Hello everybody. I've had my 220 gallon saltwater tank set up for about 8 months now and i'm looking to add a UV sterilizer to it. I currently have 2 fx5's for filtration and they seem to be doing very well. I have noticed some algae starting to grow and from everything i've read a UV sterilizer should fix it. I'm looking for suggestions on something big enough for my tank but not extremely expensive. Any suggestions would be great.
Advice needed on a UV sterilizer
- Thread starter EMac
- Start date
UV units are great but one may or may not fix your algae problem. If your water is green, one will fix that but I'm fairly certain it won't kill algae growing on your tank, substrate, etc. If that's the case, reducing your nitrates should take care of it.
THIS is the one I got for my 75 gallon but they only recommend it for up to 200 gallons. An 18 watt may be more suitable. Some good info there on UV sterilizers in general though.
THIS is the one I got for my 75 gallon but they only recommend it for up to 200 gallons. An 18 watt may be more suitable. Some good info there on UV sterilizers in general though.
As mentioned, UV sterilizers work freat at removing free floating algae...
They do not remove algae that grows on surfaces, but I have found my tanks with UV lights tend to have less algae growing on surfaces. I'm not sure if this is because the algae has a free floating stage where it is removed or if the UV removes something from the water column that the algae utilizes (I've heard both explainations from apparently reliable sources)...
Danner UV lights are my vavorite. They work very well and are extremely durable. They are also submersable. I also use Turbo Twist UVs and am just as happy with their performance, though the housing is not nearly as durable. But with proper care/placement they work great.
I suggest a formula of pushing 10 gallons per hour per 1 W of UV strength... and using 1 W of UV strength per 10 gallons of tank volume... in other words use a 22W UV on your 220 gal tank and pushing 220 gallons per hour through the unit... I would feel comfortable using the Danner 20W @ 200 gph on your set up...
Using the above formula will give you the best usage of the UV light to eradicate parasites as well as remove free floating algae/bacteria/fungi and otherwise clarify the water... Pushing water through the UV faster than suggested will make the UV light less efficient. It may still do fine with algae, etc but not be effective against parasites...
They do not remove algae that grows on surfaces, but I have found my tanks with UV lights tend to have less algae growing on surfaces. I'm not sure if this is because the algae has a free floating stage where it is removed or if the UV removes something from the water column that the algae utilizes (I've heard both explainations from apparently reliable sources)...
Danner UV lights are my vavorite. They work very well and are extremely durable. They are also submersable. I also use Turbo Twist UVs and am just as happy with their performance, though the housing is not nearly as durable. But with proper care/placement they work great.
I suggest a formula of pushing 10 gallons per hour per 1 W of UV strength... and using 1 W of UV strength per 10 gallons of tank volume... in other words use a 22W UV on your 220 gal tank and pushing 220 gallons per hour through the unit... I would feel comfortable using the Danner 20W @ 200 gph on your set up...
Using the above formula will give you the best usage of the UV light to eradicate parasites as well as remove free floating algae/bacteria/fungi and otherwise clarify the water... Pushing water through the UV faster than suggested will make the UV light less efficient. It may still do fine with algae, etc but not be effective against parasites...
Well i'm not overly concerned about the green algae growing on everything but i want to try to prevent it from growing by keeping anything i can out of the water. The main reasoning behind getting a uv sterilizer is because i'm just barely starting to get a green tint in the water. Your suggestions are appreciated. Keep them coming.
One other question i have is what else is needed for using a UV sterilizer? Do i need a powerhead or pump of some kind or are they self pumped? I've never used one before so all the information i can get would be great.
There are some small units that have built in water pumps. The largest one I've ever seen was 9W. I would kwewep my expectations low with these units but if you are only looking to get rid of green water they may be worth considering...
Personally, if I am going to bother adding a UV light, I'm going to add one that gives me the full benefit of a UV light. Which includes eradicating parasites... but that's just me...
Most units, including the units mentioned here (Danner & Turbo Twist) are just a housing & bulb. So you will need to provide your own water pump. You can use a powerhead, small pump or canister filter to push water through them.
I encourage people to use canister filters. It is important to send the cleanest water possible through the unit. They utilize scratch resistent quartz sleeves, but these sleeves are not "scratch proof". So shooting debris at them over time could cause minor scratches which result in hazing. This hazing will reduce the effectiveness of the UV. Also debris passing through will cast tiny little shadows. While these shadows will be quite tiny, any reduction in efectiveness could allow a parasite to survive it's trip through the unit and survive to infect your fish.
All that said... you can use them in conjunction with powerheads or small pumps. Though I suggest you use the most effective prefilter possible on the powerhead/pump.
Personally, if I am going to bother adding a UV light, I'm going to add one that gives me the full benefit of a UV light. Which includes eradicating parasites... but that's just me...
Most units, including the units mentioned here (Danner & Turbo Twist) are just a housing & bulb. So you will need to provide your own water pump. You can use a powerhead, small pump or canister filter to push water through them.
I encourage people to use canister filters. It is important to send the cleanest water possible through the unit. They utilize scratch resistent quartz sleeves, but these sleeves are not "scratch proof". So shooting debris at them over time could cause minor scratches which result in hazing. This hazing will reduce the effectiveness of the UV. Also debris passing through will cast tiny little shadows. While these shadows will be quite tiny, any reduction in efectiveness could allow a parasite to survive it's trip through the unit and survive to infect your fish.
All that said... you can use them in conjunction with powerheads or small pumps. Though I suggest you use the most effective prefilter possible on the powerhead/pump.
With most of them, you need something to push (or pull) water through the unit. The GPH of whatever it is your using (power head, pump, filter, whatever) should be determined by the wattage of UV bulb you're using. Using nc_nutcase's suggestion, 10 GPH per watt -> if you get a 22 watt bulb you'd want 220 gph going through the unit. The slower the water goes through the unit the longer the contact time with the UV light.
The water going through the unit should also be as clean as possible. I use a Magnum 350 with a micron cartridge to power my UV unit. Once the quartz tube the bulb is in gets dirty, the unit is useless until you clean it.
With UV units, it's all about contact time and contact intensity.
The water going through the unit should also be as clean as possible. I use a Magnum 350 with a micron cartridge to power my UV unit. Once the quartz tube the bulb is in gets dirty, the unit is useless until you clean it.
With UV units, it's all about contact time and contact intensity.
On my 225g I'm running a 13 watt UV sterilizer that has a built in 211 gph Powerhead connected to a sponge filter. It works good but my wattage is recommended up to 150g tanks only. Still works tho.
EMac;3787779; said:
The flow rate through the UV sterilizer is critical. The larger the UV sterilizer, the faster the flow rate can be for maximum effectiveness. On our 300 gallon tank, we are running a 40 Watt sterilizer. The recommended flow rate for the unit is about the flow rate for the FX-5 we use for redundant filtration.....So we connected the UV sterilizer to the return line of the FX-5. We let the FX-5 push the water through the UV sterilizer and return it to the tank.
If you want to save yourself some hassle, get a UV sterilizer with a recommended flow rate that matches your FX-5, and use your FX-5.
With floor-to-ceiling picture windows and two skylights, our tank is in sunlight. We quickly developed a green water problem.
The green water quickly cleared up with the UV sterilizer
Pentair Aquatics UV sterilizer connected to the FX-5
