# UV Sterilizer



## esob0i (Oct 5, 2008)

im thinking about getting one or two depending on the wattage and size tank its for.
been getting kinda paranoid lately thinking my fish will get sick haha i was thinking about getting http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2750628 that one right there only considered that one since i get discount but since i dont know to much about the brands of uv''s i figured i should ask you guys about it so would you say go ahead an get one or two of those for my 180 or would you say go with a different one let me know what you guys think

thanks


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## LowCel (Apr 6, 2004)

I have been using Coralife UV's for a few years now and I am very satisfied with the way they perform. I notice a huge difference when it is being used and when it isn't.


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## esob0i (Oct 5, 2008)

LowCel said:


> I have been using Coralife UV's for a few years now and I am very satisfied with the way they perform. I notice a huge difference when it is being used and when it isn't.


which ones of theres are you using? the turbo twist?


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## LowCel (Apr 6, 2004)

Yes, I use the 36 watt turbo twist on my 210 and I am planning on purchasing one for my 300 as well. I also plan on purchasing a 9 watt for my 55 gallon tank.


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## esob0i (Oct 5, 2008)

LowCel said:


> Yes, I use the 36 watt turbo twist on my 210 and I am planning on purchasing one for my 300 as well. I also plan on purchasing a 9 watt for my 55 gallon tank.


i think ima go with these

thanks for the help


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Danner makes a great UV light... and Turbo Twist is also a good quality UV... I have both...

I have used a couple of the small versions with built in pumps and have not been satisified with them in comparison to my larger lights...

After exploring with quite a few different lights on quite a few different set ups over a number of years... I've come up with the following formulas...

1W of UV strength per 10 US Gallons of water volume...
Pushing 10 gph per 1W of UV strength...

in other words... an 18W UV with 180 gph of water moving through it on a 180 gallon tank...

Keep in mind pumps/filters do not actually move the volume of water the pump is rated to move... we have to consider head pressure and resistence from media...

I use an 18W Turbo Twist UV powered by a Magnum 350 w/ micron cartirdge and am very satisified with the results...


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## esob0i (Oct 5, 2008)

if i get a uv thats rated higher then what the tank is would that hurt the fish in any way(make them to sensitive)? or it wouldnt matter?


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## illusions2281 (Jan 25, 2009)

no it would hurt the fish. Its only going to "sterilize" so much if you get one too big your just wasting your money. I like Toby_H formula. personaly i think mine might be too big. I too am going to be running it after a magnum 350 once it gets here. I have a Current Gamma 25 watt seems to be great, is nicely sealed and has ports to see that the UV light is on. Thier customer service is awesome, i broke the quartz and needed a couple more brackets and they just shipped them right out to me.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

short answer... no using too big of a UV light cannot hurt anything... except, as mentioned cost more to originally purchase and run...

I have a 20W on a 50 gal tank... simply because it's the one I had available when I wanted to UV the 50 gal... I also have an 18W on a 125 gal... but in general, I'm a fan of overkill...


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

You can't go wrong with a larger then "needed" UV unit... It's just more money, but(!) you'll also kill bigger nasties/parasites. A "properly" sized UV unit needs a really slow flow to kill large (though uncommon) parasites. So bigger is better, but it's definitely diminishing returns after a point.

We've got 18w TurboTwists on one 75g and on the new 125g. I really like them.

-Ryan


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

I have a 36w turbo twist on my 90 gallon tank on the return line from my Eheim 2028. The 36w should have a max flow rate of 290gph in order to kill parasites. If I went with the 1w per 10g rule and went with the 9W turbo twist I'd need to have a flow down at 55gph in order to kill parasites which would mean running another pump filter, etc. Seemed cheaper to me to go with the bigger unit and just run it on the canister return.

Whatever you do when it comes time to purchase replacement bulbs don't buy them from an aquarium supplier unless you want to overpay. Research the bulb cost before you buy the unit because the bulbs need to be replaced every 8,000 hours (~ 11 months). The 36W bulbs for my turbo twist are $70 through drsfostersmith and the exact same bulb through http://www.bulbtronics.com/Search-The-W ... HPLL36WTUV is just over $20!


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## ccla (Feb 2, 2009)

Steve St.Laurent said:


> I have a 36w turbo twist on my 90 gallon tank on the return line from my Eheim 2028. The 36w should have a max flow rate of 290gph in order to kill parasites. If I went with the 1w per 10g rule and went with the 9W turbo twist I'd need to have a flow down at 55gph in order to kill parasites which would mean running another pump filter, etc. Seemed cheaper to me to go with the bigger unit and just run it on the canister return.
> 
> Whatever you do when it comes time to purchase replacement bulbs don't buy them from an aquarium supplier unless you want to overpay. Research the bulb cost before you buy the unit because the bulbs need to be replaced every 8,000 hours (~ 11 months). The 36W bulbs for my turbo twist are $70 through drsfostersmith and the exact same bulb through http://www.bulbtronics.com/Search-The-W ... HPLL36WTUV is just over $20!


I must be reading that web page wrong! Isn't the minumum order quantity 40? That would be over $800!


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## esob0i (Oct 5, 2008)

ccla said:


> Steve St.Laurent said:
> 
> 
> > I have a 36w turbo twist on my 90 gallon tank on the return line from my Eheim 2028. The 36w should have a max flow rate of 290gph in order to kill parasites. If I went with the 1w per 10g rule and went with the 9W turbo twist I'd need to have a flow down at 55gph in order to kill parasites which would mean running another pump filter, etc. Seemed cheaper to me to go with the bigger unit and just run it on the canister return.
> ...


yea i think it does say min order 40 haha


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

Too bad we're all strangers.... this would be a pretty awesome group by. 

-Ryan.


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

What your seeing at the bottom there is an alternate bulb. They don't show the pricing on that page for the philips bulb for some reason. Look at this page - http://www.bulbtronics.com/Search-The-W ... 6WTUV&oc=0 . There it has a minimum order quantity of 1 @ $20.35 ea. I ordered 2 from them back in November and paid $13.75 shipping for a total of $54.45 for 2-36W UV bulbs.


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## esob0i (Oct 5, 2008)

Steve St.Laurent said:


> What your seeing at the bottom there is an alternate bulb. They don't show the pricing on that page for the philips bulb for some reason. Look at this page - http://www.bulbtronics.com/Search-The-W ... 6WTUV&oc=0 . There it has a minimum order quantity of 1 @ $20.35 ea. I ordered 2 from them back in November and paid $13.75 shipping for a total of $54.45 for 2-36W UV bulbs.


thank you


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## fishyfishyfishy (Dec 24, 2005)

I think to say a "properly" sized UV needs a really slow flow to kill parasites can be a bit misleading. It would be more accurate to say that a UV will require slower flowrates to be effective against parasites. You can have fast flowrates, you just need a larger UV.

A properly sized UV would be one that is effective at what you're trying to kill (parasites in this case) at a flowrate that turns over the tank volume a sufficient amount of times.


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## ccla (Feb 2, 2009)

esob0i said:


> Steve St.Laurent said:
> 
> 
> > What your seeing at the bottom there is an alternate bulb. They don't show the pricing on that page for the philips bulb for some reason. Look at this page - http://www.bulbtronics.com/Search-The-W ... 6WTUV&oc=0 . There it has a minimum order quantity of 1 @ $20.35 ea. I ordered 2 from them back in November and paid $13.75 shipping for a total of $54.45 for 2-36W UV bulbs.
> ...


+1 :thumb:


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## esob0i (Oct 5, 2008)

i seen some have said they use a 350 mag hooked up to it would my xp3 be fine hooked up to it or should i get a pump just for it?


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## illusions2281 (Jan 25, 2009)

What would you consider a sufficient flowrate that turns over the tank volume a amount of times? my current 25 watt seems to heat the water being pushed at around 400gph in my 85gal tank. if i were to step up to a 40watt i could go up to 900gph but the bulb much longer i would probably end up with the same problem?


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