UV Sterilizer

K

KevinH

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 19, 2012
78
0
6
New Jersey
Hey guys, can I get some feedback on UV Sterilizers, if you use them, and how do you like them? I've been doing some research but only on the internet, and I'm not sure what to believe.:nilly: I have a 110 gal and it's loaded with free floating algae, I can't even see my fish when they swim to the rear of my tank. One company I was checking out is TMC the vecton series, any info is greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance
 
Drstrangelove

Drstrangelove

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Oct 21, 2012
2,693
1,227
164
San Francisco
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=440

http://americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html#dwell_time

A 4 watt UV with 60 gph pump will give you 2x turnover which is enough to control algae. If you bump it up to 15 / 300, you'll also take out free floating bacteria and some viruses. (At that level, you might be fine running it just a small portion of each day.)

IMO, you should look at why you have so much green algae. Some is normal, but a lot is indicative of too much light (direct sunlight or too strong light bulb on too long) or too much leftover nutrients in the water (e.g., over feeding or inadequate water changes.) You might not need the UV if the underlying cause is fixed.
 
K

KevinH

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 19, 2012
78
0
6
New Jersey
Thanks for that info, the algae bloom started right after I did a WC and I broke the well cover on my canister filter, so I only had two HOB's running the tank for a week before my replacement part arrived. I tried another larger WC to no avail. My lights are bright, two 24 inch coralife compact fluorescent fixtures, I have been leaving them on longer then normal, I will cut the light down substantially before I purchase a UV, Thanks again
 
Rayne

Rayne

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2010
450
16
33
If you do decide to go with a UV you have chosen one of the best out there. TMC makes a very good UV and is miles ahead of the cheaper UV's such as Jebo and the TurboTwist. They have a much better contact time. The below information is quoted directly from the link that DRstragelove linked a few posts above. The example is a close match to your aquarium size and the table values pertain to a quality UV such as the TMC Vecton that you have chosen.

UV.JPG

Example 2: In this example I will use a 100 gallon aquarium;
*For Clarification (Green Water Control; generally the most common application in ponds) you would need a flow rate of 40-50 gph (higher for some high dwell time UVs) and a turnover of aquarium/pond water through the UV of once per 2-3 hours. So as a minimum you would need a flow rate of 50 gph (assuming once per 2 hours in water turnover). At 50 gph (for turnover) the smallest UV available is a 5 Watt which can have a flow rate up to 250 gph for clarification.

*For Level One Sterilization (generally the most common application in aquariums), you would need a turnover rate of 1.5 times per hour which would be 150 gph for this example. The flow rate through the UV should be 20-25 gph per watt (I will use 20 such as required with a Jebo UV) which would mean 7.5 watts would be the minimum UV Sterilizer (20 x 7.5 = 150).

*For Level Two Sterilization, you would need an aquarium/pond turnover rate through the UV Sterilizer of up to 4 times per hour, which would mean 400 gph for this example. The flow rate in gph per watt is best under 10 (generally even lower, we will use 8 gph per watt for this example), so at 400 gph this would require a 50 Watt UV Sterilizer (or possibly two 25 Watt UVs running at 200 gph each).
Click to expand...
UV.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store
Top Bottom