uv sterilizers in reef tanks?

drdsanders · 07-08-2006, 11:09 PM

im re entering the salt hobby after having been out of it for 6 yrs. In the past i believed that uv sterilizers were not good for reefs because they killed too many micro oganisms. Now with improvements in foods such as cyclopeeze and zooplankton, im leaning the other way. Any help on using sterilizers on reef tanks, how many watts, and what brands will be appreciated. tank size is a 75 gal and a 125 gal. 75 gal has 4x96w p/c lighting. 125 gal has 3x150w HQI and 4x96w p/c lighting. The 75 gal will house some fishes, the 125 will house no fish (perhaps 1 tang, and a six line wrasse). I'm contemplating running a 40w sterilizer on each.

drdsanders · 07-09-2006, 12:15 AM

i found an old post on the topic which was pretty informative. Sounds like a sterilizer is a good thing. Still looking for good brands, appropriate wattages. Please help

Geoff · 07-09-2006, 07:32 AM

i think the emporor aquatics website has a good chart for sizing UV sterilizers on it. you need a lot more power than you think.

i feel that they are best used on the inlet to the skimmer. that way anything that is killed will be immediately removed by the skimmer. because of this, a large piped UV sterilizer would need to be used. you do not want any water restrictions on the inlet of the skimmer pump.

G~