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UV Sterilizers and setup (1 Viewer)

esbowman

esbowman

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Hello,

I have been battling dinos for a bit now. It got really bad when I went on vacation over the summer and since I have been blowing the rocks off, trying to increase biodiversity, raising nutrient levels (phos and nitrate were undetectable), dosing phyto, and siphoning the sand and water into a filter sock in the sump to filter some out but not change the water and lower nutrients.

I have positively identified it as dino with a microscope and it is one of the strains that goes into the water at night.

I have never had a UV sterilizer on any tanks before and considering getting one but have a couple questions...

Does anyone have experience with the Green Killing Machine? I like the idea of the pump being attached in a smaller form factor that can be removed easily and put back in if needed so I wouldn't have to run it 24/7. I have read mixed reviews on this and hoping someone has experience if it is a good one or not. My other option if the GKM would be a waste of money is the Aqua Ultraviolet 25 Watt. If I get the AU I would probably just permanently keep it mounted to the side of my cabinet.

Also, I have an unused valve off a manifold from my return that I could use. This would be preferred to not have an extra pump. I have heard differing opinions about this too... that the pump should be in the display. Putting a pump in the display is something I would be temporarily willing to do but does it make a HUGE difference whether the pump is in the display or if it's plumbed off the return?

Tank specs:
75 gallon with about 10 gallons of water in the sump

8.5 dKh
450 calcium
1400 mag
0.8 phos
10-15 nitrate
 
esbowman said:
Does anyone have experience with the Green Killing Machine?
Click to expand...
I have the 24W version of the green killing machine. I have used it in both freshwater and saltwater tanks. On my very first saltwater setup (32-gallon Biocube) I had the water completely turn green on me. Huge algae bloom where you could not even see the rockwork. I threw the GKM in and within 3 days the water was crystal clear.

I had originally bought it for a 75-gallon freshwater setup. It worked for algae on that tank as well. After I set up my 26-gallon I had a hard time with algae. I ended up putting the GKM in the sump. I ultimately decided to just add a permanent UV that is plumbed into my return pump. I ended up doing a coralife twist due to price and size.

I would say if you were looking to clear up dinos and not have a permanent UV the GKM will be worth the money. Can just remove and store when not needed. Just add it right to the display and it will work its magic in a few days. It will also give you an understanding what a UV will do to your tank without spending hundreds of dollars.
 
Thank you for the information! Have you ever experienced issues with livestock using the GKM, especially SPS? One of my main concerns is people sent ICP tests before and after and found the impeller on the pump or the breakdown of plastics is adding antimony to the tank which is toxic, but haven't found much information on the effect it has on livestock.
 
What an endorsement for the GMK. Glad that worked well! I also used UV to get rid of Dino's but ultimately I think keeping my po4/no3 (but especially po4) was the key to getting rid of them. For me they came when my po4 was bottomed out but no3 was elevated, creating an imbalance.

I miss the water clarity my uv provided me. I took it off becaue I grew worried that it was killing some beneficial bacteria as well, and also becuause I had no clue what the flow was going through it and if it was even doing what I wanted it to do.

I still have it and might reinstall it to turn on occasionally for clarity alone and to avoid using carbon.
 
esbowman said:
Thank you for the information! Have you ever experienced issues with livestock using the GKM, especially SPS? One of my main concerns is people sent ICP tests before and after and found the impeller on the pump or the breakdown of plastics is adding antimony to the tank which is toxic, but haven't found much information on the effect it has on livestock.
Click to expand...
This tank had a UV running 24/7 :)
 
Fishfoo said:
This tank had a UV running 24/7 :)
Click to expand...

Looks great! One thing I do like is the water clarity. I have always run carbon up until now to help with that but the carbon isn't doing anything for dinos. I have had the tank up for two years now and have been battling this for a while. First tank I used all dry rock in without at least one live rock to seed. It was mostly under control until I took a vacation. I came back to dinos covering everything and lost quite a bit of coral. I feel like I am getting the upper hand now and finally have some biodiversity growing on the rocks. In those places the dinos haven't come back but in the shaded areas and on the sand they keep coming every day. I want to give it the final knock out punch and really get this going by the time the swap comes... enough that I feel comfortable it wouldn't smother coral daily anyway.

Was it the GKM you used on that tank, or any other tanks? Wondering if I use it for just a week or two if I would need to be concerned about antimony. After using it I would flush it with RO/DI and store away if needed again.
 
I run a Aqua Ultraviolet 25 Watt Classic UV Sterilizer with Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0... 24/7. Has been night a day difference in water quality\clarity
 
So your mileage may vary, but I’ve based all my Dino advice on the Mack’s Reef Dino Facebook support group (or whatever if it’s called) and they’ve never led me astray. So their recommendations:

-UV sized 1 watt per 3 gallons =~28 watts for you
-Flow rate of 1-3 gph per gallon of tank = 90-240gph for your tank

Note: this is why they don’t recommend the green killing machine. Since it has a preset flow rate, that is much too high to sterilize the more complex organisms such as Dino’s.

This is also why running it directly in line with your return isn’t effective. I know you weren’t specifically suggesting that, you were saying to use your manifold. But I figured I’d include it here for completeness.

-Plumbed directly to the tank (ensures you get them processed most efficiently and quickly, especially since you’ll be blowing off your rocks daily)

-Pump should be as close to the sand bed as possible, without sucking up the sand.

-Turn off the UV for 1 hour when dosing bacteria, phyto, pods, etc l (so you don’t zap them)

For me, I have found that you will totally eradicate the ostreopsis in 1-2 weeks, so it’s really a very small inconvenience to have the ugly UV on the side of your tank. But given how much more effective it is, I’d really recommend it.


All that being said, I have a 36W Jebao UV with a pump/valve (to set flow rate) that I’d loan you if you just want to use it to kill your Dino’s. It sucks to spend so much on a UV that you might not use all the time.

Just let me know. Sorry to hear that you’re dealing with them. It sucks that type is so toxic (make sure you’re running lots of carbon as you’re killing them off) but it’s nice that they’re relatively easy to eradicate. The ones I currently have aren’t toxic and mostly hang out in the sand, but they are a pain to get rid of. I think I’m 6 months into the battle…..
 
Thank you for the offer of letting me borrow it! I actually checked out facebook marketplace a few hours ago with little hope I would find something of quality but I am meeting someone tonight to pick up a slightly used 25w Aqua Ultraviolet with a DC return pump. It will be a nice thing to have. I'm thinking after the dinos are taken care of then I will run it through the return line to keep stuff out of the tank and only turn it on if needed. Then I will also have an extra pump becuase you can never have too many :D

I appreciate all the info. The tank is going to look unsightly with a white pump in it for a couple weeks but I'm going to trust the process and think of the end goal.

I have tried everything I could think of to get rid of this short of the UV and straight peroxide dosing to the tank which I really didn't want to do. Hoping the UV can be the final nail in the coffin and everything I did up to this point should keep them from coming back. I also have some of that purple helix and pink fusion coming to try and speed up the coralline process.

Thanks everyone for the input! Hopefully I can report back with a success story. This has been the longest case of the uglies I have ever experienced
 
So totally up to you, but I had zero success with the purple helix stuff. My suggestion for coralline, is get some flakes from someone with an established tank (always plenty available). Crush it up and dump it in.

I’m happy to provide that as well if it’s helpful.

Regarding the UV, I’m 99.9% positive it will take care of your issues. It was so fast with a properly sized UV running the right flow rate.
 
Varig said:
So totally up to you, but I had zero success with the purple helix stuff. My suggestion for coralline, is get some flakes from someone with an established tank (always plenty available). Crush it up and dump it in.

I’m happy to provide that as well if it’s helpful.

Regarding the UV, I’m 99.9% positive it will take care of your issues. It was so fast with a properly sized UV running the right flow rate.
Click to expand...

I actually ordered the purple helix a month ago. The first delivery through USPS never showed up so I called and they sent a second shipment through FedEx. I have used it before and it's hard to tell if coralline showed up about a month later due to that, or if that had any actual effect. For the cost of a cheap coral frag it's more of a "feel good" thing for me.

I'd be happy to take you up on that offer for flakes you scrape off the glass! I plan on being at the swap and will stay in touch closer to that date.

Regarding the UV... I lost sleep last night with that pump in my display so far down. All I could think about was a hose coming loose and draining my whole tank onto the floor. I did run it all night though and this morning I am noticing less on the sand. It usually accumulates on the rock after the lights have been on for a few hours so I'll see how the day goes. I'm hopeful though!
 
Dude I hear that. I also had some concerns that a hose would come loose or similar. Definitely would be a bad day. But that’s what hose clamps and/or zip ties are for :)

Again, don’t forget about the carbon. Those suckers will be dying fast now.

And sure thing, there is always someplace to scrape coralline from :)
 
Varig said:
Dude I hear that. I also had some concerns that a hose would come loose or similar. Definitely would be a bad day. But that’s what hose clamps and/or zip ties are for :)

Again, don’t forget about the carbon. Those suckers will be dying fast now.

And sure thing, there is always someplace to scrape coralline from :)
Click to expand...

Yep! used two zip ties on the barb for the pump in the tank and metal hose clamps with a zip tie on each of the UV barbs outside the tank. It held but still worrysome lol.

Thank you for reminding me! I have been running carbon but the flow rate slowed down so much because some dinos got in there blocking the plate. I will clean and change that out today.
 
It's been a couple days now and I feel like there is an improvement. I am not having to blow the rocks off as much and when I do there isn't nearly as much on there. The sand also has about half the amount it usually does.

I do have a question and it may sound a little silly. I was in a pinch and had to go to ACE to get tubing. They didn't have black and I have the UV barbs connected with clear tubing. I can see a slight glow on the tubing when lights are off (not super bright) for about an inch up the tube until it fades away. I am not looking directly at it at all and it is on the side of the tank stand. I just want to make sure this is safe. I tried searching and couldn't find much except people use black tubing when they install it in the sump to keep algae from growing in it, nothing mentioned about safety. My girlfriend has been asking me since we got it if it could be harmful that we can see some light coming out from the barb fittings. I told her to just not look at it but still curious if there should be any concerns about health risks.

When I was searching marketplace some people had pictures of the light out of the housing and on, which I don't think is the smartest thing to do, but I have never read a story about someone getting cancer specifically from a UV light on a fish tank with common sense safety practices but wanted to ask to be safe
 
A lot of UV lights have clear sections so you can see when the light is operational. I wouldn't be worried about light coming from the tubing.

You should definitely tell the girlfriend that the forums said it was perfectly safe as long as you wear sunglasses and UV protective clothing anywhere near the tank! :cool:
 
If you’re concerned, just do a Google search on whether PVC blocks UVC. You’ll see that pvc, acrylic, etc block UVC. So while you can see the visible light wavelengths, the dangerous UVC should be block.

Still probably best practice to not look at the light. For sure you should not power up the light outside the housing. But as @MistakesWereMade said, they build in those windows so you can confirm it’s working. They wouldn’t do that on consumer grade products if they thought there was liability :)
 
I’m just going to wrap the clear tube with black electrical tape 6” up and call it good. I told her people commonly use these but she is fair skinned and susceptible to melanoma so she was concerned. Thanks all!
 
Right on man. With the right uv and flow, I told you you’d crush them quickly. That being said, I think Mack recommends keeping the uv running at least 1 week past when you stop seeing them, to make sure you kill them all. No use rushing it, realizing you want the ugly thing off your tank.

Do you think you identified and corrected why you got them in the first place? In terms of helping to not have them come back?
 
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