Junk UV system?

[Riley]

So I'm a lil over a year into the whole amazing world of aquariums but I still have dumb questions I have a aquatop 500 with a 9watt UV in it running on a 75 gallon tank.. Also as filtration I have a fluval 405.. I would have thought that would be up and beyond the amount of filtration for a 75 gallon tank! But I still have nuisance algae .. Green algae on glass is my main concern and I noticed last night I might be having hair algae right by my Kenya tree.. I would be able to list my nitrates and everything if I had more liquid drops but I am currently out..with UV you think the algae would not be in existence..bad bulb already?

 

[Riley]

Attached are the pictures of my problems :/

 

[blert]

A UV bulb can't effect anything that is not free floating in the water column. And considering that the water is flowing so fast over a paltry nine watts of UV bulb it really does next to nothing.

You have excess nutrient issues, you need to remove the waste before it turns into nitrate/phosphate/etc. Do more water changes and clean/replace any media in your canisters AT LEAST once a week. Most don't use canisters on reef tanks because it is too much of a hassle to clean them every week. You could also get a skimmer but that won't change the fact that you need to clean those canisters every week.

 

[Riley]

Thank you! The reason I went to canisters is becouse when I had a tank with the sump system I had the hardest time with it.. Fish in the over flow box.. Top off valve not working properly that led to many leaksia rinsing the media for two weeks sufficient rather than buying brand new every week? And also would I leave some old in to help seed the new media quicker? Or a all out media change?

 

[blert]

If you have a sufficient amount of live rock then that will be plenty of bio-filter capability, you don't need extra in the canister.
If you have chemical media in the canister (carbon, etc) I would rinse that once a week.
If you have mechanical media in the canister (floss, pads, etc) I would replace that every week. Or maybe use some reusable stuff and keep a spare so you can swap it out and thoroughly clean and dry one while using the other.

An easier option would be to replace the canisters with good old AquaClear HOBs. Much easier to maintain HOBs than canisters on a reef tank.

 

[Riley]

Thank you I have a 4 day weekend off from coming up so I think I'm gunna do a little planning and moving the tank from the wall to accommodate for some HOBs to be there.. One of the LFS is primarily a aquatop seller and he has HOBs with UV in it would UV be something to keep running?

 

[blert]

Not really worth it but that is debatable I guess. Those Aquatop HOBs with UV will be way under powered for a 75g and the UV rig still won't do much of anything as they are too weak with too much flow. It is best just to handle the nutrient problem correctly and forego the bandaid UV.

I would suggest two AC110's, maybe mod one as a refugium.

Oh hey... I am not trying to be harsh, it's just how the typing seems to be coming out.

 

[Riley]

I gotcha! I just like having the UV for the fish and i also thought it would help control algae.

 

[blert]

It will help with free floating algae given the wattage to flow rate is in "balance". Search "UV flow rate" for info on this. Basically, the lower the wattage of the bulb the lower the flow must be for it to be effective. It won't even touch parasites and other baddies until you get up into high wattage bulbs (with an appropriate flow rate). Mostly it just adds heat to your system and increases your power bill. It can also kill free floating "good guys".

 

[jeffaquarius]

You need a mag float glass cleaner and clean up crew like hermit crabs and turbo snails. The UV unit usually has a pilot lamp to indicate when bulb is working. Look inside a small hole in the power supply. If it is not lit you can buy a replacement for it.