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RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

Rayston — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 09:56:11 GMT

Steven Pro (5/12/2006)

To kill parasites, the UV dosage must be 90,000 uw/cm2.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread, but I was wondering if Mr. Pro could provide any links to documentation about the above claim? the 90,000 uw/cm2 needed to kill parasites part. Its not that I dont believe you, I am just covering all my bases. I tried just PMing Mr. Pro directly, but his box is full.

Thanx

Rayston

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

money pit — Wed, 17 May 2006 07:30:52 GMT

Just wanted to add some pics of the UV unit plumbed in. The control valve is hard to see as it is behind the post. It can be opened and the unions holding the UV light plugged so that maintenance can be performed without shutting down the return pump for to long. Thx again for all your comments and feedback:

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

money pit — Wed, 17 May 2006 04:35:29 GMT

Well,

Based on all the feedback i have received, I think I'm going to do the following. My tank has two return pipes. I'll plumb the UV into one side as shown. The flow may be a bit higher then the 400GPH required to kill parasites but I think i'll be close. I'll use the valve to divert all the water through the light if necessary. I can do some bucket measurements to check my flow if I find that the light isn't working effectively. Thank you everyone for your input.

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

Steven Pro — Tue, 16 May 2006 04:55:46 GMT

I would put a gate valve in front of the UV and also have the water dsicharge from the UV somewhere you can see, not back into the return lines. You need to be able to see the water passing through the UV to measure the flow rate.

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

argi — Tue, 16 May 2006 04:25:18 GMT

Seems like it should work, but I am not a plumbing expert by any means..I have plumbed a lot of tanks, but there is still stuff that baffles me. I think if I did it I would add a T or gate valve on the UV side also "just in case".

Keith

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

Puffer Queen — Mon, 15 May 2006 19:17:50 GMT

In order to get the maximum benefit of the UV, the water needs to be as free from particulate matter as possible. A micron filter before the UV is highly recommended.

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

money pit — Mon, 15 May 2006 14:44:18 GMT

Still thinking about how to plumb this thing without another pump. What do you think about the following setup? Use a gate valve to divert some water to UV unit. Water will naturally want to flow in the direct 1" line (i think). The gate valve should supply enough back pressure to divert water through the UV light. I'll use unions with the UV unit for service.

Thoughts?

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

Steven Pro — Fri, 12 May 2006 11:58:48 GMT

A T probably would work, but I would spring for a gate valve instead of a ball valve for finer control.

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

argi — Fri, 12 May 2006 09:07:46 GMT

Money

Would it be possible to T off your closed loop and use a ball valve to regulate the flow through the sterilizer? I think a seperate pump, like Steven mentioned, would be best but if this simply is not possible I thought T'ing off the closed loop might work.

Keith

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

Steven Pro — Fri, 12 May 2006 08:15:54 GMT

I just looked at the UV sizing chart that Aqua UV has on their website.

http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/uvsizingchart.php

90,000 uw/cm2 is the industry standard for parasites. It is basically a rating determine by lamp intensity and contact/exposure time. If you look at their chart, you will see that for the 25 watt unit you can only pump through 400 gph to attain the proper contact/exposure time to kill parasites.

I would use a pump that is capable of no more than 400 gph, something like the Mag-Drive 350.

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

money pit — Fri, 12 May 2006 07:40:36 GMT

Mr. Pro, I see the 25Watt unit is rated at 30,000 µw/cm² at 1200 GPH. I assume you altered your flow rate by 1/3 to get to 90,000 µw/cm². My question is , where did you fing the 90,000 µw/cm² spec for killing bacteria? I really didn't want to have to add another pump to the system. Especially one that has to be removed drained and cleaned every time we use the UV. Could you build a closed loop in the sump with a MAG5 and treat the tank that way? Pull the water from the same side of the sump (55G divided 1/3 for return and skimmer intake) as the skimmer does. The sump to tank turnover is probably about 1200 GPH (MAG18 with 5' head).

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

joe 09 — Fri, 12 May 2006 06:25:34 GMT

you said that you bought the unit used.the bulb is only good for less than 1 yr.you may have to replace the bulb.

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

Steven Pro — Fri, 12 May 2006 05:15:01 GMT

To kill parasites, the UV dosage must be 90,000 uw/cm2. For the 25 watt UV, that means you can only pump a maximum of 400 gph through the unit. Anything faster than that means you are only working against bacteria and free-floating algae.

Also, be sure to run the UV 24/7 if you are going to use it at all. Otherwise, the UV will quickly become colonized with bacteria, sponges, worms, etc. and render it useless when utilized intermittently.

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

money pit — Thu, 11 May 2006 13:57:34 GMT

Keith, thank you for the warm welcome. After your post, I checked the Aqua website and realized i have the 25 watt unit which is good upto 150G SW. I think i'll be in good shape. I considered placing the UV unit in the return but my plumbing between my tank and sump is pretty compact to allow full access to the sump. Thx again!

RE: Plumbing a UV sterilizer

argi — Thu, 11 May 2006 13:35:17 GMT

The AquaUV 15 Watt sterilizers have a max flow rate of 1800 gph, so you are well under this with the PanWorld pump. But they also say it is up to a 75 gallon saltwater tank, so it will be a little undersized according to them.

You will still need to clean the quartz sleeze regardless of the flow going through the unit. Slime builds up on the quartz sleeze, blocking the light.

You could also use it in the return pump (Mag 18) with out a problem if that is easier to plumb in.

Lastly, Welcome to the Marine Depot Forums!

HTH,

Keith

Plumbing a UV sterilizer

money pit — Thu, 11 May 2006 12:23:01 GMT

I have read through many of the postings surrounding the use of UV lights in reef tanks and greatly appreciate the +s & -s of having one. My daughter picked up a used 15W Aqua UV system and would like to include it in her new tank (moving from AGA 72G bow with 30G sump to AGA120 with 55G sump). I don't want to have a separate pump for the light and are thinking to put it inline with my oceans motions / Pan world 100PX-X closed loop system when I move it over to the new tank. The UV light will only be run as needed and I figure that with that much H20 coursing through it constantly, it will stay pretty clean. I also don't have to worry about the lamp not being covered by water if my little reef keeper decides to flick it on.

PS1: sum return is a MAG 18 and I'm running two durso 1 1/4" overflows.

PS2: This is my first time ever posting...no laughing please src="http://forum.marinedepot.com/Skins/Classic/Images/EmotIcons/Tongue.gif" width=20 border=0>

PS3: Sony's next gold mine!