# UV sterillizer



## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Got a question for u guys, should I get a uv sterillizer for my 10g? What are the pros and cons? Would like some opinions and thoughts...


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

Well the pros and cons of running a UV sterilizer would be the same for a 10 gal tank to any other size such as 30, 50, 75, 100 gal, etc..
If you get a unit small enough, I am sure your tank will benefit from it.
I think the question is more of whether you are willing to invest money in a UV unit for a tank that small. Is it a planted tank?


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## MadgicBug (Apr 22, 2010)

I like UV's, but IMO, I don't think its a good idea for a 10gal....not enough water volume.

I could be wrong though.


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## pieces71 (Apr 21, 2010)

what ever reason (green water,to kill bacteria....),10g is easy to redo,sterilize,clean etc....UV for 10 gal would be a good option but you need to consider the $


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Thanks for the replies guys! Yes it's a planted tank, the problem is that I have been getting quite some algae recently because my tank is at work, sometimes people forget to switch off the room light for the whole night (actually very often they forget) and it has been giving me some algae problems. There's a 74 dollar sterilizer and was thinking about it, hmmm... Should I get it or reduce more time on my light timer? Maybe I should make sure people switch off the room lights!  tell me what you guys think ok hehe


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## keitarosan (Apr 21, 2010)

could be cheaper if you get a room light timer or a motion detector to turn the lights on if there are movements and off at a certain time. helps save energy too.


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

mysticalnet said:


> Thanks for the replies guys! Yes it's a planted tank, the problem is that I have been getting quite some algae recently because my tank is at work, sometimes people forget to switch off the room light for the whole night (actually very often they forget) and it has been giving me some algae problems. There's a 74 dollar sterilizer and was thinking about it, hmmm... Should I get it or reduce more time on my light timer? Maybe I should make sure people switch off the room lights!  tell me what you guys think ok hehe


UV sterilizing is only going to help you with green water (free floating algae). If you have algae growing on the glass and decors, etc.. such as green algae, blue green algae, brown algae, the UV unit will not remove them. You have to address the cause of the algae. Is the room light fairly bright? bright enough to influence algae growth? is it fluorescent lighting? How many plants are in the tank and are the plants growing well? Are you feeding nutrients? Co2? Excel? Nitrate level? How many fish? and the actual light that you have for the plants, how long is the photoperiod and what kind of lighting and wattage is it?
If you give more info, we can help you better.
Cheers


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

The room light is quite bright as it is a lab and we need bright lights, hmm probably fluorescent yes. Plants in the tank are african fern (bolbitis), HC, windelov fern and bacopa, they are doing pretty good, algae is getting more though, there is also BGA but it does not seem to be the water movement problem as I have pretty good flow, I sometimes dose tailored aquatics ferts like once a month, I also does excel, nitrate is 0. 6 cardinal tetras and 20+ CRS. My light for my aquarium is the same as all my other tanks and it is the daylight spiral energy saving light 23w = 100w and I have it on for 8-9 hours a day, none of my other tanks seem to have any alga problem though...


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

It seems to me that this is a somewhat low-tech tank and you probably want to keep it that way since it is in a lab and you don't want to spend too much time maintaining it. Yes?

Try reducing the amount of light to your tank. The photosynthesis period of 8-9 hrs is fine. Since the lab lights are fairly bright, you can achieve reduction in light level by raising the 23w spiral bulb a few more inches above the tank. Are you using a reflector on the bulb? If for example, the bulb is located 8 inches above the water surface, you can raise it a few more inches to say 12 inches. Alternatively you can try a lower wattage bulb.

Continue with the Flourish Excel dosing of carbon.

Is your Nitrate level at 0? Low nitrate level can cause GDA.
Recommend you dose your Tailored Aquatics Ferts more often. You can try once a week instead of once a month. I only used TA products a few times before and I recall Amazon No3, Elements, Advanced... 

Basically, you minimize algae growth if your plants are growing in optimum conditions. It's not an issue of limiting the algae but it's more of an issue where you don't want to limit the growth of your plants.
Reduce the light to "slow down" everything.


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## mysticalnet (Apr 22, 2010)

Thanks for your reply! Yes you are right, hmmm... Let me try moving the light q bit higher, and yes it has a reflector, hopefully by raising it will it better. I do not know how to make more nitrates though, how do u make it not zero?


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

Nitrate can be produced naturally (Ammonia produced by the fish are converted to Nitrite and then to Nitrate by the bacteria). Plants will consume the nitrate and I am guessing it's all being consumed by the plants since you say it is zero or very very low.
You can add Nitrate by your ferts that you use. Amazon NO3 is what will give you nitrate. Plants need more than just nitrate though. You need to also consider Potassium, Phosphate, and micronutrients (trace elements). I don't know what TA product you have but basically I think you need 3:
Amazon NO3 for your nitrate
Amzaon Elements for Potassium and a few trace elements
Amazon Advanced for Phosphate and a few other trace elements.
Sort of like a blended product I guess.

Depending on the type of substrate you are using and how often you change the water, I would suggest to recheck the nitrate level later on and see what the result is.

The reason I said to reduce the light is because light is the primary driving factor to growth. With more light, everything is faster driven and thus the demands by the plants are greater. They need more carbon and more nutrients. If you were lacking on one (carbon or nutrients) given a set amount of light, then the plants are not provided all the required ingredients, don't grow at optimum level, and algae will take hold.
With lower light, you have a greater margin of error. The demands are less and the current nutrient level may come to be enough. 
You sort of have to do a bit of fine tuning. 
Tank conditions change all the time since plants grow and biomass increase. Everything is dynamic.
Hope this helps.


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