Which is the best uv sterilizer for Fresh water

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ive seen the one with the wipers but i have had my turbo twist running for 6 months and the glass sleeve still looks brand new. So i would save the money and just go with a turbo twist b/c the wiping feature is useless in the long term aspect b/c you probablyh only have to wipe it once a year.

it is recommended once a month to use the wipper to keep it at it's optimum level. it can always look clean but it could be actually dirty already. i never had any experience with the turbo twist so i can't judge it compared to the aqua uv.:)
 
I needed one for a client to be used to eliminate algae.

let's just say it this way... Aqua UV has a reputable name backing it. the other UV Sterilizer I haven't used but it doesn't mean they don't work as good. I got the Aqua UV based on the opinions given to me by fellow fish lovers. It will boil down to what is your clients budget and what he would prefer. some of the UV are easier to hang on the tank ( i would admit this) Aqua UV you would need to buy their bracket and patiently drill hole and put a screw inside and srew it to the tank stand. That's the only think i saw challenging on this UV. :)
 
I was looking on petsmart.com
They had a internal UV sterilizer. Anybody have experience with it??. its pretty inexpensive, thinking about puting one in my arowana tank.
 
Not sure if this thread is still alive or not but one thing you should keep in mind is that UV's with plastic housings typically fail after a while.

The UV light inside the housing will alter the chemistry of the plastic over time. I might take a long time but if indeed it does fail, you have a giant problem on your hands. (Think about anything you leave in the sun too long).

A better option is a UV housing made from stainless steel. (imho)

You may want to contact a drinking water filtration specialist in your area. They sell UV sterilizers which are typically more powerful because for drinking water it's a "one shot" deal, meaning the water only passes through the sterilizer once. For these systems it is necessary to pre-filter the water so that nothing larger than 5 microns in size passes through the UV canister. Otherwise they are ineffective for drinking water standards. This is less important in an aquarium because the water cycles through over and over. However, the more powerful units go a long way to kill parasites faster and can reduce the need to quarantine new fish when a powerful unit (say 20-40 watt) is used.

An excellent canadian manufacturer of stainless steel UV sterilizers is a company called Wyckomar. http://www.wyckomaruv.com

I am not associated with Wyckomar directly but the company I work for does sell Wyckomar (as well as others) UV sterilizers.

Anyway, the important lesson here is that UV will not kill anything larger than 5 microns on 1 pass. So, depending on how you are pre-filtering you may or may not be killing everything in the water even with multiple passes, especially with a low wattage unit.
 
Not sure if this thread is still alive or not but one thing you should keep in mind is that UV's with plastic housings typically fail after a while.

The UV light inside the housing will alter the chemistry of the plastic over time. I might take a long time but if indeed it does fail, you have a giant problem on your hands. (Think about anything you leave in the sun too long).

A better option is a UV housing made from stainless steel. (imho)

You may want to contact a drinking water filtration specialist in your area. They sell UV sterilizers which are typically more powerful because for drinking water it's a "one shot" deal, meaning the water only passes through the sterilizer once. For these systems it is necessary to pre-filter the water so that nothing larger than 5 microns in size passes through the UV canister. Otherwise they are ineffective for drinking water standards. This is less important in an aquarium because the water cycles through over and over. However, the more powerful units go a long way to kill parasites faster and can reduce the need to quarantine new fish when a powerful unit (say 20-40 watt) is used.

An excellent canadian manufacturer of stainless steel UV sterilizers is a company called Wyckomar. http://www.wyckomaruv.com

I am not associated with Wyckomar directly but the company I work for does sell Wyckomar (as well as others) UV sterilizers.

Anyway, the important lesson here is that UV will not kill anything larger than 5 microns on 1 pass. So, depending on how you are pre-filtering you may or may not be killing everything in the water even with multiple passes, especially with a low wattage unit.

i would still stick with the plastic housing... comparing it using sunlight is definitely wrong. UV Sterilizers have different type of light compared to a sun. and besides putting something under the sun means nothing. UV light are enclosed on a glass sleves and has water running on the sleves which makes it cool and not hot. Water is also a medium to disperse the light rays the UV is emitting. Buying a stainless one for drinking use is just wasting money.:)
 
i would still stick with the plastic housing... Buying a stainless one for drinking use is just wasting money.:)

That's strange because in my business, which is water purification systems, we routinely replace cracked plastic housings from various (usually Asian) manufacturers. Generally the cracked housings go hand-in-hand with insurance claims for excessive water damage.

On the other hand, you sound very confident in your response so I'll presume that you have equal measures of confidence and experience in the matter and take back everything I said and agree with you... plastic is better. Don't waste your money people. ;)
 
That's strange because in my business, which is water purification systems, we routinely replace cracked plastic housings from various (usually Asian) manufacturers. Generally the cracked housings go hand-in-hand with insurance claims for excessive water damage.

On the other hand, you sound very confident in your response so I'll presume that you have equal measures of confidence and experience in the matter and take back everything I said and agree with you... plastic is better. Don't waste your money people. ;)

this is how i see it. it would depend on the use. since the one used for aquarium has constant water circulation and will almost not produce significant heat it will not break the plastic. however, in drinking water it can stay their for several minutes that's why they need stainless steel (that's my theoretical analysis-i don't have experience with drinking water). one more thing is that as long as the wattage is not outrageously big i don't see it will crack the plastic. then again, i don't have any long term (10yrs or more) experience with UV in plastic casing. You might be right and I might be wrong. :)
 
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