Best Bang For Your Buck UV Sterilizer?

keepinfish

Potamotrygon
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Jun 29, 2007
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Back to the original question.
What's the best UV for it's price?

Does a person have to spend over a Grand to get a good sterilizer?

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depends on what you are doing with it, and how big of a system it goes on....
To answer your question......NO. I didnt even spend close to that, but have a fairly small system too.
 

burbon44s

Candiru
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May 13, 2012
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Let's say your tank is around 800 gals.
And thinking of using a 110 w UV .
Figure flow around 3000 gals/ per hr.

What would you buy and what would you pay?

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cjfrontlovr

Fire Eel
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Feb 10, 2006
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Back to the original question.
What's the best UV for it's price?

Does a person have to spend over a Grand to get a good sterilizer?

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no..I have a 114w unit on my 1200 gallon tank with 3000gph flow rate..its costs around $800 I believe.
 

Pazzoman

Piranha
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Apr 5, 2009
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Thanks everyone Im waiting for ken dragon's response as like you guys have mentioned he works for accompany of uv sterilizers and seems to know a lot about them strictly referring to flow wise for the correct uv sterilizer.

I will update when ken pms me back
 

burbon44s

Candiru
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I've got a chance to pick up a 400 w Viper but it needs a bulb.
Is it possible to use a smaller wattage bulb in this unit?
400 w is a little over kill and the bulb is pretty expensive.
What do the pros think?
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FishNCash

Goliath Tigerfish
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I believe the general rule for lights is you can use a higher wattage bulb on lower wattage ballast but not vice versa. I used to have a hard time find 12w t5 so the LFS suggested using 24w bulbs.

Personally I think coralife works fine for tanks below 180g and if you are not nit picking about your UV. All those fancy brands cost way more than a coralife unit.
 

burbon44s

Candiru
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May 13, 2012
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I believe the general rule for lights is you can use a higher wattage bulb on lower wattage ballast but not vice versa. I used to have a hard time find 12w t5 so the LFS suggested using 24w bulbs.

Personally I think coralife works fine for tanks below 180g and if you are not nit picking about your UV. All those fancy brands cost way more than a coralife unit.
Sorry but If anything that sounds backwards.


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FishNCash

Goliath Tigerfish
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Sorry but If anything that sounds backwards. Sent from my DROID4 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
i just did a google on it and here is what I found.
"You should be careful when using higher wattage than a product is rated for. The UL listing is for the intended wattage, and whether or not it actually works you could be presenting a fire hazard by putting in a higher power lamp. I'm not too familiar with the difference between a fluorescent ballast and just a regular light bulb socket, but I do know if you put a 100W light bulb in a 15W lamp it will work but it will be much hotter than the fixture was designed for. This includes both the bulb and the wiring used inside the fixture.
Granted there is a certain amount of safety factor involved in the rating, and it wouldn't surprise me if an electrical engineer could prove your case would be ok. Just be aware of the potential danger."
 

DB junkie

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Personally I think coralife works fine for tanks below 180g and if you are not nit picking about your UV. All those fancy brands cost way more than a coralife unit.
IF you really think that then you should contact Ken, see if he'll crunch your numbers, and report back to us how many KJ/cm^2 you're at.

Here's the thing with UV, just like Matt mentioned, you DON'T KNOW if it's working or not. The numbers don't lie. There's a scientific way to crunch the numbers and many people have a hard time understanding this.

The only people in this thread that KNOW their UVs work are the ones that Ken has helped.

Took me one watt of UV for every 5.5 gallons of water to be where I want to be.
 

FishNCash

Goliath Tigerfish
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Aug 1, 2009
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IF you really think that then you should contact Ken, see if he'll crunch your numbers, and report back to us how many KJ/cm^2 you're at.

Here's the thing with UV, just like Matt mentioned, you DON'T KNOW if it's working or not. The numbers don't lie. There's a scientific way to crunch the numbers and many people have a hard time understanding this.

The only people in this thread that KNOW their UVs work are the ones that Ken has helped.

Took me one watt of UV for every 5.5 gallons of water to be where I want to be.
can you recommend a UV brand for about $145 that meets the technical data?
 
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