UV-C Sterilization Light -VS- Tetraselmis Phytoplankton

[ZoWhat]

Does running a UV-C 254nm sterilization light completely wipeout my growing and dosing of live tetraselmis phytoplankton?

Is it completely counterproductive wasting time and effort if I ran both UV-C light and dosed tetraselmis?

Hmmmmmm.

This is smthg I want to see for myself.... so I'm running a simple experiment.

Wondering what will happen if UV-C 254nm sterilization light is exposed to live tetraselmis phytoplankton over the course of hours or days.

LIVE tetraselmis from my own home brew station:

Seeing if/when the tetraselmis crashes into clear brown water

Live sample (edited, originally had a gatorade bottle but switched to glass crystal per a posters suggestion below):

Starting the sterilization exposure. Exposure going to be non stop 24/7

 

[mrpizzaface]

This is smthg I want to see for myself.... so I'm running a simple experiment.

Wondering what will happen if UV-C 254nm sterilization light is exposed to live tetraselmis phytoplankton over the course of hours or days.

LIVE tetraselmis from my own home brew station:

Seeing if/when the tetraselmis crashes into clear brown water

Live sample:


Starting the sterilization exposure

looks like Hi C Ecto Cooler

 

[ZoWhat]

Seeing for myself how quickly the damage is done and to what extent these statements are true:

So are they saying my Copepods will have three heads and attack NYC?


.

 

[h2so4hurts]

Did you put titanium nanoparticles (sunscreen) in there?

 

[ZoWhat]

titanium nanoparticles

You know... i JUST ran out of titanium... so no.

My experiment is basic to see: Does running a UV-C 254nm sterilization light completely Wipeout my growing and dosing of live tetraselmis phytoplankton?

 

[ReefLab]

Cool experiment and im interested.
I want to point out that UV-C does not penetrate plastics well, if at all, so you may get a false negative in this experiment. This is why UV sterilizers in our tanks use an ultra-clear quartz sleeve to maximize transmission of UV-C.

 

[ZoWhat]

Cool experiment and im interested.
I want to point out that UV-C does not penetrate plastics well, if at all, so you may get a false negative in this experiment. This is why UV sterilizers in our tanks use an ultra-clear quartz sleeve to maximize transmission of UV-C.

GREAT POINT...

Switching over to a crystal glass:

 

[ReefLab]

GREAT POINT...

Switching over to a crystal glass:

Cool! Following!

 

[h2so4hurts]

That paper was testing the effect of sunscreen in the water. Most sunscreen is titanium dioxide.

 

[ZoWhat]

Interesting bc as of 10am this morning the tetraselmis seems to be unaffected to the exposure.

I have no idea of the "alive" status of tetraselmis but ITS STILL GREEN ... nothing has settled to the bottom

 

[Cory]

Put the uv over the top of the glass. If its not quartz it will block most of it.

 

[ZoWhat]

Are you guys seeing any changes? I'm not. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Latest pic:

 

[ZoWhat]

Ok.... doing what's suggested at 11pm 9/16/20

 

[Cory]

Be careful with your eyes and skin with that being unshielded.

 

[piranhaman00]

I feel like its hurting my eyes just looking at the picture of it.

 

[ZoWhat]

The Death of The Phyto. Images pretty much tell ya what 254nm UVC when exposed directly into phyto will do within 12hrs. Experiment complete. Thanks for playing....

 

[ZoWhat]

Final conclusion... when trying to avoid UVC rays from the sun at the beach, encapsulate yourself in an upside-down 8ft tall beer glass.... and you don't have to wear a N95 Mask

 

[Memisis]

So moral of the story is grow your pods in a seperate tank and move hotels from DT to pod tank. I have a 55 watt sterilizer and have been wondering the same thing. I also think we will need less phyto in a smaller tank due to less dilution.

As for corals, we could still dose into the DT so we avoid the uv. It may be a fruitless effort though. My return turns the tank over 3-4 times an hour (160gal including sump). Would this be enough time for the corals to get at some, and what would the ramifications of all the dead phyto be? Would the corals still consume dead phyto and would it be nutritious... i evidently have so many questions.

Great question and experiment @skimjim !

 

[ZoWhat]

So moral of the story is grow your pods in a seperate tank and move hotels from DT to pod tank. I have a 55 watt sterilizer and have been wondering the same thing. I also think we will need less phyto in a smaller tank due to less dilution.

As for corals, we could still dose into the DT so we avoid the uv. It may be a fruitless effort though. My return turns the tank over 3-4 times an hour (160gal including sump). Would this be enough time for the corals to get at some, and what would the ramifications of all the dead phyto be? Would the corals still consume dead phyto and would it be nutritious... i evidently have so many questions.

Great question and experiment @skimjim !

I'm going to continue to use my 254nm UVC light BUT in the sump which is in the basement

My DT on the 1st floor I will dose my 32ozs of home brewed phyto twice a week BUT feed it while the Return is off for at least 2hrs.

In my mind the phyto will be consumed in the DT by pods with in 2hrs.

Once the Return turns back on ...i will now know whatever phyto is i the water column will get killed off over the next few hours.

 

[KrisReef]

Final conclusion... when trying to avoid UVC rays from the sun at the beach, encapsulate yourself in an upside-down 8ft tall beer glass.... and you don't have to wear a N95 Mask

I hope someone repeats your test on the beach, but around here we can't take beer or glass on the beach or else I'd try this.

Thanks for posting. Very interesting seeing the kill rate of UV. From now on I'll use a Coosy on my beer at the beach to prevent early death!