UV sterilizer recommendation

[JosephM]

I’m battling osteoropsis dinos and I’m going to go the UV route only running it at night and until they’re gone. I’m also manually removing, elevated nutrients, increasing biodiversity, and dosing live phyto. I have a 35-40 gal tank. What budget-friendly UV do you guys recommend? I was told at my LFS not to go overpowered because it’ll risk more micro fauna and pods (I was going to buy the 36w jebao UV) if it’s on some website with faster shipping that’s better.

 

[MichaelReefer]

You get what you pay for.

15 Watt Advantage 2000+ UV Sterilizer with Hanger Spout

Aqua Ultraviolet UV Sterilizers will eradicate algae, bacteria, and protozoa without any harmful chemicals or additives! UV lamps emit a wavelength that will alter and disrupt the DNA or RNA of single-celled organisms. Combining the UV lamp into a large housing allows for maximum contact time...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[SifuMemphis]

Aqua UV and Pentair are the top two in their class. I personally never used the Pentair, but heard great things about it. In my tank, I use a Aqua UV directly plumbed into my tank

Slow flow = for parasites
Higher flow = For Algae

Keep in mind the flow rate plays a big factor in how it performs.

 

[JosephM]

You get what you pay for.

15 Watt Advantage 2000+ UV Sterilizer with Hanger Spout

Aqua Ultraviolet UV Sterilizers will eradicate algae, bacteria, and protozoa without any harmful chemicals or additives! UV lamps emit a wavelength that will alter and disrupt the DNA or RNA of single-celled organisms. Combining the UV lamp into a large housing allows for maximum contact time...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I’ll need 1/2” ID tubing and a pump for this one correct?

 

[zalick]

In general there is no such thing as "overpowered". The "power" is a function of the wattage and flow through the unit.

A higher watt unit means you can increase the flow to achieve the same exposure as a lower watt unit with slower flow.

Bigger is definitely better in this case. If you can achieve 190,000 (mW/cm2) with 400gph that is much better than achieving 190,000 with 100gph because you are simply processing the water faster and hopefully beating the reproductive rate of the dinos or algae.

BRS recommends a minimum of 3x DT flow to keep up with th dinos. But higher flow would kill them quicker.

 

[zalick]

I’ll need 1/2” ID tubing and a pump for this one correct?

With this unit, you'll want to run it at ~100gph to achieve ~180,000 (mW/cm2).

 

[JosephM]

In general there is no such thing as "overpowered". The "power" is a function of the wattage and flow through the unit.

A higher watt unit means you can increase the flow to achieve the same exposure as a lower watt unit with slower flow.

Bigger is definitely better in this case. If you can achieve 190,000 (mW/cm2) with 400gph that is much better than achieving 190,000 with 100gph because you are simply processing the water faster and hopefully beating the reproductive rate of the dinos or algae.

BRS recommends a minimum of 3x DT flow to keep up with th dinos. But higher flow would kill them quicker.

In that sense why wouldn’t I just go with the cheaper jebao 36w? I know you get what you pay for but I don’t plan on using this 24/7 and I plan on taking it down once dinos are done for.

 

[zalick]

In that sense why wouldn’t I just go with the cheaper jebao 36w? I know you get what you pay for but I don’t plan on using this 24/7 and I plan on taking it down once dinos are done for.

I see no reason not to go with the Jebao. I don't know enough about the finer details of the bulbs themselves. But the housing is just PVC. So the only technical components are the transformer and the bulb.

I suppose the "design" of the PVC housing matters too for exposure purposes.

But in terms of effectiveness in the short term, I think that Jebao will work great.

I went with aquauv myself because it's supposedly top tier and the price didn't matter. If I were price conscious, or even if I were replacing today, I'd probably get the Jebao just to see how long it lasts.

 

[MichaelReefer]

Personally, its more for longevity and reliability for me. Yes, its more expensive, but if I get years out of it, why not?

 

[Dabcrusher]

Definitely aqua ultraviolet I got one for my dad for his pond and you can actually see the botton

 

[Arthurfarris]

My aquarium has a pretty serious case of algae blooms. After doing some research, I decided to add a UV sterilizer to my tank. I used Fluval in Line UVC Clariifier. It made my aquarium crystal clear after just one day. Clear out the algae that I have in my aquarium that I can't get rid of.