M6S1K3 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I bought an aquaUV 8watt the other day for my wife's tank. 38 g. Alittle overkill but would work well in less time was my thought process. Then I found this link: http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/products/uvsterilizers/advantage/8watt On that page the very bottom it says "how do I size a UV for a reef tank". If you click that and read it. You'll find my question. The UV I have is a 90,000. Not a 30-45,000. Will this not work on my wife's 38 g tank without killing the "good stuff"? If it won't work on hers would it on mine (with roughly 100g total water volume) or would it kill all my "good stuff" too? Can anyone shed light on this? Much appreciated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Your unit is rated up to 70 gallons so that should work just fine for your wife's tank but may be undersized for your own tank. If you are just trying to kill algae and bacteria, then 30,000-45,000 uw/cm2 should work, which means you want roughly 428-642 GPH flowing through the reactor. For disease control, they recommend 75,000-90,000 uw/cm2, which then you should run a flow of 214-256 GPH through the reactor. When running disease control, you will have a tendency to kill the "good stuff" too. Hopefully, Timfish's vet friend can shed some light on this as they experiment with UV sterilization and ich protists. For me, I compare running UV to running a skimmer. They both have the ability to take out good and bad. My viewpoint on the UV is fortunately, most of the useful bacteria are within your liverock and sandbed. It will kill some useful plankton but I supplement with microfoods anyways so I am not as concerned with that. I prefer disease control and algae control with the UV and will just dose plankton when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M6S1K3 Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Very informative. What exactly are you dosing? What brand? I have been wanting to but there are so many out there I haven't decided on one yet Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M6S1K3 Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Also. Maybe a stupid question. But does the 75-90,000 also do algae and bacteria? Or are they two separate beasts? And one of my main concerns are pods. As we both have a mandarin and don't want to limit its food supply that we have worked so hard to populate. Does either 30-45,000 or 75-90,000 kill pods? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I would imagine the 75-90,000 has the ability to kill some of the larval stages of pods. Yes, algae and bacteria are encompassed in the killing ability of 75-90,000. Quick note to add, unless you know the age of the UV bulb, I'd go ahead and replace it. Aqua UV bulbs last longer than most other bulbs and they recommend every 14 months. I'd also try to wipe off the quart sleeve at least once a month if possible to remove any growth on them. For dosing, I don't really stick to a particular brand. I've used reefroids, cyclopeeze, reef chili, coral frenzy, Pappone's recipe, and even mashed up flakes. Protein is protein to me... just as long as the size of the particles are in the right range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M6S1K3 Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Awesome. Will do. I personally have small amounts of hair algae on parts of rocks. But no algae anywhere else. Sand. Glass. The majority of rocks. Just certain spots have maybe a quarter size of hair algae and it annoys me. I even did a water change yesterday. I was hoping the UV might help? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Possibly. I don't really know the stages of growth for hair algae so I can't add too much. Most of the time, it's used to treat for planktonic algae that resides in the water column, though I'm sure it helps kill off algal spores for those types that reproduce and spread that way. Depending how long ago your tank was setup, it just may be part of the cycling process. I don't really worry about algae, cyano, diatoms, or dinos that pop up in the first year of the tank. Just part of the maturation process. I'd look into nutrient level control as a better way to control algae. Keep your nitrates and phosphates in line and you'll rarely have issues with algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M6S1K3 Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Ok. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I would not expect it do do anything for any algae attached to a substrate. It will kill a lot of the single cell algae that is wiped off glass as it floats around before it settles back on the glass though. While I am a firm believer UV will control and eradcate ick in aquariums if used properly and if an outbreak is caught in time but it should not be used as an alternative to QT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M6S1K3 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 So do you think putting it on my 90g with 30g dump maybe 100-105 g total water volume would do anything? Even if it's not rated if water passes through? I'm just worried about my pods that I need desperately for my mandarin. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 A majority of the larval stages of the pods I would imagine would get toasted in the UV. If you ran it on your 90g, I doubt it will be as effective for disease control as the UV is underrated for that size tank. So the only function it will have is killing planktonic algae and larval pods. For me at least, I see no reason to run it on your 90g then... unless you upgrade to a larger UV capable of disease control for that size tank. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M6S1K3 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Ok cool. I'll hold off Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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