Properly sizing UV Sterilizers

So I'm trying to follow this thread...

I just purchased a Coralife 9w Turbo Twist UV Sterilizer for a 46Gallon tank. Right now I know I have the water flowing in way too fast, I have 200 GPH power head attached to it. I plan on getting a valve to slow this down of course.

My question is...is a 9W bulb enough to kill ich? From what I'm reading I would need to upgrade to higher wattage.
 
Anyone here using the viaAqua terminator UV sterilizer? I bought a 36W one for my 125G. I saw good reviews on one website saying that this is one of the best. However, I don't see this product mentioned in most reviews in the net. Please let me konw if you have good/bad experiences with this one.

Thanks in advance
 
CoolJ1;574306 wrote: My question is...is a 9W bulb enough to kill ich? From what I'm reading I would need to upgrade to higher wattage.
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Likely not, but you can't go based on wattage alone - you have to look at the ratings produced by the manufacturer (if they produce any).

A similar example would be a car engine. Two engines may both be 2.0 liters, but one may produce a good bit more power than the other. Same thing here - a UV bulb may produce more or less - it depends on the manufacturer and configuration.

Sree;576902 wrote: Anyone here using the viaAqua terminator UV sterilizer? I bought a 36W one for my 125G. I saw good reviews on one website saying that this is one of the best. However, I don't see this product mentioned in most reviews in the net. Please let me konw if you have good/bad experiences with this one.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure it's "one of the best", although it may be adequate for your needs. Again, you'll need to find the ratings from the manufacturer to know for sure.
 
aye aye aye, my head hurts.

so here's what i have, and can you tell my which pump to put on it and what i can do. Like my husband says, i make babies, not sense...:D

have a 40 breeder. with a proclear 75 about to be set up for sump.


I HAVE a aquanetics 15 IL ( no bulb) and an Aquanetics 25 IL with a bulb.

i plan to set up a 125 with 55 sump/ fuge.

are these bad boys any good at all for me? how many gph do i need for each?
 
sarahh;599900 wrote: aye aye aye, my head hurts.

so here's what i have, and can you tell my which pump to put on it and what i can do. Like my husband says, i make babies, not sense...:D

have a 40 breeder. with a proclear 75 about to be set up for sump.


I HAVE a aquanetics 15 IL ( no bulb) and an Aquanetics 25 IL with a bulb.

i plan to set up a 125 with 55 sump/ fuge.

are these bad boys any good at all for me? how many gph do i need for each?
Click to expand...
I've got a 25IL also... I only run a small portion of my return water through it (it's on a manifold) but 12 hours after I set it up, my water was visibly clearer.. (yellowish to clear)..

I'd estimate that I run somewhere around 100-150 gph through it..
 
so from reading this and looking at the math, it seems like it wouldnt be a good idea to get the coralife twist. Is this not an effective UV to kill ICH? If you have to have the gph listed on here going through it, it could take a while to hit all the tank water. I know there are definitely better ones on the market but im looking for effectiveness.

Am I looking at it right?
 
carpenter981;600036 wrote: so from reading this and looking at the math, it seems like it wouldnt be a good idea to get the coralife twist. Is this not an effective UV to kill ICH? If you have to have the gph listed on here going through it, it could take a while to hit all the tank water. I know there are definitely better ones on the market but im looking for effectiveness.

Am I looking at it right?
Click to expand...

It depends on your tank size. If you were trying to sterilize a 2g tank, it'd be great. If you were trying to sterilize a 300g tank, it'd be a waste of electricity. I'd recommend against the coralife twist units - they're just not very good. Emperor is probably the best. Be forewarned that good UV sterilization isn't cheap.
 
mojo;600055 wrote: It depends on your tank size. If you were trying to sterilize a 2g tank, it'd be great. If you were trying to sterilize a 300g tank, it'd be a waste of electricity. I'd recommend against the coralife twist units - they're just not very good. Emperor is probably the best. Be forewarned that good UV sterilization isn't cheap.
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+1 to it all

I run a 114w Aqua UV on my 210 and wish I had just a touch larger. Aqua UV is great brand in my opinion but Emporer will be my next..
 
What is the general consensus on the turbotwist flavor of UV sterilizers? I have one from my FW tank sitting around, unsure about the size.
 
mojo;439839 wrote: Aqua UV just happens to be what I run. I'm happy with it, but I'm not saying it's the best or the worst. Some people swear by the Emperor UV sterilizers - check with Skriz to see what he says.

Otherwise, based on my experience, I'd say you'd be fine with a 57w Aqua UV.
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grouper therapy;439843 wrote: I run an Aqua UV as well. Nothing but great service. 57 watt on 260 gallon system
Nice explanation Chris. Thanks for posting the info.
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I havent looked at this thread in a while and have some questions. I run a 114 w Aqua UV on my 230 gal system. It is plumbed through one of my returns and then throttled back via ball valve. My math shows I need 345 gph to acheive the 336,000 but is more than the 1x per hour standard discussed earlier in this thread - im not terribly concerned with that. I use a Mag 18 return so that would be about 750 gph split between 2 returns, then I throttle that one back abotu half and figure i should (in theory) be close to the 345 needed. I dont have an issue with ich but algae on the glass like crazy - i really want my UV to help me in that dept (i am doing many other things to combat this im just keeping it on topic)

Am I better served to remove the UV from the return plumbing and run it out of the sump instead? it would just be recirculating sump water but I would be able to adjust it much better doing this.

If I do go off the sump with it what is the best way to measure the flow? Some of the flow meters out there are just too cheapy and unreliable - I gave my last one away it sucked so bad.
 
For flow measurement you can use a big bucket (5 gal-?). Count how long it takes to fill, or how much water in a given amount of time, then convert to gph. If you want help doing this, let me know.
 
mine (25W Aquanetics dinosaur) runs off the return manifold..

I think you're better served by killing everything in a portion of your water than only killing some of the things in all of your water..

just MO
 
I have just spent the last hour trying to figure out what you are talking about in this LONG post. I am about to buy a new UV. Taking most of your advice it looks like it will be the Emperor 40w. I have a 75 gal tank with a 20gal long sump, RO 2000int Bubbleblaster and a 9.5 mag pump. I think I understand that I can run the uv off of my mag. To save me time and not waste theirs do any of our sponsors sell the Emperor? The best price I have found in $330.00. Thanks,Bubba
 
40W would probably work to prohibit ICH in that size tank.. (obviously, it's all about exposure time)

I'm just saying, that might be overkill (but it's a KILLER -pun intended- UV, that's for sure)
 
Hi, I am currently running green killing machine 9watt on my about 55gal tank.(including the sump)... the unit says upto 50 gallon. is that mean this uv is totally useless...
thank you in advance ^^
 
not useless... but no where near as effective as, say, a 25W unit would be..
 
I made the investment of $250.00 Plus paying to have a 25 watt Emperor installed .......three weeks ago and my glass still needs cleaned off everyday...no change from without UV. I sure hope it is doing more in the the sterilization area than the clean glass promise.:doh: Bubba
 
no1bubba... don't know your setup... but check the begining of this post to adjust the flow to your tank size and what you want to kill. On a second note... not sure if a UV will ever get rid of algea on the front glass... but it will slow it down.
 
If you are having to clean algae off your glass every day, then what are your nitrate and phosphate levels?
 
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