UV Sterilizer Flow

[Grimmj]

I've been looking around different forums and watching the BRS videos. I can't seem to find a exact answer to my question. Can I have to little flow in my UV sterilizer. My display is roughly 70 gallons with a 20 gallon sump. I am looking to pump on a isolated loop since my tanks plumbing wont allow me to just add inline. My plan is to only run the UV as a preventative so I would only be running it at night after the lights on DT are off.

 

[Uncle99]

I've been looking around different forums and watching the BRS videos. I can't seem to find a exact answer to my question. Can I have to little flow in my UV sterilizer. My display is roughly 70 gallons with a 20 gallon sump. I am looking to pump on a isolated loop since my tanks plumbing wont allow me to just add inline. My plan is to only run the UV as a preventative so I would only be running it at night after the lights on DT are off.

Depends on UV wattage and what your trying to sterilize?
If your after algae in the water column then sure, you can run too slow. You need to be in the 3-4x tank volume turnover for “green” and “golden” stuff.
If your after parasites, then slow is best.
Maybe 15-25 watts.

 

[Grimmj]

Depends on UV wattage and what your trying to sterilize?
If your after algae in the water column then sure, you can run too slow. You need to be in the 3-4x tank volume turnover for “green” and “golden” stuff.
If your after parasites, then slow is best.
Maybe 15-25 watts.

Was looking at the 15 watt aqua and trying to figure out a pump. I have a 180ish gph Sicce in my spare parts bin. I just wasn't sure if there was something bad that would happen if I don't turn over enough water in the sterilizer.

 

[Idech]

Was looking at the 15 watt aqua and trying to figure out a pump. I have a 180ish gph Sicce in my spare parts bin. I just wasn't sure if there was something bad that would happen if I don't turn over enough water in the sterilizer.

That’s what I bought for my 75 gallons (sumpless). I used it for dinos and used the sicce 1.0 return pump (Up to 251 GPH I believe).

In my case it worked really well. I stopped using it a few weeks after the dinos disappeared and I still have no algae at all. I’m sure the UV did that.

 

[Waters]

To answer your question, the only danger of having too little flow through your UV unit is that it might not be able to keep up with the tank. All UV have recommended flow levels for bacteria or parasites. Going slower than their recommended numbers won't cause you any issues.