Pondmaster UV

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aotechs

aotechs

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 17, 2015
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Columbus, OH
I'm going to be upgrading to a 300+ gallon tank in the near future. I am thinking about adding a UV light to this new tank. Any opinions if a Pondmaster 02910 or 02920 would be overkill for my build? I can get a good deal on one and replacement bulbs aren't very expensive and readily available.
 
aotechs said:
I'm going to be upgrading to a 300+ gallon tank in the near future. I am thinking about adding a UV light to this new tank. Any opinions if a Pondmaster 02910 or 02920 would be overkill for my build? I can get a good deal on one and replacement bulbs aren't very expensive and readily available.
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In my opinion...you can't go overkill on UV.
The bigger the more kill. You have the advantage of a rating far larger than an aquarium therfore giving you even more killing potential.
if the UV is rated for kill rates at say 1000gph, and you run say 600gph, ypu are doing 2x turnover well withing the kill rate resulting in a more complete and thorough kill.
I have a Laguna pond UV rated at 1500g pond...on my 180. ....so I am killing more than algae in that tank....
 
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The two UV you specified are 10W and 20W. Both are very low dosage for a 300+g tank. No way close to overkill. Good for green water control as boldtogether stated. Don't expect anything more than that. You need to determine the purpose for having a UV first. If there is no reason then it will be a waste (overkill).
 
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The primary goal is parasite control with a bonus of algae control. I was using the manufacturer product chart provided below for the UV light filtering capabilities.

Are real world experiences really that much different? I was going to error on the side of caution and go with the 20 watt (02920).

upload_2015-11-20_17-32-40.png
 
The manufacturer's data is very general. Vague.....with no dosage strength or types of bacteria control.
From the shipping dimension on the web, here is the dosage calc. 18"Lx3"Dia and 14"L bulb. Flow used is 700gph. Dosage is low even after using the shipping dims which I know the unit is actually smaller.
Calc shows dosage is 18.57mJ/cm^2. Green water control requires 20mJ/cm^2 (ideal designs will shoot for 30mJ/cm^2 for green water). To control most aquaria bacteria, designers shoot for 50mJ/cm^2.
So will this UV work? Yes, but know what it really can do. Search the web and see what bacterias are affected by 18.57mJ/cm^2. I believe there are bacteria tables on some UV manufacter's web site. Good luck on your future build.

aotechs.JPG
 
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Bacteria kill is all about cocntact time. Contact time is a ratio of light and flow. Higher the flow, higher the light required.
It is usually advantageous and more economical to use a slower flow rate with a lower wattage.
This isn't a filter remember. Even a flow of 300gph would be once an hour turnover and multiplied over 24hrs in a closed system, is quite a lot of exposure....
 
Update: I did end up buying the 20 watt (02920) model. Tank has been up and running crystal clear for a year with UV. My main goal was algae control.
 
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