Fullofit343

Right now i have a wet dry filter on my tank. as most of you probably know the way it works is water comes in through the overflow, through the bioballs and and into the sump. from the sump a pump takes the water back up and out into the tank. I also have a uv steralizer. Would i be able to cut out an extra pump by running the water that comes into the sump, through the pump, up through the uv steralizer, and then back into the tank? it makes sense because the water is all going to the same place this way it would just make an extra stop. just wanted to check first

caseyholland

Absolutely, thats how ive always run them,and ive had great results. Hose is cheaper than pumps. I cut the return hose and plumb the sterilizer in the rerurn line. The one factor you need to consider is flow rate. UV sterilizers have to have a certain exposure time to the water to work, if the water is flowing too fast the sterilizer will be ineffective, this can be solved with a ball valve to slow the flow rate.

cerianthus

How big is the tank and how big is return pump? What is recommended flow for your UV?
Drain capacity of your Overflow Box?

Would never put valve to restrict the flow which can put more burden on the pump. You can bypass to control flow rate using Tees, Elbows and extra valves (Manifold).