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AOA UV steralisers


youngy_11

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HI,

I was going to do an order from AOA tonight with a UV steraliser to be included.

The Uv steraliser is going to be used on a standard 3fter(150ltrs)

I am going to be putting discus in there.

It is run by a 1200lph canister.

SO.

What Uv steraliser for AOA do you think i should buy?

One of the $64 internal ones or the $85 inline one?

Any extra comments or experience woule be greatly appreiciated

thanks youngy

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I'd go inline, purely to keep stuff out of the tank. I've heard you need to put them on the output hose as they can kill your filter bacteria if you have them on the inlet.

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I've heard you should only run it 3 days of the week so the water isn't totally nuked, also to extend globe life. The globe will only be useful as a steriliser for 9-12 months of use - if you run it 24/7 that will become 3 months!! Make sure whatever brand you get, that Ben has replacement globes available.

We put one on my mate's tang tank - pretty idiot proof. Did it measureably help anything? not really. Discus or Tropheus however, it might be of merit

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Yea i have asked ben and he hasn't replyed yet but he has a wide range of globes for sale so im sure that the UV steralisers he is selling would have globes for them.

Link to the globes for AOA.

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/category52_1.htm

thanks ryan

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yea i was having a look on there too. But if i buy from AOA then i know i can always get replacement globes and what not.

thanks for the info anyway.

I think im gunna go for the inline one.

thanks ryan

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I have an 8 watt and 15 watt inline filter on my two banks. I run mine 24/7, but will cut back on it (just lazy blush.gif ). You certainly notice a difference in water clarity when you first run them.

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If you arent willing to use one 24/7, dont bother.

It cause too many fluctuations with the pathogens which are generally naturally occurring in the water. One minute the water is being treated, then it isnt, hardly a stable environment. It is the same as running the filter, either you use it for what it is designed for, or dont bother, save your money.

Plus if you do some research with Philips and other brands, by constantly turning the unit on and off can reduce the 12 months tube life span to only being effective for 5-7 months (Based on TUV tubes).

With UV, bigger is better.

All my tanks and systems have either 36w or 55w UV's on them

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If you arent willing to use one 24/7, dont bother.

I was under the impression a UV was more effective if run a week on week off or similar.

I'm running mine 24/7 simply through laziness, but wasn't aware this was the most efficient way of running it.

Does a UV have a build-up of beneficial bacteria which will die off if it is not run for a while? (as per your filter analogy)

Obviously those of us running one are doing it for the good of our fish so it would be nice if we all did it the right way smile.gif

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Running a UV removes nasties.

Imagine growing up in a bubble, and then one day your bubble bursts (hehe) - where is your immune system? You've never had to deal with nasties in the environment before and the simplest infection becomes fatal.

By that logic it makes sense that if your going to run one regularly, run it always. The other option (the one I personally think is best although i don't use one at all) would be to run it only on quarantine tanks. It should effectively eliminate the possibility of alot of nasties getting into your main tanks.

IMO the worst thing to do is run them on fry tanks. You move them out into 'the real world' and they become very temporamental or cark it through lack of immune-system-build-up.

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I would be concerned running an inline UV on a high output cannister as the higher flow rate can reduce the effectiveness of the steraliser (the less time the pathogen is exposed to the uv) Thesmall internal UV is ideal as it can be used like the old diatom filters to occasionally be run in tanks to reduce pathogen numbers (like ich) Im with Ducky on the 24/7 thing they will also play havoc with beneficial bacteria colonisation. I'd look at 2 of the smaller internals and have one permanantly in the qtine tank (not necessarily on all the time) and another to rotate amongst the breeder tanks as part of your maintainence program.

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I've heard you should only run it 3 days of the week so the water isn't totally nuked, also to extend globe life.  The globe will only be useful as a steriliser for 9-12 months of use - if you run it 24/7 that will become 3 months!!

It's really quite simple. A UV sterilizer is only effective while it is turned on & can only eliminate the nasties in the water that passes through it.

If you arent willing to use one 24/7, dont bother.

This is correct. All UV's have recommended flow rates. By exceeding the maximum flow rate, the water is not in contact with the light for long enough. By not passing enough water through it, 2 things are possible. Firstly, not enough of your water is being cycled through the UV for it to be effective &, secondly, if the tube the UV sits inside is not full of water, the UV light can seriously damage the tube resulting in leaks & the accompanied fireworks when this leaking water comes into contact with 240 volts.

As an aside, the UV light can be damaging to your eyes. I also believe that this includes the light that eminates from the clear hose connectors that some UV's use. I noticed this when someone, somewhere said that he liked the light at night time after his tank lights had gone out. He was using it as a makeshift moonlight - sort of a Clayton's moonlight if you will. But I distinctly remember someone pointing out to him that this light was not healthy. Can anyone shed more light ( hysterical.gif ) on this?

BTW, I run a 15W UV sterilizer.

Troy.

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Can anyone shed more light

somebody hit that man dry.gifLOL.gif

I never used a serilizer and have really never found much use for one,

I think it produce a similar effect to antibiotics in that it will eventually select for a bug that is immune to UV sterilisation, then where will we be?

Better to just keep your tank healthy the old fashoned way, good water through filtration and water changes, and some medication only when needed.

just my two cents

-worm-

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