UV Light Question

[Frogspawn]

i have a lifegaurd 25Watt UV light and was wondering whats a good flow rate for a 30g SW Reef aquarium.

[tecwzrd]

A 25 watt UV light on a 30 gal tank is kind of overkill but max flow rate is 760 GPH

For a 30 gal tank 300-500 GPH is all you will ever need.

[Frogspawn]

well i did have it on my 55g long and did not want to spend more money buying one just for my 30g. i know different flow rates kill different kinds of things like a much lower flow rate would be more benifitical to killing parisites and a much higher one would be ok for killing alage. am i on the right path? or should i just have my flow rate set at about 400gph? and never touch it?
one other problem is i am using a HOB refuge witch i am going to up grade the water pump suppling my Refuge with water.
i was also thinking of using it to supply my UV light and put a "T" fiting on it and a ball valve to regulate the water flow to the refuge and UV light. lol i hope that made sence lol
i have no idea how i am going to do it yet but i got time i am in no rush. any idea's?
i would post a pic here of what it looks like but i dont know how to post it.
i dont see any option to do it. if u coul tell me how to i will be more then glad o post a pic of what i have.
thanks again

[tecwzrd]

Yes lower flow is better for sterilization but I think 400 GPH would be fine to nuke all the nasties.

You could do a closed loop system and T off the flow to both the fuge and UV with a Mag 7 or 9.5 pump.

Similar to the layout melevsreef.com has.

[Frogspawn]

ok will do. i will order a pump tomarrow or go to lfs and see what they got. thanks again there tecwzrd

[Frogspawn]

ok now we got a problem. lol or i do forsay. i went to the not so local fishstore and i got a rio 14hf (peice of junk by the way). i got it home and the darn thing didnt even work so i called the LFS and they said all they could do is give me store credit. keep in mind i just bought this pump 1 hr ago. so i jump back in my car dive again all the way to the fish store to find no other pumps i like . either there to big and would suck the fish or coral off the ground or to small like a maxi jet 1200.
what i am trying to do is run both my HOB refuge and uv lite off the same pump to save space in my 30G. right now i have a water pump rated for 200gph. just enough for the HOB refuge. i cant in no way run 400gph to my UV lite and still have 200gph to my refuge. that would need a 600gph pump at 2'head height. to run both at proper flow rates.
now heres where i am having problems i want a pump thats small and is able to push 600gph to do it the way i have it set up.
or should i just put a different pump in the display just for the UV light? how should i go by hooking all this up? any ideas?

[tecwzrd]

Not sure how big your current pump is the but Mag 7 pump is 4.5"L x 4"W x 4.25"H and does 550 GPH with a 2ft head. The next step up in Mag pumps is the 9.5 which is 5.5"L x 5"W x 3"H and does 900 GPH with a 2ft head.

I wouldn't put two large pumps in a 30 gal tank personally and I'd also go with the Mag 9.5 pump for the extra circulation. (350 GPH in the fuge, 550 in the UV)

Also I'd plumb the pump outside of the tank (with PVC) to keep heat transfer down and split the output of the UV to opposite sides of the tank for water circulation. With 18+ GPH turnover you shouldn't even need PH in the tank.

[Frogspawn]

lol omg. i have 3maxi jet 600 PH with wavemaker and if i add the mag 9.5 with all the PH its going to be alot . and also should that size of a water pump even be in the main display or should i hard plumb it with a custom intake? or mabey even see how the tank does with out the UV light? not shure

[tecwzrd]

I use the Mag 9.5 to mix my SW and without a heater in a 30 gal trashcan it makes the water 78-79 degrees so I would not have it in the tank and plumb it outside similar to the layout melevsreef.com has.

The pump gets a little warm but as long as it isn't in the water then it shouldn't be much of an issue.

[Frogspawn]

so i should plumb it out side the tank? btw thats a awsome tank set up he has. mabey one day i will have something like that lol

[tecwzrd]

Your tank would get too hot if that pump was running in it IMO.

[Frogspawn]

ok so i should get a mag 9.5 and use a T fiting to branch off from my refuge to my UV light.
i dont think my Local fish store has a mag 9.5 even if they did they usely up the price 40$ from what they buy the darn thing for, some times more. i seem maxi jet 1200 for 60$ there once and told them they were freaking crazy and showed them my dr.foster book and seen there eyes light up lol man that was so funny.