UV Sterilizer help

[pacu mom]

This will help alot. Sure as hell helped me out understanding UV.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html

I agree. This is an excellent article. If you use the flow rate/turnover rate table, for your 210 gallon tank, 18W would be the minimum wattage for a UV sterilizer to achieve level one sterilization at a turnover rate of 1.5 times an hour.

For my 300 gallon tank, the minimum would be 22.5W. I went with a 40 Watt UV sterilizer and was very happy with the results. When selecting a UV sterilizer, you need to match the recommended flowrate for the unit. Basically, the smaller the unit, the lower the recommended flowrate will be. (The recommended flowrate for a 120W is 4,500 gph) For our 300 gallon tank, I got a UV sterilizer with a recommended flowrate that matched the flowrate of my FX-5...so it was a very easy to connect it to the return line of the FX-5. If you have a pump with a higher flow rate than recommended for your UV sterilizer, you can put the UV on its own line with a valve to control the flow. So there are different ways to hook up a UV sterilizer.

With floor to ceiling picture windows and two skylights in our living room, it didn't take long for our tank to look like this:

With the installation of the UV sterilizer, it quickly changed to this

For us, a UV sterilizer is not an option, it's a MUST.

 

[Chaz88]

Just pointing out something obvious for the sake thoroughness. On one of my tanks I get a green look to the water because algae grows under the cover glass and filters out a lot of the spectrum, except green. When I clean it off the green water goes away.

 

[schwalbach2280]

on the link given earlier in this thread i found a kit that already comes complete. it is the "*TERMINATOR 13 WATT UV/ INTERNAL FILTER KIT- $121.99 ". Would this be suitable for my 210gallon tank or should I go with something with more wattage? If this will work I jsut find it to be easier and less expensive.?

 

[Toby_H]

UV (meaning UVC emiting bulbs) can acheive a few different goals and should be set up differently depending on what goals you are attempting to acheive with them. Pond clarifiers and aquarium sterilizers are the same types of lights, just set up with different goals in mind.

Pond clarifiers are designed to move a high flow rate (gph) through a smaller (lower wattage) bulb. Sterilizers are designed to move a lower flow rate (gph) through a larger (higher wattage) bulb.

If removing green water is your only concern (as is on most ponds), your goal is clarification. Most UV lights on the market will easily do this. You may consider trying the "all in one" units that have a small UV (6~9W), small to medium powerhead and a prefilter all in a single unit.

By slowly pushing water past a higher watt UV lamp extends the exposure time to kill not only algae but all sorts of things including parasites. I have found using 1W of UV per 10 gallons of tank volume at a flow rate of 10 gph per 1W of UV strength is ideal for getting all the benefits a UV has to offer (aka 21W UV @ 210 gph on a 210 gal tank).

It is important to minimize the amount of debris that is pushed through your UV lamp. Any debris will caste tiny little shadows within the light reducing it's effectiveness. Hard debris (sand, etc) can etch small scratches into the quartz sleeve (quartz is scratch resistant, not scratch proof) which reduces the effectiveness of the UV lamp. Naturally any debris risks adding to build up which can reduce UV effectiveness in several ways.