How long can I leave my UV on for?

[Clint Lamont]

I got a sterilizer from my girl for the holidays and I read the directions but Im not all that sure how often to leave it on and if I need to tune down the flow going through it.
It's a corallife 9w in a 29g with a 25g sump. It says it's rated for
100-200gph. I like the way my corals open real big when it's on but I don't want to hurt anything benificial.

 

[Anonymous]

A UV will kill both the good and the bad that pass through it. Personally I do not use one. How much you run it is really a function of what benifits you see. They can be run 24/7 if you like.

 

[Clint Lamont]

Well it says that the max flow is 200 and im at about 180. I also have it come on about 8 hours. is that going to kill too much good stuff? And I still have benifichial stuff on my rock right? Will that still filtrate the water? And all that sand I have (4in in display & 6in in sump)?

 

[Anonymous]

Flow rate seems fine. As far as killing to moch stuff it would be just a guess for me. Yes you will still have whatever is on your rocks. The UV only kills what passes through it.

 

[Clint Lamont]

Ok cool, I just don't want anything to go wrong. Thanks for your help. You have allways been very helpful. This site is great.

 

[Anonymous]

No Problem.

 

[Anonymous]

I run a 36W turbo twist 24/7 on my 300G. I run 295 GPH though it so that it will kill everything that enters it. I am doing this while my tank is young and new fish are being introduced. Eventually, I'll increase the flow rate through it so that it only kills algae, or I'll remove it all together.

Louey