UV to sterilize water between tanks

[Jubei2006]

So I have a 525 gallon tank setup that long term is going to be a reef tank. I started with dry rock and sand. I have added only prequarantined fish (TSM aquatics). I have a drilled 125gallon tank that I want to plumb into the system and use as a quarantine/frag tank, this is to perfectly match water conditions between the two tanks and would make life easier. If all the overflow water goes through a uv sterilizer at low flow rates, would that be good enough to kill ich, velvet, and other fish parasites? As well as most of the coral parasites? I would more likely buy pretreated aquacultured corals (top shelf aquatics and the like) to prevent coral disease and pest. But I have never seen a company sell corals from fishless systems that are guaranteed to not have been exposed to fish pathogens. Thanks so much guys and girls!

 

[Biokabe]

I wouldn't count on it, especially not if you were planning on using it as a QT system. UV sterilizers have been shown to have some effectiveness on larger parasites like that, but I don't think anyone would claim complete protection from them. You can certainly try it out and see if it does work, but to my mind that kind of defeats the purpose of a QT to have it plumbed into your display tank. Additionally, having the QT physically plumbed in will make it impossible to use as a treatment tank if you need to administer any medications that are not reef-safe, such as copper.

 

[SlugSnorter]

So I have a 525 gallon tank setup that long term is going to be a reef tank. I started with dry rock and sand. I have added only prequarantined fish (TSM aquatics). I have a drilled 125gallon tank that I want to plumb into the system and use as a quarantine/frag tank, this is to perfectly match water conditions between the two tanks and would make life easier. If all the overflow water goes through a uv sterilizer at low flow rates, would that be good enough to kill ich, velvet, and other fish parasites? As well as most of the coral parasites? I would more likely buy pretreated aquacultured corals (top shelf aquatics and the like) to prevent coral disease and pest. But I have never seen a company sell corals from fishless systems that are guaranteed to not have been exposed to fish pathogens. Thanks so much guys and girls!

eh, theres stuff that can get through the UV. what you can do however is use the same salt mix. Also, its way way way better to ensure minimal contact between DT and QT to prevent any chance to spread infection.

you can also use the media from the DT to seed the QT

 

[Miami Reef]

I personally wouldn’t trust it. How would you be confident that all the water would be sterilized the first pass through? UV effectiveness is diminished when the quart sleeve gets dirty. Flow rate must be slow. And the tanks must be 10 feet apart to prevent aerosol transmission between tanks.

The risk of cross contamination with tanks close to each other is high.

I’m not saying your setup is impossible to achieve, but I do think a lot of thought needs to go into the setup to prevent your investments from TSM getting wasted.

 

[SlugSnorter]

I personally wouldn’t trust it. How would you be confident that all the water would be sterilized the first pass through? UV effectiveness is diminished when the quart sleeve gets dirty. Flow rate must be slow. And the tanks must be 10 feet apart to prevent aerosol transmission between tanks.

The risk of cross contamination with tanks close to each other is high.

I’m not saying your setup is impossible to achieve, but I do think a lot of thought needs to go into the setup to prevent your investments from TSM getting wasted.

even then, theres always a risk of stuff getting through UV even with proper function.

 

[Jubei2006]

I wouldn't count on it, especially not if you were planning on using it as a QT system. UV sterilizers have been shown to have some effectiveness on larger parasites like that, but I don't think anyone would claim complete protection from them. You can certainly try it out and see if it does work, but to my mind that kind of defeats the purpose of a QT to have it plumbed into your display tank. Additionally, having the QT physically plumbed in will make it impossible to use as a treatment tank if you need to administer any medications that are not reef-safe, such as copper.

This isnt going to be a fish system. Corals only. And I was only planning on running maybe 200 to 300 gph max through the UV sterilizer and therefore through the systems

 

[SlugSnorter]

This isnt going to be a fish system. Corals only. And I was only planning on running maybe 200 to 300 gph max through the UV sterilizer and therefore through the systems

still bad idea. Just because its only corals doesn't mean the UV becomes the ultimate solution. Keep the tanks separate.

 

[Jubei2006]

I personally wouldn’t trust it. How would you be confident that all the water would be sterilized the first pass through? UV effectiveness is diminished when the quart sleeve gets dirty. Flow rate must be slow. And the tanks must be 10 feet apart to prevent aerosol transmission between tanks.

The risk of cross contamination with tanks close to each other is high.

I’m not saying your setup is impossible to achieve, but I do think a lot of thought needs to go into the setup to prevent your investments from TSM getting wasted.

Hence the reason Im asking here. The only reason I was thinking about it is because this way, I wouldnt have any variation between the tanks parameters. And all water would be going through the UV sterilizer.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Hence the reason Im asking here. The only reason I was thinking about it is because this way, I wouldnt have any variation between the tanks parameters. And all water would be going through the UV sterilizer.

Even the best UV sterilizers will not kill everything, you'd need a UV death ray to make sure. Its better just to match params by hand

 

[Jubei2006]

Even the best UV sterilizers will not kill everything, you'd need a UV death ray to make sure. Its better just to match params by hand

Yeah I was looking at an 80watt running around 300 gallons per hour. Guess I'll just be trying to keep them close. Sorta sucks as I have about 1 dkh difference between my 29gallon and my 525

 

[SlugSnorter]

Yeah I was looking at an 80watt running around 300 gallons per hour. Guess I'll just be trying to keep them close. Sorta sucks as I have about 1 dkh difference between my 29gallon and my 525

you can use some sensors and ingenuity to have something measure parameters in the first, and have the second dose or alert accordingly.