Homemade filter w/ U.V. and pics
- Thread starter Lrry93
- Start date
I´ve been designing filters for aquariums and ponds for years and find that it doesn´t matter that much where the UV is in the system (unless high power sterilizing in a quarantine system) but one rule should be followed. Don´t run 100% of the filtered/to be filtered water through the sterilizer as repopulation of the biofilter will be reduced (especially in bare bottom tanks and ponds) making the biofilter less stable. My experience in this direction also speaks intuitively against Filter bacteria prefering to be free swimming. They are at times free swimming but build stable populations on surfaces... or did someone suddenly discover that we don´t need biofilters... Oh S$$t all those trickle towers built for nothing 
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I should explain what I am using this for. I am using the 300 Gal. stock tank to store bait for my fishing charter buisness. I admit I could have a bigger bio area but this was just a experiment. Besides this is outside in the weather. I mainly put the U.V. on just to kill any green water that may happen. So far everything is going perfectly with it on there. The pump also has a pre filter on it.
For the U.V. placement will someone please tell me why it would really matter if it is before or after? It is not like sterilized water is going to take away from anything the bacteria feed on. Even if it is on the return you are still re-circulating sterilized water. Almost all of my tanks in the house turn over 10 times a hour so why would it make a difference?
For the U.V. placement will someone please tell me why it would really matter if it is before or after? It is not like sterilized water is going to take away from anything the bacteria feed on. Even if it is on the return you are still re-circulating sterilized water. Almost all of my tanks in the house turn over 10 times a hour so why would it make a difference?
If you want to get the highest efficiency from the UV the best results are achieved when hardly any solids are in the water as these solids cause shadow areas in the water being pumped past the UV light. In these shadow areas the sterilization of the water is much worse or non existent compared to areas of water without solids passing by the UV lamp. In some systems it may make a difference (even on an hourly rate) whether the lamp is working optimally or not. For this reason many people prefer to prefilter the solids out of the water. I prefer to go one or two sizes larger with my UV lamps so I don´t need to worry about prefiltering. Also think about the fact that a UV lamp´s sterilization capacity is constantly getting worse the older the lamp gets. Another reason to go with a more powerful lamp. Hope the info helps youLrry93;2243708; said:
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