Need UV info plz

[FSU]

I guess I am going with a 100g tank and want to add a UV sterilizer, but have never had one. Could someone give me some info on which ones are good, what I should expect to pay and how big of one I need plz?

[FSU]

anyone?

[Scream311]

Hey Rick id go with an 18 watt Coralife TurboTwist and add a Mag 2 Pump to supply it. i sold one a while back used for $50 so im sure you can find a used one soon on here

[Kristy]

I like the Coralife Turbo Twist also. We had a 9w on our 100g and you could probably get away with that size too. We use the 18w on our 210g.

[allan]

I have a 39w on my 190. Needs a new bulb, but it seems to work well. I believe that I dropped two bills on it at AD.

I put inline to one of my returns. I think I would have been better served setting it on a small pump to pull from the sump and return to the sump like the carbon filtering.

[Europhyllia]

I have the 9 watt Turbo Twist on both the fry tank (30g) and the 210 reef. I should get a larger one for the 210 and move the 9 watt to the seahorse tank (60g).

I just made a weird observation while we are talking about UV sterilizers. I better start a new thread about this though...

[FSU]

Cool thx guys! I am actually trying to work another tank besides the 100g.....I didn't like the dimensions of the tank and John advised me to go with more width, so I am taking his advice and seeing what I can come up with. I will have a 48" with hopefully 24" width and height remains to be seen yet. I am thinking it might be a 120-150g, I'll just have to see what I can find. Any way, thx for the help. I want to get a UV like someone had suggested before, (think it might have been Karin) but never used one and didn't know much about them or what to spend when I do get one!

[FSU]

Btw, I remember someone said it will help keep ich away, but does it also help with water clarity?

[Gseclipse02]

i always ask people what kind of fish do u want to keep ? do you ever plan on going to a bigger tank ? personally i run almost 60 watts worth of uv and run them on a small pump 300gph or so is what they want to really help.... the clarity of the water will be really clear and i also see it as a way to get more light to the coral

[alton]

It kills free floating algae, as far as ich slow the flow way down and change lamps every six months. Remember it can kill beneficial items also. It has been around ten years since I last used one. Make sure and plug it into a GFCI outlet.

[Europhyllia]

according to the Coralife instructions it needs to be slower for killing algae than to kill bacteria (not sure about ich):
13186

[Europhyllia]

a couple more thoughts: most of the beneficial bacteria we need for biological filtration attaches itself to substrate rather than free floating. Like when I start a new tank with Fritz bacteria it says to leave the UV sterilizer off for 5 days. After that the bacteria is 'safely' attached to stuff.

My main concern right now is bacterial stuff so I go at the higher end of flow rate.
I also dose live phyto. According to the flow chart it should not be killed off by this but I set the reefkeeper to shut off the main pump for an hour, dose to the display tank and the sterilizer is down in the sump so the tank gets live phyto unfiltered for an hour

[Scream311]

http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?68840-Coralife-Turbo-Twist-UV-Sterilizer

[FSU]

Thx for all the info guys! Gonna see what anyone has out there and go from there. If I go new, then I will take your advice with the Coralife Turbo Twist. (unless I can find a used one :D

[Europhyllia]

just remember that the bulbs need replacing every so often so if you buy used be sure to find out how old the bulb is so you know if you need to replace it

[CoryDude]

Aqua Ultraviolet is another manufacturer you should look at. They come with an internal wiping mechanism that can help you keep the quartz bulb clean. Defintely want to put it on it's own dedicated pump so you can control the flow.

For water clarity, I'd personally look to an ozonizer for help.