# UV sterilizer installation?



## wickidchap (Feb 27, 2009)

Hi everyone, I just purchased the coralife turbo twist 6x 18 watt uv sterilizer and have no idea how to set it up, do I need a powerhead for it? Can anyone give and advice on how to set it up? thanks


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I recommend moving 10 gallons per hour per 1 W through the UV unit... this allows a long enough 'dwell time' for the ultra violet rays to kill parasites, bacteria, algae, etc as well as to 'clarify' the water itself.

Therefore I suggest moving 180 W per gallon through your 18W unit...

You can use a powerhead to achieve this... but ensuring the water moving through your UV unit is as clean as possible will make the light more efficient. Particles will cast tiny shadows which reduce the efficiency as well as risk scratching the quartz sleeve (which is scratch resistant, not scratch proof).

I personally prefer using a canister filter with media rated in the single digit microns. Most canister filters could be outfitted with such media.

Keep in mind that all the flow rates I am suggesting are actual flow rates, as all filters/pumps will perform lower than their motors max rating due to different degrees of resistance.

It will not matter which end of your UV you use as the â€˜intakeâ€™ nor which end is the â€˜returnâ€™â€¦

Be sure to properly secure your hoses to prevent any leaking. If you are unsure of this seal do not hesitate to use metal hose clamps in stead of the plastic ones on the unit.


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## boredatwork (Sep 14, 2007)

You need to attach it to some kind of pump or powerhead. If you look in the instruction manual they illustrate the several different installation options.


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## locomotive282 (Jun 2, 2009)

There are many ways to run your uv sterilizer but let me tell you how i run mine and the benefits of my setup. I have a 90 gallon tank and have the coralife 36W. I have it connected to the output of my Rena XP1 which is rated at 250GPH but probly a bit less in "real life." I use the coralife 90 degree elbows to simply the routing and the tubing and prevent kinking. The benefit of my setup are numerous: good water flow, the uv filter is concealed under the tank, the sponge in the xp prevents buildup on the sleeve of the uv filter and polishes the water so that the sterilizer is operating at a higher efficiency. The alternative is to strap the big ugly sterilizer to the back of the tank and to use a noisy and unreliable power head to pump water and smear fish poop allover the sleeve. The end result low efficiency and you have to take apart the uv sterilizer to clean it, not fun. I would recommend the uv dedicated canister set up highly, and it doesnt have to be an xp1 there are a lot of inexpensive good canisters that would do the job great. Just don't fill them with any media just a sponge or some filter floss as loading them really decreases there rated flow rates.


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

Ditto on the return end of a canister filter. Our 18W TurboTwists are on the back side of a Magnum 350 Pro. The BioWheels eat some of the flow rate, so the UV only sees about 200gph. A HOT Magnum 250 is another inexpensive canister.

As Locomotive said, lots of other canisters out there as well.

-Ryan


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

Toby_H said:


> I recommend moving 10 gallons per hour per 1 W through the UV unit... this allows a long enough 'dwell time' for the ultra violet rays to kill parasites, bacteria, algae, etc as well as to 'clarify' the water itself.


I did this using an Eheim 2026 and an AquaUltraviolet 25W unit and get a little better than 10G/W. I use an AquaUltraviolet 57W unit with a Mag7 pump and after taking head into account get 7G/W and the water is just as clear in both tanks.


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## wickidchap (Feb 27, 2009)

Thanks alot everyone for your insight. I have a Fliuval FX5 running on my 125 gallon, the hoses on the FX5 are different from regular canister filter hosing. Has anyone used a coralife uv on an FX? Thanks


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

The FX5 will be moving waaaay too much water to use on the UV unit.

In your case, I'd probably find an additional canister/pump/powerhead to move water through the UV.

-Ryan


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## wickidchap (Feb 27, 2009)

Does the HOT Magnum 250 come with hosing?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

The Magnum HOT has hard plumbing and not hosesâ€¦ but if youâ€™re a little creative you can cut off the return and clamp a hose over it. I really like the Mag HOTs for pushing water through UV lightsâ€¦


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## wickidchap (Feb 27, 2009)

Thanks Toby for the pic, so which one of the Magnum HOT is that?


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> I really like the Mag HOTs for pushing water through UV lightsâ€¦


Nice set up :thumb: 
I see I am not the only one who came up with a HOB-UV unit, that can be moved from tank to tank with ease. =D> 


> The FX5 will be moving waaaay too much water


I agree with Ryan on that. 
With just a few plumbing fittings you could use the UV with your FX5. If you put a "T" in your return line, long leg going back to your tank, with a ball valve inline. The valve would force a controllable amount of water, through the UV. 
The short leg, of the "T" would go to your UV intake. 
You could run the return from the UV as a separate line, back into the tank, or, you could "T" back into the FX line. 
I ran a UV/canister on the living room tank for quite awhile. 
But being the cheap..UMM, thrifty kind of guy I am..I pulled it all apart..and made a HOB-UV with a small volume pump. Using some CPVC pipe, hose barbs, and tubing scraps..the unit moves from tank to tank easily. 
I found I did not need the UV, 24/7 on any one tank. I usually use it on a 24hr rotation per tank. 
All that said, I really like Toby`s HOT/UV(cool name, eh). If I were starting from scratch that would be at the top of my list, of ways to go.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Magnum has the HOT (Hang On Tank) version at 250 gph... and a regular canister that sits under the tank at 350 gph...

The combo shown above is the HOT/250 & 18W Turbo Twist...


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## wickidchap (Feb 27, 2009)

Looks like I'm going to get the Magnum HOT 250 then, thanks alot for all of your help everyone. Oh and Toby can you please take a pic on the part where you cut the outtake to put the hosing thanks


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## wickidchap (Feb 27, 2009)

Toby can you please take a pic on the part where you cut the outtake to put the hosing thanks


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I've actually sold the unit pictured and do not have this combination currently... I recently downsized by a large degree...

But I do have an unmodified Mag 250 I can look at to help give a proper description...

On the output coming off the filter itself... there is a little grey tab that 'locks' the return pipe in place... A pipe continues beyond that tab and bends at a 90* angle... Then goes straight for an inch or so and runs into a pivoting knuckle...

Cut that knuckle off... Slide a hose over the pipe where you cut the knuckle off... Put a hose clamp on it...

This hose will be too small to plug into your Turbo Twist UV...

The hose I had had an ID that perfectly matched the pipe from the Mag HOT making a simple tight fit (clamp it anyway for piece of mind)... The same hose had an OD that was the same diameter as the OD of the fittin gon the Turbo Twist... therefore a second hose could be slipped over the hose coming off the Mag... and onto the UV...

If you look at the picture above, you can see the smaller clear hose coming off of the Mag HOT and entering into the larger darker hose that plugs into the UV...

To connect the two hoses Iused PCV cement. It worked nice as when wet it lubricated the hoses so I could slide the smaller deep into the larger... and then hardened to form a perfect seal that could handle some flexing... Just be cautious, as it is curing it may try to push the smaller hose out of the larger. So be sure to hold / monitor it for about 15 minutes (the stuff cures quick).

I'm sorry I don't have pics readily available and I hope that description was thorough enough... if not ask and I'll try again...

Edit/Addâ€¦ Iâ€™m adding the picture from above since this post came out on a new pageâ€¦


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## Geddonight (Aug 7, 2009)

Has anyone had any success using standard water filters as a pre filter to the UV sterilizer? For instance, if I were to use a micron house water filter (like this http://www.cfsco.net/prfifortitaw.html), would that extend the life of the sleeve?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Yes that micron filter would work fine as a pre-UV filter...

The problem would be, micron filters plug up very easily... so it's best to filter the water with a larger media that is easy to clean, such as a sponge or pad...

Solid fish waste will clog up this type of filter very quickly...

I love the results of using a fine/micron filter... but as they are a bit more costly of a media, it's best to prefilter the water that does through them to enlongate their life...

For example... I use the Magnum HOT as a mircron filter... In the picture above you cannot see it, but I have sponge prefilters in place... I really wasn't satisified with that as the only prefilter... now I have sponge filters connected to the intake. So all the water filters through the sponge filter to remove the larger particles... then through the Mag HOT w/ Micron Cartridges... placing a UV light after this would be outstanding...


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## Geddonight (Aug 7, 2009)

So if I were to run a canister filter with standard floss/sponge etc. before it, then run it through the micron filter, then to the UV sterilizer, it should prolong the life of the micron filter too?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Geddonight said:


> So if I were to run a canister filter with standard floss/sponge etc. before it, then run it through the micron filter, then to the UV sterilizer, it should prolong the life of the micron filter too?


You are correct and that should work great!

The imperfectioni I see to that idea is that canister filters are inconvenient to clean, therefore most people clean them infrequently...

As the media in the canister clogs, the flow rate will slow down... slowing the flow rate isn't a problem for the UV... This is just something to keep in mind during planning...


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## Geddonight (Aug 7, 2009)

Little update: The House Filter works spectacularly, but there's a catch.

Unfortunately, it's only rated for 10,000 gallons, which at 200 gph, we burn through in about 2 days...

The water in our EBJD tank is pristine, but replacing a $2.50 filter every 3-4 days isn't cost-effective, so we're looking at perhaps isolating our system from the rest so the bio load isn't as heavy. The flow has definitely slowed, which is fine because it means that the UV sterilizer can kill the big parasites and whatnot, but it's still an issue.

May also look for something with a larger micron screen--ours is currently 10.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Try soaking your used micron cartridges in a bleach/water solution (1 part bleach / 10 parts water) overnight. The bleach will dissolve most organic materials and the vast majority of whatâ€™s clogging your cartridge is organic.

Just be sure to rinse it thoroughly before reusing it.

Youâ€™ll still have the hassle of switching them, but will loose the burden of the constant expenseâ€¦

Iâ€™ve found I can â€œrechargeâ€™ them about 20 times before they wear outâ€¦


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## Geddonight (Aug 7, 2009)

Sweet! I'll give it a try.

Though it might be wiser to still look for a larger micron filter and link them in series.


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## AdamHart (Oct 31, 2009)

If you want some larger micron filters than also try


> isopurewater.co m


 they house some really good products...
good luck!


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