Can a UV sterilizer be mounted horizontally over a sump?

[glb]

I bought the vinyl tubing and am working out the plumbing. Can vinyl tubing be safely heated up (say with a hair dryer) to make it bend correctly?

 

[Jon's Reef]

I typically fill a 5 gallon bucket with hot tap water. Soak the tubing for 15 min with the lid on.

 

[bnord]

The short answer is yes.

the slightly longer answer is I have 2 set ups horizontal to the tank, one in the cabinet - the other behind the cabinet. Both with a slight angle to allow for bubbles to escape. I check (not often enough) to make sure there is not accumulation of air.
I prefer the behind the tank mount for accessibility and more space in the cabinet but it s in the fish room and esthetics where less a concern

 

[glb]

the slightly longer answer is I have 2 set ups horizontal to the tank, one in the cabinet - the other behind the cabinet. Both with a slight angle to allow for bubbles to escape. I check (not often enough) to make sure there is not accumulation of air.
I prefer the behind the tank mount for accessibility and more space in the cabinet but it s in the fish room and esthetics where less a concern

Which end do you angle up? Thanks for your help!

 

[bnord]

Which end do you angle up? Thanks for your help!

the outflow - return end - to allow the micro bubbles to coalesce along the length of the tube and be forced out into the tank

shows a slight cant, and why it is better behind the tank

 

[foxt]

Do your input and output both come from the same chamber in the sump? I’ve worried that if I put a higher gph pump in the sump for the uv unit that it would drain the water from the chamber it was in unless the output was in the same one. But then would I be resterilizing the same water? Does that make sense?

UV is fed from chamber where the DT drains feed the sump. The output if UV goes to a section I created between the frst section and the fuge. 1 inch apex fmm will work fine.

 

[glb]

Thanks everyone for all your help!

 

[glb]

One more question! My return pump is a Quiet One Pro 1200 (317gph). Since I want the uv for algae control, do I need to upgrade? My total water volume is 47g and the return plumbing is 3/4”. Would a Quiet One 2200 (594gph) make more sense? I don’t want too much flow in the tank but I’m sure the UV unit will cause a loss of some flow.

 

[Brian-222]

My 120W pentair is horizontal over the sump. Inlet/outlet up. Inlet is fed by a pump from the sump area where the drain dumps. Outlet flows into the fuge section of the sump. I have an apex flow meter plumbed into the UV outlet line so i can keep an eye on the

My 120W pentair is horizontal over the sump. Inlet/outlet up. Inlet is fed by a pump from the sump area where the drain dumps. Outlet flows into the fuge section of the sump. I have an apex flow meter plumbed into the UV outlet line so i can keep an eye on the flow rate.

I've been looking for ideas on how to set up a uv sterilizer and this by far is the best I've come across. One question though, if you dump it into your fuge does it go through the protein skimmer or bypass the skimmer that time around?

 

[glb]

One more question! My return pump is a Quiet One Pro 1200 (317gph). Since I want the uv for algae control, do I need to upgrade? My total water volume is 47g and the return plumbing is 3/4”. Would a Quiet One 2200 (594gph) make more sense? I don’t want too much flow in the tank but I’m sure the UV unit will cause a loss of some flow.

@ReefSquad could I get some help with this?

 

[Billldg]

@ReefSquad could I get some help with this?

I use a Pentair UV sterilizer, so I go by their recommendations. It seems that every UV vendor does as well. I use a Pentair 40w UV sterilizer, and the recommendations for algae control is 800-900 gph. I have a 225 gal tank. If you use it for Ick control and such then I would go down to 350 gph.

I would look up the guidelines for Pentair UV sterilizers and then try and match it to what you are using.

I also added a flow meter to it.

With a 40b, you should be fine as long as you are using soft tubing to prevent head pressure loss. I am turning my tank over roughly 4x's a hour if I want algae control.

 

[glb]

I use a Pentair UV sterilizer, so I go by their recommendations. It seems that every UV vendor does as well. I use a Pentair 40w UV sterilizer, and the recommendations for algae control is 800-900 gph. I have a 225 gal tank. If you use it for Ick control and such then I would go down to 350 gph.

I would look up the guidelines for Pentair UV sterilizers and then try and match it to what you are using.

I also added a flow meter to it.

With a 40b, you should be fine as long as you are using soft tubing to prevent head pressure loss. I am turning my tank over roughly 4x's a hour if I want algae control.

Thanks! I already bought an Aqua uv 8w unit due to size restraints and not wanting excessive flow in a tank my size. So you think my existing pump is enough?

 

[Billldg]

Thanks! I already bought an Aqua uv 8w unit due to size restraints and not wanting excessive flow in a tank my size. So you think my existing pump is enough?

I feel you are fine with the pump you have. A 4x turnover is what is recommended for algae control. You may actually need to add a hand valve to throttle it down a bit.

 

[Reef Tripp]

Connect my uv in front of the sump and my return pump passes all flow through the uv and up to dt.

 

[Freenow54]

So starting to think about where to place it. Right now this is the only configuration that I can get to fit.

Connect my uv in front of the sump and my return pump passes all flow through the uv and up to dt.

dont know why I am not getting notifications on this thread pretty interested

 

[glb]

I feel you are fine with the pump you have. A 4x turnover is what is recommended for algae control. You may actually need to add a hand valve to throttle it down a bit.

Thank you! There’s so much conflicting information out there!

 

[glb]

I use a Pentair UV sterilizer, so I go by their recommendations. It seems that every UV vendor does as well. I use a Pentair 40w UV sterilizer, and the recommendations for algae control is 800-900 gph. I have a 225 gal tank. If you use it for Ick control and such then I would go down to 350 gph.

I would look up the guidelines for Pentair UV sterilizers and then try and match it to what you are using.

I also added a flow meter to it.

With a 40b, you should be fine as long as you are using soft tubing to prevent head pressure loss. I am turning my tank over roughly 4x's a hour if I want algae control.

I am using soft tubing to and from the return pump and line. I didn’t realize it had less head pressure loss.

 

[glb]

Will a UV kill off aptasia and bubble algae spores in the water column? I’m thinking of what aptasia releases when it’s irritated and the spores released when a bubble algae pops.

 

[glb]

It’s installed! Here’s some pics:

I cut a thick plastic cutting board to fit over the sump to rest the uv unit on. I used a small piece of tubing to create a slight tilt to keep air bubbles from forming

I moved the return pump to the back of the sump and plumbed the return into my existing plumbing.

Heres a closer look at how I plumbed it.

Thanks to all of you for your help!

 

[Jon's Reef]

Looks good.

I don't think it does much for bubble algae and aptasia.

Bubble algae --> Emerald Crab, Aptasia --> Berghia Nudibranch