Another UV question

[prosavage]

Hi,

i'm thinking of getting a uv sterilizer as my water keeps turning green, no matter how much water change i do. I've 2 canister filters each 1500lph running on this tank. So, im pretty sure its an algae bloom

My question is, how long do i have to turn on the uv sterilizer each day to effectively remove the algae bloom and how big (wattage) should i get? The tank itself is 6ft x 1.5 x 1.8

anything in particular i should watch out for prior to getting one of these?

[Symphy]

The thing is when your doing lots of w/c's your creating more oxygen in the tank which algae will thrive on.

Wiping down the tank sides & removing as much algae as you can will help for starters. Another great way which I've tryed myself is to keep lights off for 48-72hrs that includes any light from external sources such as day light(window's, sunlights etc...). You might laugh although I have covered my tanks with towels for that period when a hard-bloom is present.

Next would be control measures, chemicals, which I don't like to perticualy use & opet with UV sterilization.

My question is, how long do i have to turn on the uv sterilizer each day to effectively remove the algae bloom and how big (wattage) should i get? The tank itself is 6ft x 1.5 x 1.8

A 9watt would be enough for your tank. Time frame depends on your problem & amount of light on, or hits the tank. You can keep UV on till algae is stabilized(maybe a day,2 or more) than switch it on every week or 2 for the same period.

If it is a diplay tank, I would not compinsate, leaving it on won't hurt.

Regards

Ahmed

[prosavage]

The tank is the main room of the house so it gets light from the house lighting, although not directly ....

The light for the tank itself is seldom lit, probably just an hour every day, so makes me wonder how i got this algae bloom ....

anyway, i've ordered a 36w uv sterilizer (thinking the bigger won't hurt, and dont want to end up with something not sufficient) and lets see how it goes once it gets here