Canister filter whit a uv light?

Oscar1018 · Aug 30, 2018

So I have a question about a canister filter that I have, it has a uv light.
I have a mix reef a 40b whit a 20g sump,
I'm thinking about using the canister filter for the uv light in this system in conjunction with the sump, has any one done this and how it workout for you.
My plan is to use it whit out any media just the light.
What are you thoughts about this
Thank you

Retro Reefer · Aug 30, 2018

The canister should work fine just using the incorporated UV light and sounds like a great way to repurpose a piece of equipment that you already own however IMO I don’t think it’s necessary or beneficial to run UV 24/7.. they are a great tool for fighting bacterial blooms, algae issues and I also like to run mine for a couple weeks after introducing a new fish.

Oscar1018 · Aug 30, 2018

Retro Reefer said:
The canister should work fine just using the incorporated UV light and sounds like a great way to repurpose a piece of equipment that you already own however IMO I don’t think it’s necessary or beneficial to run UV 24/7.. they are a great tool for fighting bacterial blooms, algae issues and I also like to run mine for a couple weeks after introducing a new fish.

That is my plan just to use it for few hrs of the day whit a timer

Waters · Aug 31, 2018

I actually run UV 24X7 and have on every reef tank I have ever set up. Can help with parasites, algae, as well as bacterial issues, depending on a few factors. That being said, I don't think the UV built into a canister filter will provide much benefit due to the size of the filter itself. For UV to be effective you need long contact time to the bulb (along with a couple of other things) that a smaller canister filter cannot provide.

The Pondman · Sep 1, 2018

The UV will be useless if not properly sized to the pump. The problem with running a UV sterilizer a few hours per day is that the reproduction cycles vary from type of algae, bacteria, parasite, etc. Some reproduce every few hours so not having your UV on 24/7 means you're always playing catchup if you were to have a problem. Only time to turn UV off should be when adding bacteria, or dosing with anything that could be affected by UV.

Running a UV won't be noticed in your power bill and the beneficial bacteria people worry the UV will kill is the colonizing type (attaches itself to something). So if you kill any that are floating around you only killed the dumb ones. Lol.