What uv i chouse and is this to much with uv sterilisers?

[Michael Curtis]

Having suffered with dinos for about 9 months I decided to add uv sterilisers into my system in an attempt to see if it helps in anyway.

So thought id post it up here for others

Tank is a evolution aquatics 1200S (old style) 1200cm (L) 600cm (d) 500cm(h) so about 350L when running including sump

The big down side with this tank is its back fed from 2 return pumps not one and no weir box

Pros for 2 pumps setup if one fails the other will keep things ticking over till you can get a new one

Down side of this though anything that need plumbing inline needs to be dubbed 2 returns and 2 outlets


Ok so the manual for the tank says it have to have 2 x 2000LPH pumps

Now to me this seems like overkill for a 4ft tank but thats what I have installed and on know that the head hight is about 1m so even the output won't be 2000lph

So when it comes to uv slow is best but with these 2 pumps most won't cut it at that flow rate and as I need to add 2 the price would be hell in the pocket

So did little research and decided on 2 x EA evo15 but as said the flow rate was to high for the max even though the tank size would be fine (400L tank max flow 1500lph)

So went with the evo25s (600L tank flow 2000lph)

Plus at a only £5 difference on price whats there to loose.


So the specs are simple

Max 2000lph though put
25w T8 UV bulbs
Simple install so they say but will get to that in a sec

Ordered them on next day so delivered yesterday and nearly died when I saw the size of the box they were in these are bigger than I expected (540mm length x 170mm high x 120mm deep)

So set the first one up last night and as a unit its quite impressive for basically a tube with a quarts sleeve inside for the bulb to pass though

according to the instructions this only needs to be hand tight on all joints
so the top section is the uv its self both white ends hold the quarts tube in place with o ring seals between that and the casing/ sleeve so once its in unless cleaning never need removing

The black caps are the bulb connectors and covers sealed with a flat washer so changing the bulb is a snap undo the caps and ends and pull it out no need to stop pumps.

the bottom connections are for the inlet and outlet in no particular direction and are sealed with a foam like flat washer and can be rotated to any position.

its worth noting that EA say these can be positioned in any orientation you like although I have them upright.

so the fist thing I noticed was the inlets are below the tube and there's no way to blead trapped air from the upper chamber although if you inverted them this wouldn't be an issue I chose not to as I didn't want risk the electrical connections below the water connections so inverted the setup once I had made sure it was water tight and this bring me on to my biggest problems with the first unit getting it water tight.

1 hosed tails are 19mm I use heavy duty 20mm flexible pipe so had to clamp down on the end to seal them and this was a mission as unless I really clamped them down they wouldn't stop leaking
2 the "foam like" washer leaked and I had to tighten them up to stop them leaking but what I learned for the second one is to make all connections on the unit before connecting feed and return lines
3 these would be better upside down as empty there easy to move in a tight space when full its a little frustrating or you really need a bleed valve on top.

so having learned of the first today I did the second one and easy install no tools needed and no leaks.

all in all I'm impressed with both units and that fact I only have to remove 2 caps to replace the bulb was a defernite plus although I will still need to unhook them to get at the end caps even thought the sump section is 3/4 of the tank length.

so one was on last night and even though I'm not counting it as helping yet compared to the stringy long grass covering the scape its already having an affect and there is less brown and more rockwork visible today plus the water this morning looked clearer and brighter.

so the only question is 50w uv overkill for a 350L system ?

 

[Ron Reefman]

I can't tell you if you have the correct amount of wattage, but I'll be VERY interested in how well it works on your dino issue.

 

[Michael Curtis]

I can't tell you if you have the correct amount of wattage, but I'll be VERY interested in how well it works on your dino issue.

Im interested in this to at the sec it was a bit the bullet moment
but I have to admit its gone from this

to this with just one setup

so only time will tell

 

[Michael Curtis]

So quick update

Apart from obvious worry of them running dry still impressed so far

Have notice a few things in only 2 days

1 water is clearer

2 fish are happier as I've seen them all over last few days and even ones that were hiding most the time are more active and my angel seems less aggressive to the others

3 my toadstool has opened up again still not fully but a lot happier also the torch coral has fully opened.

4 my new xenia thats been in the tank for 2 weeks with no signs of opening started yesterday and fully open today


The visible dino problem has reduced dramatically

I took a toothbrush last night to the rock work just to clear as much as I could off the rocks inc any other algae what it was attached to off and this is basically all I've been doing since beginning

Nothing changed except adding the UV

Result

After 2 days

Sorry bad phone pic lol

Definitely improved though

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

IMO people that complain that UV doesnt help dino are either regurgitating something they have read or have a woefully undersized UV unit. Is there auch thing as too much UV? Not really. You want everything that passes through it to get zapped, plain and simple. I have 240 watts on my 600 gallon.

Congrats on the results!

 

[h2so4hurts]

Is there auch thing as too much UV? Not really. You want everything that passes through it to get zapped, plain and simple. I have 240 watts on my 600 gallon.

but 240 watts on a 120 might be too much, at least from a heat load perspective. I have a 120 on my 500 and it raised the temp 1 degree running 900gph through it.

 

[Michael Curtis]

I agree but was a little worried that it was overkill

Mine is 50w across 2 uv in a 75 gallon approximately setup

Buy didn't expect such a dramatic change over a few days

I have noticed a slight increase in temp but only 1deg c no noticeable heat on each unit outer casings

If anything its stabilised the temp alittle as it would fluctuate between 24.5 and 26 over the day

I'm just no one to jump straight to chemicals before trying other options first

Ok this might have been the more expencive option but the fact uv kills other things as well I think the investment works out for hopefully stability in the long run.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Its true.. you can have too much UV but your problems will not be UV it will be heat as sulfuric acid hurts pointed out. It is almost self limiting though in terms of the size of the UV unit and size of the tank. Fitting a 120 watt UV under a 75 gallon would be a challange at best. My 240 takes up a lot of room and i have an entire sump room.