UV sterilizer
- Thread starter chemicall
- Start date
shua;4000801; said:
I found all the pond stuff inside right beside a bunch of live flowers for sale(too cold here to keep them outside yet), this was close to the lawnmowers etc. Just ask a HD employee where you can find the pond equipment...
To kill parasites I strongly suggest a formula of:
1 W of UV strength per 10 gallons of water volume...
10 gph of flow per 1W of UV strength...
Thus for a 100 gal tank I suggest a 10 W (or slightly higher) UV light running at 100 (or slightly slower) gph...
Thus your 13W light should work wonderfully on your 100 gal tank provided you run it at 130 gph or slightly less...
Keep in mind I am references actual flow rates, not the maximum the pump/filter is rated for...
Be cautious when reading manufacturer recomendations on UV lights. They can (honestly) suggest that a very small light is acceptible for a very large body of water... and will function at a very high flow rate... because this is true when you are only trying to remove green water (kill algae). To kill parasites you must follow the rates I suggested above.
1 W of UV strength per 10 gallons of water volume...
10 gph of flow per 1W of UV strength...
Thus for a 100 gal tank I suggest a 10 W (or slightly higher) UV light running at 100 (or slightly slower) gph...
Thus your 13W light should work wonderfully on your 100 gal tank provided you run it at 130 gph or slightly less...
Keep in mind I am references actual flow rates, not the maximum the pump/filter is rated for...
Be cautious when reading manufacturer recomendations on UV lights. They can (honestly) suggest that a very small light is acceptible for a very large body of water... and will function at a very high flow rate... because this is true when you are only trying to remove green water (kill algae). To kill parasites you must follow the rates I suggested above.
nc_nutcase;4001231; said:
Thanks for the advice. I thought it would work good for my tank also..
I'll follow what you said, I was going to use approx 200gph pump, but I'll find something more around the 100gph area then. Less power used with your recommendations anyway.
To everyone else, good luck in your hunt for some new equipment on the cheap.
I don't have the sterilizer running yet, but it seems to be of good quality. Has mounting brackets, stainless hose clamps, 1" and 1.25" hose fittings. The plastic casing is thick and solid, power cord is decent length and thick, with ground. Viewing window so you can be sure the lamp is on and running. the hose connections come with seals as does the top where the lamp screws out. If you try to unscrew/remove the lamp while plugged in and on, once you unscrew and pull it out a microswitch automatically shuts it off, to protect your eyes obviously. Takes G23 bulbs and does come with 1.
I can't find the information at the moment but I remember reading a UV article that was focusing on saving money on energy and bulb replacement. It had a formula to figure out how long to run a given wattage of light with a particular flow rate to achieve a specific sterilization goal for X number of gallons. With an overpower light and depending on what you are trying to kill it might not be necessary to run all the time. You might try doing a net search for the information. If I find it I will post it up.
