How to Plumb UV

**CarmieJo** · 05-12-2008, 12:35 AM

I am trying to decide how to plumb in my Gamma Aquarium UV | Current What's Next. With the limited space in the cabinet and sump of my corner tank I am out of room. Could I plumb the return (at tank height) into the UV? The directions say a max of 600 GPH and, with head loss I figure my 750 GPH return is delivering about 550. Here is a picture.

V · 05-12-2008, 04:00 AM

carmie, technicly you can plumb it at any stage you can fit it! Although take into account water can act as a lense for light & UV is no different. so straight into the main its possible you might see the glow.
ideal vs actual can, as your experiencing be two different cases. Flow is important & as long as you dont exceed or undercut the units recommended flowput you should be fine.

**Amphibious** · 05-12-2008, 08:36 AM

Yes, you can do that.

**Phurst** · 05-12-2008, 09:18 AM

I used to have my UV plumbed on a separate pump feeding from the sump right back into the sump. While I noticed a difference when i added it, I REALLY noticed when I plumbed it inline with my return. If you can fit it on that way, I say go for it.

swiseman · 05-12-2008, 09:20 AM

Personally, I would keep it in the sump. If you install it inline using your return pump all the water will pass through it. Not sure what is in your sump, but, if there is a refugium in the sump, you will kill off most of the pods returning to the tank. I would try to install it in the sump using a Mag 3 or equivalent as feed. I can't see a UV that size needing 600gph. The kill rate would be so small as there would be so little contact time with the light. If this is a used unit, I would suggest changing the bulb before you begin. The life of a T5 UV bulb is not much different than a regular T5 bulb. Also, that half inch loc line on the output will create additional head pressure.

**CarmieJo** · 05-12-2008, 09:49 PM

It is used but the bulb is only 2 months old. I was reading that you could get 12-18 months out of them. What's your experience?

Good point about the pods, etc in my sump getting toasted on the ride through. The unit is too tall to hang on my sump vertically and won't fit horizontally either. I'll have to think about it a while.

**CarmieJo** · 05-19-2008, 02:59 AM

Here is the part I don't understand how to keep together.

It is a hard rubber fitting and the bottom just slides over the top.

In this one you can see the quartz sleeve and a closer shot of the fitting.

The bottom is just plastic and the two halves slide together. If you bump it it will separate.

THEJRC · 05-19-2008, 03:18 AM

It's possible the units just been monkeyed with a whole lot which wears the edges, so long as the grommets around the bulbs arent worn you should be in good shape. As far as it snapping together they do that for ease of bulb changing (yeah it seems goofball). So long as it seals well..... bear in mind so long as you can access the bulb from either end to change you should be okay.

Running 24/7 I'd expect about 6 months of useful life and another 6 of semi useful but I'm not a bulb jockey, thats just what they use in the labs I service for their UV sterilizers, if it's good enough for US pharma it's good enough for me I suppose.

As far as pods, it's all contact time, chances are you'll never get a long enough contact time and recirc rate to wax anything that large, you'll stun and stunt them but they'll be fine. Go with the separate pump, feed it off the fuge and back in and leave it underneath, out of sight out of mind. If it goes wacky you can just unplug the pump and be done with it. Typically I only run UV when I have a reason to and this lends a hand to it.

If the unit leaks, you can run silicone around the edges pretty easy and it will only be a slight pain when changing the bulbs (as you'l have to strip it off and re-silicone it) but all in I think you've got a decent unit.

Keep flow as low as possible otherwise it's moot point.

FWIW I run all my culture water through UV on a recirc for several days before I start my cultures, it's been an amazing resource at keeping bacterias down and allowing my cultures to grow with less competition, aside from that and the occasional outbreak of some random bacteria in a display tank, I cant think of too many daily uses for one. Best to hook it up to it's own pump and leave it be, run it when you notice issues and leave it off most the time!