SkylerS wrote:
I just have it sitting in my sump with a power head feeding it right from the outlet from the display. A low flow on that gives maximum contact to kill pathogens and parasites.Â
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Agreed on the Tangs getting ich like it's a fashion statement!
Add my experience with clowns is that they (and other damsel species) are very hardy as well.
As far as slow flow through your sterilizer though, one thing to keep in mind is the slower the flow rate, the higher the contact time with the UV and this kills both good and bad life. Some people prefer to start with a sterile tank by killing everything in the water and then add organisms and bacteria back in to the water column. I like to keep it somewhere in the middle.
I have baby snails and peppermint shrimp everywhere in my sump and my water is crystal clear so I feel like I've found the sweet spot for mine. For my particular UV sterilizer (Aqua UV 8W Classic) I run it on a 500GPH Mag drive pump with very little head, since they are both in the sump.
From the info on Aqua UV's site:
"Reef Tanks - A UV rated in the 30,000-45,000 columns is ideal for the reef environment.
UV’s rated at higher kill rates will destroy the planktonic food supply for the reef.
Marine Fish Tanks (No reef or live rock) - A UV rated in the 75,000 to 90,000 columns will be the most effective at controlling fish disease."
So for mine to be in the "sweet spot" between 30-45,000 uw/cm2 range I need to pump between 428-642 GPH through my sterilizer. Any higher than that and it will be ineffective and not kill pathogens and parasites, much lower than that and I will be killing beneficial life in the planktonic range - coral food and spores.
I turn off my skimmers and UV's when I feed my corals and fish but run them 24/7 other than that. It's worked well for me.