Please help me choose a UV. 650 litre system.

[vdubers]

Hi I recently set up a new tank. Should be total water volume of around 650 litres when you subtract sand and rock.

I want to purchase a UV to help with parasite control as well as water clarity. I have had Ich, Dino’s and cyano in the past.

I am in the UK and torn between 4 different UV systems.

A 55w all pond solutions with a listed “ flow through sterilisation” rate of 5000 l/ph

https://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/55w/

a 36w all pond solutions with a listed “ flow through sterilisation” rate of 6000l/ph apparently this uses a helix water flow system making it more effective?

https://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/36w/

A D-D 39W with a flow rate of 2000 l/ph which apparently uses a quartz bulb making it twice as effective as standard UV’s.

https://charterhouse-aquatics.com/shop/aquatics/filtration/d-d/d-d-professional-complete-39w-uv-unit

or a D-D 80w with a flow rate of 4000 l/ph again uses that quartz bulb apparently making it twice as effective? Maybe this would be overkill? I would rather get away with less electric usage if it wouldn’t make much difference.

D-D Professional Complete 80w UV Unit

D-D U.V. sterilisers are designed to produce a radiation intensity of 33,000 microwatt's/sec/sq.cm which is sufficient to destroy most common pathogens in fresh and salt water aquariums

charterhouse-aquatics.com

The all pond solutions ones are half the price of the D-D ones so are preferable if they will do the job. This will be plumbed into my return line and I have a DC pump with variable control. Max flow of 4000 L/ph but I can turn it down lower easily.

I would appreciate any thoughts and also open to alternative suggestions other than Troptronic systems as replacement burners are expensive and hard to come by in the UK. Thank you

 

[blaxsun]

Aquaultraviolet 57-watt.

 

[apb03]

I use a 55watt lifegard. It's a pretty decent unit at a good price although quite bulky.

 

[Pickle_soup]

My 2 cents and did the meth on this one. You can't have both. You're either trying to control algae or parasites. The flow rates vary on this. Personally, I think that if you want to go for clarity, Ozone Generator is far more effective. As for parasites, I don't think that they really do that much to control outbreaks. Flow rates to effectively kill parasites are really low, really low....I mean on a 100-gallon tank, 100-150 gph flow rate to deal with parasites and that doesn't even guarantee success. I do not think it's worth the trouble. Besides, I think UV sterilizers in aquariums are equivalent to garlic killing ich, a bunch of nonsense. But that's just my 2 cents.

 

[mangolove]

My 2 cents : Dont use UV, dont use Ozone

choose USEFULL fish that eat flatworms and aptasia and have a nice CUC, bla bla

Use coral dip, consider hydrogen peroxide

Inspect corals that you buy, and the tank

Buy from trusted source and use a modern reefing method like the probiotic reef method from aquaforest or tropic marine.

Especially on such a big system your fish should be fine. If you can feed them well and use all the right product your fish should be fine, strong an healthy. Also maybe invest in quarantine tank.

Also can recommend more expensive glass

 

[Pickle_soup]

I'll go a step beyond mangolove. Qt your corals and inverts too, have a dedicated small QT exclusively for that. Keep your corals and inverts in the qt for 76 days, but buy things in batches. Every time you add to your invert qt, that 76 days start over again. Even if you inspect your corals or inverts, very carefully, you will not see ich or other parasites.

 

[vdubers]

Aquaultraviolet 57-watt.

Thanks looks like a great unit sadly in the UK this is out of my price range

I use a 55watt lifegard. It's a pretty decent unit at a good price although quite bulky.

Thanks sadly in the UK this is out of my price range again though looks like a beast of a unit!

My 2 cents and did the meth on this one. You can't have both. You're either trying to control algae or parasites. The flow rates vary on this. Personally, I think that if you want to go for clarity, Ozone Generator is far more effective. As for parasites, I don't think that they really do that much to control outbreaks. Flow rates to effectively kill parasites are really low, really low....I mean on a 100-gallon tank, 100-150 gph flow rate to deal with parasites and that doesn't even guarantee success. I do not think it's worth the trouble. Besides, I think UV sterilizers in aquariums are equivalent to garlic killing ich, a bunch of nonsense. But that's just my 2 cents.

Thanks I do get what you’re saying I have had success managing a ich outbreak using UV as one of the contributing factors. I know it will not eradicate it but has got it to a level on my old tank that I couldn’t see any white spots on fish despite it being in the system. Problem is my old uv unit is massively undersized for this new tank.

My 2 cents : Dont use UV, dont use Ozone

choose USEFULL fish that eat flatworms and aptasia and have a nice CUC, bla bla

Use coral dip, consider hydrogen peroxide

Inspect corals that you buy, and the tank

Buy from trusted source and use a modern reefing method like the probiotic reef method from aquaforest or tropic marine.

Especially on such a big system your fish should be fine. If you can feed them well and use all the right product your fish should be fine, strong an healthy. Also maybe invest in quarantine tank.

Also can recommend more expensive glass

Thanks when you say more expensive glass do you mean the tank? Sadly already have the tank but it looks pretty decent! I am hoping I don’t need UV but I figure running it along with a healthy fish management routine should help?

I'll go a step beyond mangolove. Qt your corals and inverts too, have a dedicated small QT exclusively for that. Keep your corals and inverts in the qt for 76 days, but buy things in batches. Every time you add to your invert qt, that 76 days start over again. Even if you inspect your corals or inverts, very carefully, you will not see ich or other parasites.

I would love to QT but sadly isn’t an option for me due to space limitations. Part of negotiating having the huge tank in the lounge means I have agreed to no other tanks. I know UV won’t replace good QT practice however was hoping if QT just isn’t an option an appropriately sized UV might be part of my tool box in helping manage any potential disease and parasite outbreaks.

 

[Pickle_soup]

Thanks looks like a great unit sadly in the UK this is out of my price range

Thanks sadly in the UK this is out of my price range again though looks like a beast of a unit!

Thanks I do get what you’re saying I have had success managing a ich outbreak using UV as one of the contributing factors. I know it will not eradicate it but has got it to a level on my old tank that I couldn’t see any white spots on fish despite it being in the system. Problem is my old uv unit is massively undersized for this new tank.

Thanks when you say more expensive glass do you mean the tank? Sadly already have the tank but it looks pretty decent! I am hoping I don’t need UV but I figure running it along with a healthy fish management routine should help?


I would love to QT but sadly isn’t an option for me due to space limitations. Part of negotiating having the huge tank in the lounge means I have agreed to no other tanks. I know UV won’t replace good QT practice however was hoping if QT just isn’t an option an appropriately sized UV might be part of my tool box in helping manage any potential disease and parasite outbreaks.

Can you fit a 10-gallon tank in the stand? Your tank is 171 gallons. unless you have a massive sump, you can keep a 10 gallon tank in the stand.