Can UV cause an ammonia spike?

[forsberg]

I've got a 72 gal bow front reef tank with a 30 gal sump.
Yesterday I installed a 40W UV sterilizer, and this morning, the water was cloudy and my ammonia level was through the roof. any ideas?
jf

 

[bashcraft]

I can't say for sure, but I would guess, no, it wouldn't cause a spike. Are all your animals accounted for?

BTW, I have a 72 bow also. How dit you get a 30 gal sump in that stand?

Bob

 

[randy holmes-farley]

I've never used a UV, but I'd expect that if you killed a ton of suspended organsims, that they'd break down and could cause a spike. Whether it would be big enough to detect, I can't say.

 

[forsberg]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by bashcraft:
<strong>I can't say for sure, but I would guess, no, it wouldn't cause a spike. Are all your animals accounted for?

BTW, I have a 72 bow also. How dit you get a 30 gal sump in that stand?

Bob</strong><hr></blockquote>


bob, built the stand myself to accomodate a 30gal sump with all the accoutrements. I put a piggy back wet-dry trickle filter behind the tank which drains into the sump. New SHO lights necessitated a larger sump to act as a heat sink without spending big bucks on a chiller.

jf

 

[bashcraft]

JF,

Do you have any pictures of your stand?

Bob