# UV sterilizers. What brands are people using?



## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Hey everyone. Im looking to buy a UV Sterilizer. I have never owned one before but since I am dumping so much money into my soon to be 125g African tank I figure I should probably invest in a UV. I like the coralife brand because they have been around for awhile. Everyone carries thier product so I figure replacement parts are easier to find. 

So what brands are people using?
What are its PROS and CONS?

I bought a Fluval FX5. Can it be hooked up to this filter or should I run it off my XP3? Whats most effective?

Any input would be great

Cheers


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I've been using Emperor Aquatics which I know is a long trusted brand in the UV business. The other one that I've been trying lately is from TMC. TMC makes the Aquaray LED's. I think they are a Euro brand which is gaining popularity here. Here's a link: Aquatic Eco-Systems: Aquarium Supplies - TMC Vecton UV Sterilizers

With UV's, one of the keys to effectiveness is dwell time or how long the water stays in contact with the UV light. Longer the better. Hooking it to the FX5 is not a great idea given that its a high GPH filter. I'm running a separate low GPH pump for my own tank.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

So I am better off hooking it up to the Xp3. Thanks for the tip. I will check out the links you posted


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

tony1928 said:


> With UV's, one of the keys to effectiveness is dwell time or how long the water stays in contact with the UV light. Longer the better. Hooking it to the FX5 is not a great idea given that its a high GPH filter. I'm running a separate low GPH pump for my own tank.


That is a very good point....glad you added that in there


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I have 2 Coralife's and I'm with Tony. I want to try TMC, but the key is the flowrate. I got a Coralife 6X hooked up to an Eheim 2028 and it think that's probably still a bit too much flow for effective parasite killing.


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

Hello. yes exposure time is the key for the different levels of sterilization. there are some sites that can tell you the levels so you can figure out how many gallons an hour you want to run per watts of the uv. also i have seen people use a power head to run the uv. to keep flow rates low, i use a Laguna 28 watt with my Fluval 404 on my 55g. and i have a 9 watt green killing machine that was in the 40g. both work great. Cheers


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

One other thing I forgot is to check out the replacement bulb costs before you buy. You should be changing them every six months or so (if you are running 24/7), so that cost should factor into your decision.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Scherb said:


> Hello. yes exposure time is the key for the different levels of sterilization. there are some sites that can tell you the levels so you can figure out how many gallons an hour you want to run per watts of the uv. also i have seen people use a power head to run the uv. to keep flow rates low, i use a Laguna 28 watt with my Fluval 404 on my 55g. and i have a 9 watt green killing machine that was in the 40g. both work great. Cheers


Isnt the laguna 28 watt meant for large ponds? I was looking at that same one at a LFS. I thought it would be over kill. J&l sells the coralife for $117 seems like a fair price. I know the lagunas are more expensive.


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

tony1928 said:


> One other thing I forgot is to check out the replacement bulb costs before you buy. You should be changing them every six months or so (if you are running 24/7), so that cost should factor into your decision.


Hello. that is a good point cause the 9 watt green killing machine can be got for around 70 bucks i believe, but the replacement bulb is 50 bucks. the replacement bulb on my 28 watt laguna is around 40 bucks. also both of my uv have a little light that goes out if the bulb is done. and the directions on both say to change the bulb once a year. Cheers


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

jbyoung00008 said:


> Isnt the laguna 28 watt meant for large ponds? I was looking at that same one at a LFS. I thought it would be over kill. J&l sells the coralife for $117 seems like a fair price. I know the lagunas are more expensive.


Hello. yes it is a pond one. and to me it's only downfall is it is big. Cheers


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I believe that most pond UV's were designed with flow rates that were most effective for eliminating green water, not so much the killing of parasites. I could be wrong, but that's what I've been told. Pretty good info on this site: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

> . J&l sells the coralife for $117 seems like a fair price. I know the lagunas are more expensive.


$117 sounds like a good price, but check the tank size it is rated for. it might not be enough for 125g i know the 9 watt green killing machine is only god for 50g. Cheers


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

tony1928 said:


> I believe that most pond UV's were designed with flow rates that were most effective for eliminating green water, not so much the killing of parasites. I could be wrong, but that's what I've been told. Pretty good info on this site: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html


Yes they are designed for green water but at huge flow rates. all that matters is the exposure time and the gallons per hour. here is a bit from that link. good link by the way. Cheers

WHAT SIZE UV IS BEST?

For sterilization (level 1) you want 20-25 gph per watt and an aquarium turnover rate of 1-1/2 times per hour (recommended minimum).

Example: In this example I will use a 100 gallon aquarium;
*For Clarification (Green Water Control; generally the most common application in ponds) you would need a flow rate of 40-50 gph and a turnover of aquarium/pond water through the UV of once per 2-3 hours. So as a minimum you would need a flow rate of 50 gph (assuming once per 2 hours in water turnover). At 50 gph (for turnover) the smallest UV available is a 5 Watt which can have a flow rate up to 250 gph for clarification.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Scherb said:


> Yes they are designed for green water but at huge flow rates. all that matters is the exposure time and the gallons per hour. here is a bit from that link. good link by the way.


The flow rate is only one factor which designs dwell time. Water clarity and the way the flow is designed is another. Reducing the flow significantly in a large UV could cause air entrapment and cavitation inside, resulting in ineffective UV light penetration. Properly designed units mated with the properly flow rate and induce smooth (emulating laminar) flow which would allow the unit to work with the highest efficiency. A lot of units overcome this with more wattage, which is ok as long as you don't care about the power usage (it's on 24/7) or the cost of the replacement bulbs.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

tony1928 said:


> I've been using Emperor Aquatics which I know is a long trusted brand in the UV business. The other one that I've been trying lately is from TMC. TMC makes the Aquaray LED's. I think they are a Euro brand which is gaining popularity here. Here's a link: Aquatic Eco-Systems: Aquarium Supplies - TMC Vecton UV Sterilizers


Where did you buy your TMC unit?

I'm using a Pentair Lifegard Aquastep, not happy with the build quality. It does the job, but smaller plastic parts have broken off/disintegrated and had to repair a leak last year - not what you want with a UV unit. I hooked it up to a Maxi-jet 900 powerhead. I like a unit that is portable, so I can move it from tank to tank.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Online via that link I provided above. Shipped to Blaine and picked up there.



hp10BII said:


> Where did you buy your TMC unit?
> 
> I'm using a Pentair Lifegard Aquastep, not happy with the build quality. It does the job, but smaller plastic parts have broken off/disintegrated and had to repair a leak last year - not what you want with a UV unit. I hooked it up to a Maxi-jet 900 powerhead. I like a unit that is portable, so I can move it from tank to tank.


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## rdale2 (Nov 16, 2011)

I just recently had a major green water bloom in my 29G. I ended up buying a 9W Green Killing Machine off the internet for $40. Best $40 I ever spent! I can't even begin to describe how happy I am with the results. Below are before and after pictures. The second picture was taken after just one night of running the sterilizer.

Before:









After one night:


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Cant even tell that its the same tank. ZGlad it worked for you. Now you can enjoy your tank again


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## mdwflyer (Jan 11, 2011)

Lets bump this up.

My Laguna 1800 16W had a coronary early this morning. The plastic housing appears to have eroded, good size hole and water leak. It's out, it has served it's purpose going back to when I initially added Clown loaches.

Tony, I think I am going to go TMC, are you still happy with yours?


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

mdwflyer said:


> Lets bump this up.
> 
> My Laguna 1800 16W had a coronary early this morning. The plastic housing appears to have eroded, good size hole and water leak. It's out, it has served it's purpose going back to when I initially added Clown loaches.
> 
> Tony, I think I am going to go TMC, are you still happy with yours?


Yup still working fine. No issues whatsoever since installation. Going to have to look into picking up a replacement bulb so I'm ready in about 6 months. One of the big reasons is also cheap bulbs too. 20 bucks. Check out American aquarium products for info. However I did buy it via the link above. For a large volume tank I would still stick with Emperor Aquatics. But they are huge.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

I am still a strong believer in Aqua Ultraviolet units. They have the longest lifespan of their bulbs in the industry as far as I am aware. That being said, all UV's perform the same task, the difference is in the quality of the unit and bulb. Pond units can be used for aquariums but yes their ratings are geared towards algae control as opposed to parasite control. Flow rate is crucial in targeting the desired result. Another issue to consider is the quartz sleeve, assuming the unit has one. There were complaints previously with some other brands/units sleeves breaking when maintenance was performed. Quartz sleeves are more expensive then the bulb so something to consider when comparing quality.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

We have many customers using our 9w and 18w inline odyssea UV models. No issue so far.


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