- I searched YouTube for how to install a UV sterilizer,
watched a ton of videos, but none of them was easy enough
to understand for a beginner.
UV light destroys DNA
and is unhealthy for all living organisms.
It doesn't straight up kill the organism per se,
but it does damage their DNA so they can't reproduce.
In our hobby, there are a whole bunch of organisms
that we don't want in our tanks
or at least want to control how many of them
are in our tanks.
Fish disease, dinos, and algae to name three.
In order to damage the DNA of these organisms,
we have to get them in contact with the UV light.
A UV sterilizer is nothing more
than some sort of dark piping with a UV bulb inside.
Using some sort of pump,
we push water in one side of the UV sterilizer,
then it flows through the sterilizer
coming into contact with the UV bulb that entire time,
until it comes out the other side and returns to our tank.
So in order for the UV light
to actually damage the DNA of various organisms,
two things have to be true.
Number one, the organisms
that you want eliminated from your tank
actually have to pass through the sterilizer.
This means they have to be in the water column
and not surface dwellers.
And number two, organisms
that do pass through the UV sterilizer
need to have sufficient contact time
with the UV light in order for the DNA to be damaged.
This means that you will have to get the flow rate
through the UV sterilizer just right.
UV sterilizers are actually really simple
pieces of equipment.
This is the body, or also called the housing.
It is thick so that zero UV radiation can escape.
There are several unions
for easy installation and maintenance.
For all of these unions,
it is important never to lose the O-ring
or they will leak.
As for the actual UV portion,
you have the ballast and power supply.
Then there is the Davies connector.
Loosening this merely allows the bulb
to spin freely for installation.
Next, you have the transformer cap.
You unscrew this to install and remove the bulb.
There is no water involved here,
so you can unscrew this with water still in the housing.
Next, you have the clear blue quartz cap.
This is used to remove and clean the quartz sleeve.
It is water tight, and the sleeve is snugly kept in place
by the purple rubber seal,
but for easy cleaning and maintenance,
you'll want to also remove the union.
That way you can carefully clean the quartz sleeve
without touching the purple rubber seal.
The UV sterilizer can be installed horizontally
or vertically with some caveats.
You don't want any air inside the sterilizer.
It just means there will be less direct contact
between the water and the UV bulb,
which means the efficiency
of the UV sterilizer will go down.
If mounted vertically, all that means
is you'll want the water to enter through the bottom,
flow up through the sterilizer and out the top.
And if mounted horizontally like this,
you'll just wanna make sure the inlet and outlet
are facing upward and not downward.
That way the chamber is always flooded.
Oftentimes, the best place to mount your UV sterilizer
is to your wooden cabinet stand,
either to the outside or if there's space inside.
You'll also need to consider
where you're going to draw your water from.
If you have a sub, you wanna draw your water
from immediately after your mechanical filtration,
usually filter socks,
and return that water to the return chamber,
or as close to the return chamber as you can get.
What you don't want is to draw the water
and replace the water from the exact same spot,
because then you'll just keep recirculating
the same water over and over again.
And if you have a rear filtration chamber,
then the exact same applies.
But at the end of the day,
the final position for your UV sterilizer
is going to be wherever you can fit it
and wherever it makes sense to install the plumbing.
First off, if your tank is 75 gallons or under
and you don't mind a hang on the back option,
the easiest thing to do by far
is to purchase the Aqua UV 8 watt
or 15 watt Advantage hang on the back sterilizers.
Hang it on the back of your tank,
purchase the appropriately sized NEWA utility pump,
get the appropriate size flexible tubing
and plastic hose clamp, and you are done.
But today we're gonna show you how to install
an Aqua ultraviolet classic UV sterilizer.
They come in either white or black
and be sure not to purchase one that comes with a wiper.
Those are only meant for freshwater applications
and they will corrode in our saltwater setting.
The first thing we're gonna do is Mount the UV sterilizer
in the exact location we want it.
You can do this any way you want
in any way that makes sense to you.
But I am using these absolutely fantastic
custom designed 3D-printed mounting clamps
from Neat Aquatics.
They are specifically designed
for the Aqua UV classic sterilizers.
If you happen to have a metal stand,
like the two innovative Marine APS stands behind me,
then these clamps are probably not
gonna be your best option.
You're gonna start by choosing the location
for your sterilizer.
Place the brackets on your sterilizer
and use a pencil to mark their locations.
By the way, the brackets are held together
with these small black pieces.
Just pull them out and discard them.
Use the included screws to secure the clamps to the stand,
then lock the sterilizer into place,
being sure it fits correctly.
There are two really nice things
about these Neat Aquatics clamps.
First, they have three small rubber pieces,
which tightly keep the sterilizer in place.
And secondly, the locking mechanism
makes installation and removal
way easier than your standard two inch PVC clamp.
According to Aqua UV, it doesn't matter which one
the water flows in and out of.
For this video, we're installing the classic 25 vertically
with the water flowing in the bottom and out the top.
Ideally, you want to install it in such a direction
as to make bulb replacement and quartz sleeve cleaning
as easy as humanly possible and for a vertical installation,
that would mean having the bulb
and cord sleeve removal at the top of the unit.
I happen to do it opposite
just because I didn't want the power cord
to run along the top side of my tank,
but rather along the bottom.
But because I use some flexible tubing,
I can still remove the quartz court sleeve
and the bulb when I need to.
Aqua UV recommends not placing the UV sterilizer
directly onto the ground,
but as long as it's properly leak tested,
sometime that really is the best installation method.
For example, if I was going to install this unit here
on the innovative Marine 40 tank right behind me,
I would likely just place it horizontally
on the ground behind the tank.
Now that we're sure we have
the sterilizer properly situated,
take it out of the clamps and install the barbed fittings.
They already come with Teflon tape
so you'll just need a wrench or pliers
to fasten it securely to the unit.
Next, be sure all of your unions
are fastened tightly by hand,
then place the sterilizer back into the clamp
and get your plumbing gear ready.
By far, the easiest way to do the installation
is to purchase the correctly sized pump
and place that pump immediately
after your mechanical filtration.
Then use either one half inch
or three quarter inch flexible tubing
to connect the pump to your UV sterilizer.
Use a couple of plastic hose clamps
to secure the flexible tubing into place.
Then run another piece of flexible tubing
from the output of your sterilizer,
all the way to the return pump chamber.
In an ideal world,
the output line would be placed directly into the tank,
but we don't live in an ideal world.
Once you're tubing's in place,
turn on the pump and check for leaks.
Once your leak test is complete,
turn off the pump and install the UV bulb.
To do this, unscrew the Davis connector,
then unscrew the transformer cap,
remove the bulb from the package
being sure not to touch the actual bulb itself,
plug the bulb into the four-pronged power supply,
and gently place the bulb into the quartz sleeve.
Reattach the transformer cap
followed by the Davis connector.
Turn on the pump
and then plug in the UV sterilizer power supply.
You'll know it's on because you'll see a glow
from the clear blue quartz cap.
Bulbs need to be replaced about every 14 months.
And you'll also want to clean the quartz sleeve
every three months or so to remove any calcium buildup.
Getting the right flow rate through your UV sterilizer
is absolutely crucial to success
and Ryan will teach you how to do that.
And as always everyone, thanks for watching.
Happy reefs and be well!
We'll see you next time.