The EASY Way to Add a UV Sterilizer to Your Reef Tank!

what's going on reefers Blaine here in today's video we're going to be talking about a topic we have mentioned in some videos in the past today we're going to be talking about the utilization of UV sterilizers in our reef tanks at home today we're going to talk about the importance and what is UV sterilizers we're going to talk about how we can use them in our reef tanks at home we're also going to mention some of the UV sterilizers we carry here at topshelf Aquatics and also mention and show off some of the new UV sterilizer bundles we have on our website let's dive [Music] in before we get into the details about what a UV sterilizer is let's get to know the unit a little bit better a UV sterilizer has a UV bulb and a watertight compartment that kills any undesirables in the water that is passing through the unit these things that are not desired in our reef tanks are some of the following free floating algae spores Paras ites and or Troublesome bacteria now a question you may all be asking yourself is why would I want to kill off the beneficial bacteria in my tank or the bacteria in general in my reef tank at home why would I want to get a UV sterilizer to do that well that's correct in terms and bacteria can be eliminated by UV sterilizers though those are going to be the free floating bacteria not the beneficial bacteria that's currently living in your sandbed and your rock work of course it's best to put into cons consideration that not all your microorganisms floating in the water column are going to be bad so in turn you could be pulling out some of the good guys in the end results this is just one of the subjects we're going to be talking about and something you need to consider when you're getting ready to possibly add on a UV sterilizer to your reef tank one main reason a lot of Reef Keepers utilize and or put a UV on the reef tank is due to a dino outbreak this was a subject we recently covered on our Dinos video I'll be sure to link that up above you guys are not going to want to miss that video I really enjoyed being able to hang out in the farm talk with Cory and get to know dinos a little bit better it's really important that you identify the dinos you're dealing with because some of the dino species you may end up getting in your reef tank don't actually get affected by UV sterilizers but UV sterilizers can be helpful in terms with some species of dinos we ended up utilizing the C UVC and the reefer 250 and it helped dramatically with our outbreak along with some blackout periods that we did on the tank but it was really essential that we utilize that UV unit to be able to get those free floating dinos at night time when they were in the water column and zap them out of the tank I said it in the dyo video but I'm going to repeat it here again it's extremely important to identify so you can Rectify your issue when it comes to dinos in your reef tanks but UV sterilizers are definitely one of those units and one of those pieces of equipment that we tend to lean towards when it comes to dinos in our reef tanks one thing we constantly strive for with our reef tanks is water Clarity this is for obvious reasons Clear Water means we get to spend more time looking at our reef tank without any hindrance we get to see the vibrant colors of the fish and corals and we don't have any distractions in the water columns UVS are very good at cleaning tanks of free floating algae and spores and problematic bacteria thus this is going to be a great option if you want to clear up your Tank's Waters as well UV sterilizers are seen all over the hobby when it comes to keeping our water clear it's really important if you want to enjoy your reef tank that you're going to have clear water so sometimes there's these situations where bacterial blooms will occur in the water column and the utilization of a UV sterilizer can help mitigate that issue and help clear that water up nice and quickly now that we understand the importance of UV sterilizers in our reef tanks let's take the time now to understand when we're choosing out the right unit for our tank it's going to be ex extremely important that we do our research right off the start when we're talking about adding a UV unit onto your Reef it's really important that you are grabbing the proper sized unit not every single unit is going to work for differ sized reef tanks so it's essential you do the proper research find the right wattage for your UV sterilizer for the specific amount of gallons that your reef tank is at home if the unit is under siiz you aren't going to be nearly as effective as you were hoping additionally UVS create a lot of heat with the light being on and running through the unit continuously 24/7 there's a ton of studies out there showing if UV sterilizers can be effective in short periods during the day but some of these experiments have shown it pointless to not run your UV sterilizer 24/7 obviously if you're getting an oversized unit you're going to be doing the job you want to do when it comes to UV sterilizing the water passing through the units but something you want to consider is UV sterilizers create a lot of heat in your tanks one thing that's always taken for granted and not mentioned enough or talked about in the aquarium hobby is the fact that all of these pieces of equipment are going to need their yearly maintenance yes that's also including all the pumps heaters and other things you have in your tanks but the UV sterilizer is going to be really important that every single year you do your maintenance with maintenance of the unit comes some extra costs like replacing bulbs o-ring seals and so on similar to the aidea of Reef Keepers thinking they don't need to replenish their Cleanup Crew every year it's really not the best practice for reefkeeping staying on top of your yearly maintenance your yearly checkups is essential for the health of your reef and it's also essential for the functionability of your equipment to put some numbers to it after a year of work in your UV the bulb that initially came with the unit is more than likely running at a reduced power of 20 to 30% without that yearly maintenance your unit without a new bulb won't per form nearly as efficiently don't forget we're going to need to make room for this unit we are adding on yet again another piece of equipment to our reef tank it's essential to understand where it's going to fit in your system whether it be in the back chamber of maybe your all-in-one down in the sump or maybe you're running it in line and completely out of the system entirely it's also good to understand that not all units are created equally some are able to run plumbed in line others can run submersed and some need to be mounted outside of the tank entirely to fit so it's important to understand what size is this unit does it come with mounting equipment is it in a spot easily accessible where I can perform any needed maintenance or the yearly checkups that I have to do all of these are questions that are important to ask yourself before you go and pull the trigger on a UV unit or start placing one in your reef tank I refuse to finish this video without talking about the fact you do not want to skimp out on the UV sterilizer you end up grabbing we have a great line of prodcts here at topshelf Aquatics and I would have to say we have some of the best UV sterilizers as well on the market if you guys are looking to Save A Buck and get a cheap UV sterilizer I'm going to tell you don't do it because skimping out on this specific piece of equipment isn't the best practice you want to have the best practices when it comes to keeping your reef tank healthy and all of those animals are depending on you a lot of those cheap UV sterilizers aren't actually made with UV resistant PVC so it's important to understand that some of those cheaper units sure they may save you a buck initially aren't the best investment for your reef tank down the line I mentioned it a little earlier on in the video we have recently created some UV sterilizer bundles on our website that I think can be extremely beneficial for anyone looking to add a UV sterilizer to their reef tank I think initially sometimes when people look at UV sterilizers they get a little overwhelmed with some of the things they need to grab add-on currently on the website now we have a wide selection of UV bundles including Aqua UV units ice cap units and CJ units with the bundles they come in two different varieties the standard bundle and the pro bundle the standard bundle will be the UV unit itself and a CJ Synchro silent AC pump where the pro bundle differs is the DC pump that's included in the package the AI axis giving you the opportunity to tune the flow and amount of GPH heading into your UV unit exactly to what you want all of these bundles come with their respective mounting kits per UV purchased it's key to get the right size UV unit for the job and why we are offering multiple different sizes on our website so that way you can find the proper UV unit bundle to go with your system sometimes going into buying a new piece of equipment for your reef tank can seem a little bit intimidating and confusing so that's why we decided to make this video create the bundles on our website so that way you guys had an easy w out to get all the things you need to be able to set up a UV sterilizer on your reef tanks at home if you guys have been considering doing one you've kind of waited you didn't know exactly what pieces you wanted what you needed to make it happen well now we have all of those bundles set and ready to go for you on our website the idea and concept of using UV sterilizers has been around in the aquarium hobby for a long time but there are continuously questions about them I thought today's video was a fun time to be able to get a little glimpse into what you these sterilizers are all about some of them that we carry here at topshelf Aquatics and why they could be beneficial for your reef tank at home I want to leave you all today with a question do you use a UV sterilizer on your reef tank at home if you guys have hung out all the way till the end I want to say thank you so much be sure to like subscribe and hit the Bell notification so you don't miss out on any future uploads [Music]