Suggestions For Plumbing Huge UV Sterilizer?

Confuse · Dec 12, 2016

Hey y'all! So I'm finally on winter break from graduate school! Unfortunately, over Thanksgiving, I had a tank crash and lost quite a few fish during an Ich outbreak. Most all the wrasses survived except my Lineatus and Potter's wrasse and I lost my 6 year old clownfish as well as others. =[

As a preventive measure, I bought an Emperor Aquatics UV and the thing is almost as wide as my stand! So I was looking for suggestions as far as plumbing it. I took BRS' advice and bought an independent pump for it, but I have no idea how to mount it inside my stand. Take into consideration that the bulb needs to be changed every 6-12 months, so I would need an easy way to remove it.

Any suggestions are highly appreciated!

Justkeepswimming · Dec 12, 2016

I was actually thinking about trying a UV for the first time. How much was the setup?

As for the install, Why not get some hangers from homedepot and mount it to the bottom of the tank? If you use those fire-extinguisher hangers, it would make for easy maintenance. Good luck.

Zoarder · Dec 12, 2016

Confuse said:

Hey y'all! So I'm finally on winter break from graduate school! Unfortunately, over Thanksgiving, I had a tank crash and lost quite a few fish during an Ich outbreak. Most all the wrasses survived except my Lineatus and Potter's wrasse and I lost my 6 year old clownfish as well as others. =[

As a preventive measure, I bought an Emperor Aquatics UV and the thing is almost as wide as my stand! So I was looking for suggestions as far as plumbing it. I took BRS' advice and bought an independent pump for it, but I have no idea how to mount it inside my stand. Take into consideration that the bulb needs to be changed every 6-12 months, so I would need an easy way to remove it.

Any suggestions are highly appreciated!

Do u have room in the back? A pic might help

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theMerchant · Dec 12, 2016

Make sure the plumbing out of the UV faces up so the trapped air can escape

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pciscott · Dec 12, 2016

You can run off your return pump with bypass plumbing and not have to deal with another pump. With the bypass you can have water move slowly through a chiller or UV and then go back into your standard return. A bypass would be 2 T's with a valve in between them added into your return plumbing. Leave the valve open and no water will go through the loop, as you close the valve water will flow through the bypass.

Confuse · Dec 12, 2016

Zoarder said:

This is about as much room I have in the back. I could possibly mount it on top of the plumbing by hanging the uv with straps from the stand? I just need room to clear when changing the uv bulb and reduce water,spillage on the floor.

newtothis · Dec 12, 2016

Confuse said:

I see a catch can/bucket...hahahhahah

Confuse · Dec 12, 2016

newtothis said:

Haha. Yeah. I had moved my biopellet reactor over to make room for my skimmate container and the pipes started leaking all over the floor and I couldn't pinpoint where. It stopped now, so go figure. I have a crapload of cables there. I pulled all the transformers out the sides of the stand.

red13 · Dec 12, 2016

Have you considered mounting it vertically? It looks like there might be enough space behind the tank. It would reduce spillage when changing bulbs.

theMerchant · Dec 12, 2016

Also if you had unions and ball valves, you could discount pipe for maintenance and bulb change.

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Confuse · Dec 23, 2016

Bump!

I am about to install the UV and I was hoping to get some feedback from UV running folk. My question is: how often do you clean the quartz glass in the UV unit? What kind of buildup do you get? By placing the UV horizonally on the floor, I have easy access to switch the bulb out, but removing the sealed quartz glass to clean would cause spillages since it would unseal the reactor.

Any thoughts?

theMerchant · Dec 23, 2016

Confuse said:

I clean mine once in 6 months. the build up wasnt bad at all some, salt build up. But I did manage to break my quartz tube even thought I was extra careful. I did find a aftermarket tube online for pretty cheap.

I would but a gate valve on both input and output, one can be used to regulate flow and closed for maintenance.

Confuse · Dec 24, 2016

theMerchant said:

Thanks. My setup is very elementary since my tank is already plumbed and I'm cramped for space.

I'm about to run the pump to the UV. I'm nervous as hell about a leak. The UV is behind my tank where all the cables are. ;[

theMerchant · Dec 24, 2016

I would test for leaks BEFORE you insert the UV lamp inside. Stick a tissue inside the tube to make sure it's not leaking and wet.
It's a pain but worth doing

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Confuse · Dec 24, 2016

theMerchant said:

Yeah. Already did that before installing. Still nervous. So far, it appears that there are no leaks. I'll be turning the UV bulb in a few.

Confuse · Dec 24, 2016

And the light is on!!

Does anyone know what I can expect from UV as far as water clarity or algae?

theMerchant · Dec 24, 2016

I just cleaned and reinstalled my UV, so I know how you feel. It does make a difference once you run it and will miss it if not being used. I was lazy and left it out of my system because I was waiting for the replacement tube. Not if it's related but I started to get some dinoflagellates. Now I'm back on and fighting it with a black out.

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Suggestions For Plumbing Huge UV Sterilizer?

Confuse

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