Question on UV Sterilizer setup + Pump Selection

[undel]

Hello everyone. I currently have a 150 gallon planted tank that will house grown out discus as a display tank. I was hoping to get some input on a UV Sterilizer and I have some questions regarding its setup.

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All of the equipment is hidden behind the wall, and there are 18 holes that I drilled into the wall that are covered by mesh to allow flow. All of my equipment is in the cabinet underneath, and that's how I'd like to keep it. Behind the rock wall + under the tank. It has two canister filters running. (along with co2 injection and an air pump behind the wall)

• One is an FX4 (700gph)
• One is a CF-500UV (525gph)

The latter was sold to me by my LFS as a filter + uv sterilizer combination. I have since learned that the flow + length + wattage of the bulb is probably only affecting my algae and maaaaaaaaybe some of the bacteria. It's simply moving too fast and is not a real UV sterilizer. At least it's still an effective filter, because the UV is a waste.

I did want to have UV sterilization running if possible. This is my first discus tank, (though I've kept a planted tank for 4 years) and I want to give the little guys any extra edge I can, since I'm putting them in a planted tank which will never be as clean as a BB. I looked into different UV sterilizers, and I think this is the one I want to get:

• Smart UV 40 Watt - Pentair Aquatics - http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/empero...v-40-watt.html

I looked at the manual and it looks like I could hook it up to either of my cannister filters. The problem is that both cannister filters are simply pumping too fast and if the water moves through the sterilizer too fast, it's not really being sterilized to the level that I want it (algae, bacteria, protozoa) . The fluval I can control the flow rate through the power of guestimation, but the aquatop is not adjustable.

This leaves me needing some way to pump water into the UV Sterilizer and back out again. I have no experience with sumps and have only ever used canister filters. Which is what brings me here. I don't want to set up a sump, but I do want to get an appropriate flow to fully utilize a good UV sterilizer. Can I just hook the sterilizer up to a pump and have hoses leading into and out of the water? If so, do you think that this pump is a good match for the sterilizer listed above?

• http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/eheim-...rsal-pump.html (max head 6.5', 320gph)

The pump will need to pump up 4.5' to get back into my aquarium. Would that be enough to slow the flow down to what I need? The sterilizer recommends 157-262gph. I'm having a tough time finding a pump that can pump the vertical distance needed but still have a low flow rate.

Would this work, and is it as simple as hooking a pump up and letting it do its thing?

[Second Hand Pat]

Most pump specs will give the head pressure for differing vertical distances but not seeing that for this pump. Perhaps contact Eheim for that data on this particular pump. You will also need to run the pump inline which you can do with this pump. So it should be that easy.

However please do not use the addition of a UV as a excuse to forgo water changes.
Pat

[farebox]

I have this unit on my 125G discus tank w/ 20g sump. I plumbed it with my Mag 9.5 return pump, 950 gph turned down to about 550 gph. It's working great for me, I do have a few potted plants in the tank and have no algae. This unit is large so the dwell time should be fine with the way I have it setup.

[atlantadiscus]

I have this unit on my 125G discus tank w/ 20g sump. I plumbed it with my Mag 9.5 return pump, 950 gph turned down to about 550 gph. It's working great for me, I do have a few potted plants in the tank and have no algae. This unit is large so the dwell time should be fine with the way I have it setup.

Fine for killing algae and most bacteria,way too fast to kill parasites.To kill parasites,you would need to slow flow down to 157-262 gallons per hour as Emperor clearly states in their manual.Difference between level 1 and level 2 sterilization.

[atlantadiscus]

Undel,look at the Taam Rio plus water pumps.The #1400 model should be perfect as it is rated @ 243 gph @ 4.00' head,so it will be right in the sweetspot @ your 4.5' head.Available on Amazon for great pricing.

[undel]

@secondhandpat Oh, that's useful that the pumps will give out estimated flow rates at different heights. I would love to take some of the guesswork out of this whole situation. I plan on doing every other day 50% water changes. The UV addition is more to give them every edge I can. The plants and substrate will make it difficult to have it ever be as pristine as BB!

@farebox I'm glad to hear you have a setup that is working well for you! For my setup I'm hoping to get a slower flow rate over the bulb so I can take advantage of the bulb's ability to zap certain protozoa if they are not rushed out of the chamber too fast.

@atlantadiscus Oh, thank you for pointing me to that. That's a much cheaper pump, and 243 is just right for staying within the flow rate for the required sterilization, while still turning over 1.5x my tank's volume per hour. Perfect! Because I've never used a pump like this before (I've been pure cannister until now) I want to confirm how this pump works. I see only one place to hook up a hose, but it says it's fully submersible. I stick the pump in the water, hook up a hose that leads out of the aquarium and down to the ground to the uv input, then hook up a hose that leads from uv output and back up 4.5' into the tank? That's what I'm getting out of this, but I want to make sure I'm not overlooking something obvious!

Thanks to everyone for the help so far! Much appreciated!

[undel]

Apologies for the delay on a reply. I think my reply went into moderation because I have less than 11 posts and I must have used a link or something.

Thank you for the advice! I didn't know flow at various heights was information that was so readily available. Newbie to filtration beyond cannister filters. The UV will be used in conjunction with frequent water changes, rather than as a replacement for them.

Thank you for the pump recommendation! That one looks perfect! Should stay within the bounds for level 2 sterilization, while turning over 1.5x the water every hour. Thank you!



Edit: haha, right after I posted this my reply from yesterday showed up. :-/

[DC Discus]

Just a thought; that the UV light is overkill for what you're hoping to accomplish. For success in your case I'd remove the current fish, then wait 3 weeks or more for any ich to die out from the system. Then invest in larger discus minimum 4". Just think $400+ dollars could be spent on elsewhere to improve your success probability (automated water change system, another FX4 filter, good CO2 controll to prevent mishaps, etc).

I personally use the Emperor UV lights in large systems (banks of four) and like them alot, but like the Coral life turbo twists or the TMC Vectron series for small <250-gallon systems;
http://www.americanaquariumproducts....terilizer.html

My gripe with UV light ratings is a lot of it's based on a single pass kill ratios for pathogens, but your tank will be running through it once an hour or so. So basically if you burn a pathogen several times in a day its going to have tough time reproducing/flourishing. The other gripe is many pathogen jump from host to host and so the UV light never has a chance to kill them. They are great for algae and work OK in multiple tank systems to reduce the spread of ich from one tank to another.

Cheers,
DC

Just some food for thought. NICE set-up so far!

[atlantadiscus]

Yes,Undel- that is exactly how you would plumb this setup.I have a very similar setup running on my 56 gallon tank,using the smaller Emperor 18 watt UV and Rio plus 800 pump which has been working great for me.