would be back up to the 1500 gph. I was slightly worried about rocking a 114 thru all water volume due to the undiscrimanatory killing power of a UV (dont want to wipe out all the good stuff)

 

[elfloyd]

In theory all the water will eventually flow through the UV each hour, so a lot of the good stuff is going to get zapped anyway.

I would either run the UV off the "T", or (my preference) off one of the down flow lines from the tank. Either way you will get more than enough dwell time in the UV. The question remains... are there any negative effects because of this.

 

[gnashty]

elFloyd;526871 wrote: In theory all the water will eventually flow through the UV each hour, so a lot of the good stuff is going to get zapped anyway.

I would either run the UV off the "T", or (my preference) off one of the down flow lines from the tank. Either way you will get more than enough dwell time in the UV. The question remains... are there any negative effects because of this.

hhhmmmm, I like where your heads at on this.....so your preferred method is to run off the down flow of one of my drains? I could actually make that happen pretty easily and wont compromise any return flow

 

[elfloyd]

Could be wrong here... but I like to keep resistance off the return pump, that's why I prefer using the gravity feed.

One thing to mention, that you probably know, the UV light needs to be turned off when the pump is turned off. Running the UV light without water will cause it to heat and burn out very quickly (voice of experience).

 

[elfloyd]

Could be wrong here... but I like to keep resistance off the return pump, that's why I prefer using the gravity feed.

One thing to mention, that you probably know, the UV light needs to be turned off when the pump is turned off. Running the UV light without water will cause it to heat and burn out very quickly (voice of experience).

 

[gnashty]

elFloyd;526880 wrote: Could be wrong here... but I like to keep resistance off the return pump, that's why I prefer using the gravity feed.

One thing to mention, that you probably know, the UV light needs to be turned off when the pump is turned off. Running the UV light without water will cause it to heat and burn out very quickly (voice of experience).

I would say "that goes without mentioning" but im sure i would have done it myself. I will set my Reefkeer to shut it off when my pump is off

 

[holabird]

I have the same sterilizer and you have to be careful not to run the water through it too slowly. If the water gets too much exposure, everything gets killed, even the good stuff that the coral needs to munch upon. Better to run it at the recommended flow.

 

[gnashty]

holabird;527175 wrote: I have the same sterilizer and you have to be careful not to run the water through it too slowly. If the water gets too much exposure, everything gets killed, even the good stuff that the coral needs to munch upon. Better to run it at the recommended flow.

This is why i am leary to run it at 1x water volume - 240 gph - i will likey run it between 750-1300 gph

 

[gnashty]

holabird;527175 wrote: I have the same sterilizer and you have to be careful not to run the water through it too slowly. If the water gets too much exposure, everything gets killed, even the good stuff that the coral needs to munch upon. Better to run it at the recommended flow.

Thats why I was leary to run it at 1x water volume flow - 240 gph. I will likely run it around 750gph (off 1 T of a MAG 18 return)