Running UV while carbon dosing

skr791346 · Feb 15, 2018

I tend to run oversized UV on my systems (usually one or two sizes up than recommended). While dosing carbon source, does UV interfere in any way in terms of nitrate reduction?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 15, 2018

Some of the bacteria will be in the water, you'll kill them and maybe make them spill their guts.

The ones bound to surfaces will be OK, but if and how they make their way to a skimmer before spilling open is more tricky.

So I'd guess it will work OK, but maybe not as efficiently as otherwise.

skr791346 · Feb 15, 2018

Oh no, that's what I was afraid of. Any way to circumvent this without removing the UV? Maybe turning it on at night when not carbon dosing?

FarmerTy · Feb 15, 2018

skr791346 said:
Oh no, that's what I was afraid of. Any way to circumvent this without removing the UV? Maybe turning it on at night when not carbon dosing?

If you use a biopellet reactor for carbon dosing, you can just route the effluent of the reactor to the skimmer for more efficient removal of the bacteria, circumventing a majority of it from getting into the main system and through your UV. I've been doing this method for a really long time with great results.

skr791346 · Feb 16, 2018

FarmerTy said:
If you use a biopellet reactor for carbon dosing, you can just route the effluent of the reactor to the skimmer for more efficient removal of the bacteria, circumventing a majority of it from getting into the main system and through your UV. I've been doing this method for a really long time with great results.

I'm dosing vinegar (into my overflow box) so it goes through my filter sock > skimmer > uv pump > then back to return pump. Maybe I should dose directly into the display?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 16, 2018

skr791346 said:
I'm dosing vinegar (into my overflow box) so it goes through my filter sock > skimmer > uv pump > then back to return pump. Maybe I should dose directly into the display?

The vinegar itself won’t be hurt by any of those and it disperses the vinegar well, so the current way seems good. [emoji3]

skr791346 · Feb 17, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The vinegar itself won’t be hurt by any of those and it disperses the vinegar well, so the current way seems good. [emoji3]

Would running the UV only half a day improve nitrate reduction with vinegar dosing? I started dosing about two weeks ago and haven't seen any results yet.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 17, 2018

skr791346 said:
Would running the UV only half a day improve nitrate reduction with vinegar dosing? I started dosing about two weeks ago and haven't seen any results yet.

I'm not sure. It can also take a while to see results.