UV Sterilizer Question - placement

[Aconphoto]

I plan to add a UV sterilizer (Red Sea Reefer XL525) and have 2 simple questions (I hope they are simple).

1) For now, I don't plan to hard-plumb the sterilizer. Where should the water inflow and outlfow lines be placed in regards to my sump chambers? I assume I want to pull water post mechanical filtration, but can I return water back to the same chamber (i.e., the large skimmer chamber for both lines)?

2) do I need to worry about decimating my copepod/amphipod population by running a UV sterilizer? Should I not run it 24/7? Or will it not really have a significant impact on the population of those critters?

Thanks for your help!

 

[mvallee]

if you are adding it to keep a parasite at bay I heard it should pull raw water from the DT to get them when they are in the water column. For any other reason I would not think it matters where you pull or put water though I would not return water to the same chamber as you are pulling it from, if you have an option.

 

[Chris A.]

I think as long as the output is down stream so your not recirculating the water you’ll be fine in the same chamber

 

[Richard Kagen]

Not sure where, but I saw some data that the life and effectiveness of the UV bulb drops with each on/off cycle as they are intended to be started and left running for most of their 1 year lifespan.

My sump set-up is two sided on my SCA 120

From left: water from DT - socks - skimmer - a biological chamber (ceramic spheres) - return pumps

Dual, isolated return pumps:
One directly to DT
One to a manifold that runs low flow into UV to Fuge, low flow to media reactor into Fuge and secondary return to the DT. The Manifold has an additional ball valve that runs to the drain that makes water changes a snap

One of the advantages is that I have low flow through refuge so much less of a mess