UV Sterilizer question.

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Getting ready to start a new build soon. trying to work out the design now. I was looking into using a dual sterilizer setup. display is roughly 275 gallons with a 100 gallon sump. Was thinking to run dual 40 watt pentairs. I've read that running one with slow flow for protozoa and one with higher flow for algae control can be a good combination. do you think the size would be adequate? or do I have to size each one to the total system volume? Unfortunately, I do not have space for a fish room. I have to size everything to be able to house all of the equipment in the wall unit. The 40 watt sterilizers are roughly 40" long. I have the space under the display to secure them horizontally to the underside of the tank platform. Does it matter if they are horizontal or vertical? will it have any effect on the actual performance?
 
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They tend to be a little cumbersome so I would get the most powerful you can fit in somewhere, and run it at just a slow rate so it kills everything that goes through it, which is the whole point of using a UV

I cant really see any benefit to running one at a faster rate, if your getting two you may as well run them both at slow flow for maximum effect

As far as horizontal or vertical, you would need to check the instructions but often they work either way. If vertical I would feed into the bottom and out of the top to avoid potential air pockets. That’s what my instructions say anyway.

Ive got an 80w UV-C from DD and I run that at a slow rate for even more killing power in my big system.

Just my thoughts anyway
 
To kill parasites you want it slow (more exposure). To kill of algea and add tank clarity it's about turnover rate as they don't take much exposure to kill.

As long as no air bubbles can be trapped inside the tube then any mounting configuration will work. Most are vertical so air bubbles travel out.
 
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SPR1968 said:
They tend to be a little cumbersome so I would get the most powerful you can fit in somewhere, and run it at just a slow rate so it kills everything that goes through it, which is the whole point of using a UV

I cant really see any benefit to running one at a faster rate, if your getting two you may as well run them both at slow flow for maximum effect

As far as horizontal or vertical, you would need to check the instructions but often they work either way. If vertical I would feed into the bottom and out of the top to avoid potential air pockets. That’s what my instructions say anyway.

Ive got an 80w UV-C from DD and I run that at a slow rate for even more killing power in my big system.

Just my thoughts anyway.
Click to expand...

The only real reason I was thinking about using a dual sterilizer setup was because my plan was to run dual return lines using eco-techs vectra L2's for redundancy. Then just valve off the return lines into the sterilizers and then back into the return lines. would this method suffice? or would it be better to come from the display directly into the uv and directly back to the display? I can drill the glass and use bulkheads in the side where the overflow will be. I will have room there because that end panel will be a 32 x 30 inch panel. there will be a Lopro 2400 gph overflow at the top there. plenty of room for inlet and outlet ports.
 
You should understand how a UV works so you can size properly.

From what I have learned.

To fight algaes the reason you need high flow is to expose as many of the algaes to the UV. This is because of the growth rate of most algaes.
Basically slow flow will kill off a 1000 an hour, so to speak.
but overall the algaes are reproducing
At 10000 per hour. Yes something is better than nothing but I think you see the issue. This is why a lot of people feel that their UV did nothing for their own algae problems and deem them a failure.
So for algae you have to kill it faster than it can reproduce.
It does not take much UV to kill off algae but you bave to get as much water through the unit as possible. This is where the total tank volume of water must go through the unit many times an hour to kill off the majority.
They can't die if there not exposed.

For parasites UV does not kill them, again many think this but it is false.
UV units sterilize parasites so they can't reproduce and they eventually will die off.
This takes time to accomplish, most will not allow the correct amount of time before they deem UV a failure on parasites.

The exposure time to sterilize the paracites is critical a d may even take several exposures to accomplish, thus the higher UV wattage the better.

Knowing these things is needed in choosing the right SIZE and POWER you will need for a individual tank.

So just know that you cant choose a UV because it fits in a space.
You have to calculate the overall water volume by the exposure times (power) and flow rate, to accomplish the task of what your trying to fight.

I hope this helps you.
 
K7BMG said:
You should understand how a UV works so you can size properly.

From what I have learned.

To fight algaes the reason you need high flow is to expose as many of the algaes to the UV. This is because of the growth rate of most algaes.
Basically slow flow will kill off a 1000 an hour, so to speak.
but overall the algaes are reproducing
At 10000 per hour. Yes something is better than nothing but I think you see the issue. This is why a lot of people feel that their UV did nothing for their own algae problems and deem them a failure.
So for algae you have to kill it faster than it can reproduce.
It does not take much UV to kill off algae but you bave to get as much water through the unit as possible. This is where the total tank volume of water must go through the unit many times an hour to kill off the majority.
They can't die if there not exposed.

For parasites UV does not kill them, again many think this but it is false.
UV units sterilize parasites so they can't reproduce and they eventually will die off.
This takes time to accomplish, most will not allow the correct amount of time before they deem UV a failure on parasites.

The exposure time to sterilize the paracites is critical a d may even take several exposures to accomplish, thus the higher UV wattage the better.

Knowing these things is needed in choosing the right SIZE and POWER you will need for a individual tank.

So just know that you cant choose a UV because it fits in a space.
You have to calculate the overall water volume by the exposure times (power) and flow rate, to accomplish the task of what your trying to fight.

I hope this helps you.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the advice. This why I was considering dual sterilizers for how you described the burn times for different things. The Pentairs state burn times for algae and protozoa at different rates. my total system volume will be around 375 gallons. The 40 watt sterilizers can handle a max system volume of about 260 gallons each. This is why I was asking If I ran one at one flow rate and the other at a different flow rate would it work considering that together they would essentially handle 500+ gallons? and would it even help to have the two different flow rates? or would running the 2 separate flow rates negate or hinder the overall performance of the UV system as a whole? I could probably do just one 80 watt sterilizer, set the flow rate and forget it and possibly achieve the same result but wasn't sure. I guess I was looking for a little insight or if anyone has thought of doing something in this fashion and could offer any type of results that they have found.
 
Understand your thoughts.
I have a 240 gallon system overall, and set my lifeguard 90w up for algae
Control. I use a Varios 8 pump with inch and a quarter plumbing at a head height of four feet. Calculations would show a result of 2300gph through the UV. This is just about right according to Lifeguards chart.

I dont know the specifics on the units your looking at, bjt they should have a chart to go off of.
All I can tell you is I would need the 120 watt unit for a larger volume of water.
In anycase follow the manufacturers recommendations and the unit will serve you well. To deviate lower than that will in the case of UV anyway will not yeald the results you need.
 
Keep in mind a uv isnt going to kill algae that grows on rocks. It will only kill things that flows through the uv. Phytoplankton is a prime target and dinos.

There are other effects that uv does besides kill things. It also destroys chemicals and pollutants. It can photochemically destroy ammonia iirc. And there are lots of other effects. Thats why i keep mine on 24/7.
 
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