Cheap UV Sterilizer

[GT Audio Works]

The bulb on my 15 watt aqua UV sterilizer went out the other day.
I am in the planning stages of transferring to a new tank. The new tank and refugium will be at the size recommendation limits for the 15 watt unit.
A new bulb is $40.
I see inexpensive 36 watt UV Sterilizers on ebay for not much more than the cost of a replacement bulb.
Anyone have any experience with these cheap UV units on ebay ?

Greg

[jedimasterben]

Originally Posted by GT Audio Works

The bulb on my 15 watt aqua UV sterilizer went out the other day.
I am in the planning stages of transferring to a new tank. The new tank and refugium will be at the size recommendation limits for the 15 watt unit.
A new bulb is $40.
I see inexpensive 36 watt UV Sterilizers on ebay for not much more than the cost of a replacement bulb.
Anyone have any experience with these cheap UV units on ebay ?

Greg

55w sterilizer with a legitimate UV bulb (not a low-output nail curing bulb), $90 : http://www.amazon.com/SunSun-CUV-155.../dp/B00F5NLZXI

[slief]

You get what you pay for. I sure wouldn't switch from a great UV sterilizer like the AquaUV to a cheap POS one like you are considering. Not unless you like replacing bulbs more frequently and dealing with dead ballasts. Also, the design of the UV and contact time is important for the UV to be as effective as possible. There is good reason why companies like AquaUV and Emperor Aquatics are considered the best for a reason.

[Reef Frog]

^ Great advice there. I've read several tales of woe based on folks using cheap brand name UV equipment. A no name job on eBay seems like playing Russian roulette with an automatic pistol.

I've seen accounts of entire tanks being wiped out due plastic melting from the water making it past gaskets in the sleeve. A cheap UV is probably as dangerous as a cheap no name heater.

[GT Audio Works]

Originally Posted by slief

You get what you pay for. I sure wouldn't switch from a great UV sterilizer like the AquaUV to a cheap POS one like you are considering. Not unless you like replacing bulbs more frequently and dealing with dead ballasts. Also, the design of the UV and contact time is important for the UV to be as effective as possible. There is good reason why companies like AquaUV and Emperor Aquatics are considered the best for a reason.

I never figured they were high quality units. I was just curious if anyone had any experience good or bad. But after doing a little checking I did not come up with much, though a few mad raves about leaking units.
So I ordered a replacement bulb for my 15 watt aqua Advantage for now and will lower the flow through the unit in the new tank. Its rated for up to 75 gal.
The new tank and refugium will be 80 gal total, close enough.
Greg

[unze]

I am afraid you are wasting your time with your UV, it will do nothing, a good quality UV costs hundreds.

[GT Audio Works]

Originally Posted by unze

I am afraid you are wasting your time with your UV, it will do nothing, a good quality UV costs hundreds.

OK..Whats the dif between my $130 15 watt Aqua UV and one costing hundreds more ? Wavelength ? Flow capability ? wattage ?
exposure time ? I am open to good advice.
Maybe it was coincidence, but years ago before I used a sterilizer I had an ich outbreak, I got a sterilizer and have not had a case since.

Greg

[slief]

Originally Posted by GT Audio Works

OK..Whats the dif between my $130 15 watt Aqua UV and one costing hundreds more ? Wavelength ? Flow capability ? wattage ?
exposure time ? I am open to good advice.
Maybe it was coincidence, but years ago before I used a sterilizer I had an ich outbreak, I got a sterilizer and have not had a case since.

Greg

It's all relative to tank size and water volume. For a UV to be most effective, contact time coupled with turnover is key. The larger the UV, the greater the wattage & contact time. The larger the UV, the greater the flow capabilities at maximum kill levels. So with a larger UV, you gain greater contact time along with better turnover (as a result of greater flow) meaning your water is circulating through the UV more times per hour while still maintaining proper flow for your desired effectiveness. With a smaller UV, you can slow the flow down to increase contact time but you do so at the expense of turn over meaning that your tanks water volume isn't flowing through the UV as much. The end result is decreased effectiveness of the UV sterilizer.

[sbreefer]

I bought a 75 watt High Pressure Stainless Steel UV Sterilizer Clarifier Pond Koi STU-75W
180 bucks. best output for the money I could find. Amazon!! Cheap after you look at the models on BRS.....

[snorvich]

Well, UV will not prevent ich or other parasites in a single tank situation since not all water will pass by the UV. If multiple tanks share water, UV will work as a parasite isolation device assuming proper sizing to flow. As a water clarifier, however, a good UV is very useful.

[sohal1025]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Well, UV will not prevent ich or other parasites in a single tank situation since not all water will pass by the UV. If multiple tanks share water, UV will work as a parasite isolation device assuming proper sizing to flow. As a water clarifier, however, a good UV is very useful.

Why would that sterilizer work in a multiple tank application but not a single tank?

[slief]

Originally Posted by sohal1025

Why would that sterilizer work in a multiple tank application but not a single tank?

I think what he is trying to say is that if you have two tanks connected and the UV sits between them, it would (if the flow was slow enough) will anything that passes between the two tanks. If for example you setup a new sterile system downstream from your existing tank and the UV is there and the flow is slow, parasites from the established system wouldn't pass to the new system. Again, this would be predicated on the bulbs being in proper working order and the flow being set to the slowest amount for that UV filter.

On the other hand, because parasites aren't always water born in free floating in the water column, a UV filter will not completely eradicate parasites as they also make their home on the fish and in the substrate. The only parasites that would be effected would those that pass through the UV.

[tkeracer619]

The life cycle of crypto (we don't have ich we have crypto) makes it so that just treating small amounts of water at a time is ineffective. You simple cannot remove it from the tank with a UV. You can keep it from spreading by going through a proper UV.

The difference between units made for ponds and those that are designed for reef tanks are pretty large. Pond units have wide bodies for large flow because they are used for green water. In reef tanks the flow around the quartz sleeve is such that the entire amount of water gets adequate contact time.

In a reef tank there are a few things to look at when buying a unit. It needs a wiper, a t5 type bulb, a quartz sleeve, and a narrow body to be effective in a reef, the uv dose just does not penetrate into the water very far so any of the low power fat bodied non wiper toys are just that, toys. Without that it isn't much more than a water clarify-er.

Unless the tank is small a 15w uv is pretty much stuck as a clarify-er. They work great for that.