UV STERILIZER

[South Carolina reef]

My tank is just over 2 months old. I just installed a 15w UV . I have had what appears to be diatoms for about 3 weeks. I'm running the UV through my return pump so all of my water runs through the uv. Will it help get rid or kill diatoms? I haven't checked my flow rate yet. I'm pumping it through a platinum blue 800 DC return pump set on 1-4 I'm assuming this is around 450 gallons an hour. Does anybody have experience with this kind of pump and setup

 

[bee144]

Look to see if your uv manufacturer has a flow rate chart. Flow rates vary by brand. For example, my brand for an 8W says to run 265 GPh for fish parasite removal and 600ish gph for algae and reef safe approach.

you’ll want to do the same with your brand. Things like contact time and strength of the bulb will vary what you need for either a fish or reef flow rate.

 

[South Carolina reef]

Thanks. Aqua ultraviolet brand. It says 400 something to 700 something for algae. What about diatoms.

 

[d2mini]

Your tank is only 2 months old. Brown diatoms is just part of a new tank.

But I do love using a UV, not knocking it.

 

[South Carolina reef]

Yah. Just hoping uv will help get rid of it