Coralife Turbo-Twist Question

[Mr Burns]

i'm about a month away from having my big DIY project finished, maybe. as of right now, my filtration consists of one XP3. i'd like to add a magnum HOT or magnum 350 as a second full time filter/water polisher/backup. my DIY CO2 reactor will be plumbed in-line with the return of my XP3. i'd like to get the small turbo-twist sterilizter just for the heck of it, possibly run it on a timer to only run a couple hours each day.
questions: does the turbo-twist have its own pump or is it dependent on an external pump? if i bought the magnum HOT instead of the 350, would it be a problem to have the reactor and the sterilizer plumbed into the return line of the XP3?
tia

 

[captivereefs]

It needs it own pump to move water. Not sure about the reactor but the UV can safely be plumbed to the output of the filter.

 

[dicjones]

I currently have an 18 watt turbo-twist on my saltwater aquarium. I have it plumbed in line on the return of my eheim canister filter...it works great right there. If your planning on hooking up multiple components to your canister filter you should check your particular canister filters parameters just to be sure. You don't want to wear out the pump too much.

A few things though...

It definately needs some sort of filtration "in front" of it. The clearer the water is when it passes in front of the UV light the better it will work.

UV sterilizers are meant to be used continuously. If you only run it a couple hours each day, the parasites, bacteria and algae will pass untreated the rest of the day.

You also need to watch the water flow...parasites require a slower flow rate to be affected by the UV light than bacteria or algae.

Regular cleaning of the quartz sleeve as well as making sure to replace bulbs after time are also important in the sterilizer being effective.

Hope this helps!!

Alan

 

[Mr Burns]

that definitely helps, thanks! i'm thinking about buying the magnum 350 as a full-size back up. that way, i can plumb my CO2 reactor in the return line of the XP3 and the UV sterilizer in the return line of the Mag350.