Whats is a good high quality UV sterilizer for a 180 gallon tank? Which is a better use to remove algae/bacteria or to remove parasites? Will it kill beneficial bacteria in the tank and will it interfere with an algae scrubber? What wattage/gph should I use? Thanks - Nick
UV sterilizers?
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UV sterilizers only kill what slowly pass thru them, beneficial bacteria is not planktonic,( it is sessile), living as a bio-film on objects. It will not pass thru the UV, so the UV will not have any effect on it at all.
And for even the parasites that pass thru it, if they pass thru too fast, they will not be affected, because there needs to be enough detention time to scramble their organelles.
And for even the parasites that pass thru it, if they pass thru too fast, they will not be affected, because there needs to be enough detention time to scramble their organelles.
UV is only going to be effective against protozoans with a free swimming life stage (ich, velvet, etc.) It will likely give you crystal clear water, too. Is that enough to justify the effort to set one up and the expense?
I have clown loaches that are 15 years old and have never had ich despite my lack of QT procedures. A friend cured his ich outbreak using only UV. Other people have done the same.
Most of the UV dosage data is for single-pass drinking water systems where they only get one chance to kill an organism.
http://www.photobiology.com/reviews/bunsen/
There aren't a lot of studies on the use of UV for fish. One added ich-infested fish 4 of the tanks in a system of 36 20-gal tanks and a central filtration system with a 78W UV. Use of UV decreased deaths from 83% to 0.7%.
I have clown loaches that are 15 years old and have never had ich despite my lack of QT procedures. A friend cured his ich outbreak using only UV. Other people have done the same.
Most of the UV dosage data is for single-pass drinking water systems where they only get one chance to kill an organism.
http://www.photobiology.com/reviews/bunsen/
In addition, higher flow rates may be advantageous because they're more likely to draw ich through the UV sterilizer. Lower flow rates increase their chances of "landing" on a fish.
There aren't a lot of studies on the use of UV for fish. One added ich-infested fish 4 of the tanks in a system of 36 20-gal tanks and a central filtration system with a 78W UV. Use of UV decreased deaths from 83% to 0.7%.
I'm in the exact same situation... looking for a UV for my 180 but can't seem to find specifications of Model, wattage, and flow rate.
I might go with the coralife turbo-twist 12x with either a 600 or 800 gph pump. haven't decided yet. I mainly need help with the flow rate.
Each pathogen requires a different UV dosage to kill it. Algae only require 22 mJ/cm^2. Depending what you are targeting, you can go up to 200mJ/cm^2. Common practice for home aquaria is 50mJ/cm^2 with a water volume turn over rate of one time per hour. Increased water temp should be considered when using higher wattage units.
I’ve ordered all my stuff. FOR NOW im going to run a 12x with a 290gph pump. This will kill Anything including parasites. I’m going to add a spray bar to spread the water. I’m eventually going to get another to turn the tank over more but for now this is very effective. I got the UV for 160 on Amazon and the pump for 25. Will turn the tank over around 25-30 times a day. Maybe more.
My 6ft x 2ft x 2.5ft about 180 gallon
I use the sunsun jup 23 13w 800l/hr UV.
Very effective for me.. When I forgot to on the UV for 1 week and I was overseas.... came back with brown algae. Of course a pleco helped too
I use the sunsun jup 23 13w 800l/hr UV.
Very effective for me.. When I forgot to on the UV for 1 week and I was overseas.... came back with brown algae. Of course a pleco helped too
