# UV Sterilizer Question



## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

I have a 50 gallon gold fish tank that has green water and always comes back. I'm thinking a UV Sterilizer.

Question 1.

12V 9W UV Sterilizer with Powerhead, is this a good one?

Question 2.

Will it always need to be in the tank once all the green is gone or can I take it out and only use it if the green comes back? What are your experiences with sterilizers?

Question 3.

Does anyone have one they are selling?


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

That should do well in a 50. You can keep in there 2 weeks after the green is gone and take it out.


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

That looks like the 'Green Killing Machine' brand UV sterilizer. I've had a couple of them and they work well. They sell them at King Ed's.

When I had my really nice SA Cichlid tank I ran a UV sterilizer in it full time for about a year. My water was crystal clear & I never had one sick fish (UV sterilizers can help kill protozoan parasites such as ich).

Now I have a UV sterilizer that I only put in my turtle tank at times of the year when the tank gets direct sun which causes green water outbreaks. The UV sterilizer clears it up within a day or two. 

The downside of UV sterilizers is that the bulbs are only supposed to last 6-12 months (full time use) and they are expensive to replace.


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

I wonder how much the cheapest one at King Eds is, I'll have to drop by there tomorrow at lunch. If I can take it out after 2 weeks of no green and only use it when I have a problem that would save the light life of the sterilizer I guess. It's a 50 gallon tall so three feet high and 1.5 feet wide and long. It's a pain to try to fiddle with stuff on the bottom of the tank.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

I think the 9w at Kinged was $59.99. Here is what I found problems with it.
1) it uses a very small coarse sponge to filter out anything before the water gets pump into the UV light unit. You do have to clean often as you won't be able to open the light unit to clean the glass shield if it gets dirty.
2) you can't tell if the light is working.
3) wire is super short, the power supply is almost always hanging behind your tank.


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

So the one that I posted the link to would be a better option?


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I have a used Coralife TurboTwis 9 watt UV with spare new 9watt bulb for 20 in S Surrey White rock
call me if interested

I bought it a couple of years ago fom a menber here on the forum
the date/numbers on the transformer plugh is 2004


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

If you have a canister filter, mikebike's coralife 9w with a new bulb is a better option.


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

I have an xp2, Mike your inbox says it's full.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

mikebike said:


> I have a used Coralife 9 watt UV with spare new 9watt bulb for 20 in S Surrey White rock
> call me if interested


The 9w Uv is a way better option and that's one heck of a deal mikebike


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

Mike, ship me a pm with your phone number and i'll come pick it up today.


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

It is in my signature<G>
604 535 9063


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

donjuan_corn said:


> So the one that I posted the link to would be a better option?


No, they are the same, one is OEM and one is sold under the brand name green killing machine.
You have to clean that sponge up a lot, but you cannot open the casing of the bulb so you cannot really clean the dirt inside the bulb. May be add some filter floss to the intake, I am not sure.
There is no way to see if the bulb is working except by looking at the little red light that comes with it. It is supposed to tell you when you need to change the bulb (if it does not light up you need to buy a new bulb) but there could be other reasons why the red light will not light up, one simply being that it is malfunctioning.
Also, does the red light simply work on a timer, or is it able to test the intensity of the UV, how does it know when you should change the bulb? Anyone knows?
You can also buy an inline one for like $50 from Odessey. But Mike's deal is the best imo!!!!


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

When I worked in a Hydrophonic Wholsaler we sold a lot of differet bulbs.

We advised the retailetrs to mark the bulbs with an in use/sold date for warantee

If you have timers on your tanks calculate the hours of light per day on
then devide it into the recomended effiency/efective life of the bulb.

so a bulb rated for one year of use 24/7 will be effective over 2 years at 12 hours on
Depending on the flow rate and the size of the tank you may only need to run it 
8 hours a day which would give your 4 years of effective use

IHTH


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Thanks Mike. If I do not add anything to the tank, and the UV has been running for like 2 months and everything is fine, can I say run it for like 4 hours or so in a day just to keep the algae at bay?
And if I add some new plants/ fish or whatever, should I turn it on longer just in case there is pathogen in the water from the new addition?


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

it depends on:
the size/number of gallons of the tank 
the number of GPH (Gallons Per Hour) the pump flows
and the size of the UV lamp (Watts)
Most UV lamps have a chart that shows flow/GPH efficiency.
Normal UV lamp life is about 8000 hours.


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