jri4

Has anyone had any experience using a Energy Saver Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer?

Are there any other good UV Sterilizers on the market?

jri4

here is what I ultimately want:

a line (purple on the right side) pumps water into a 5.5 gallon sump.
it is heated and ran through an aquaclear 110 filter, then sucked into the intake of a canister filter.
It is then pumped through a uv sterilizer and back into the tank.

would this work? I would have awesome water quality right?

edit: posted this under the wrong topic.... sorry!

Attached Images

Fish Tank Diagram.jpg (25.4 KB, 1 views)

lew2000

I currently use a Gamma UV in-line. One of the considerations to make sure of when you purchase a UV - is dwell time - the time that the water passes through the sterilizer the longer the Dwell time the more UV that the water recieves. Depending what you read - UV's can be used for alage control and somewhat for pathogens. The higher the wattage and dwell time the better to help with water borne pathogens - again depending on various factors. That is why twists are used to increase dwell time. Wattage of course - and the other is to identify current output of the discharge tube (gph) that you will connect the UV to and match the gph of the uv to the output. For my 55gal i use at least 18w (gamma) and 450-500gph on the output line - so at least a turnover 0f 8 times. The gamma does not have a built in wiper so i clean approx. every 3 months. Secondarily, some uv's on the market appear to be made in China but require the use of a an additional transformer for US ac. To be safe, in my case, i use a name brand with history behind it, even though cost is higher.

Sorry to be long in the reply, and not to tell you anything you already know, hope this helps.

jri4

Does your Gamma keep the water clear and free of algae...

I just hate algae....period.....

lew2000

Yes - i haven't had any algae blooms - and i haven't had any fish diseases - such as ick. i use the 25w gamma - (i put it at 18w mistakenly) and i use an ehiem 2126 to drive it - with just filter pads to remove large particles - measuring the output is approx. 210gph) which works for 55gal. However, if you have a planted tank - uv will oxidize trace elements that plants require. Since i went from real plants to silk plants - it's not a problem for me. Some of my friends use Barley Straw Extract - which eleminates the green water in two to three days. But so far, in running this aquarium for three years - no algae problems, no fish disease problems (yet) (luck?) I also of course go for filtration of approx. 10-12x, plus wet/dry trickle filter, i watch my nutrient load - and of course no longer having a planted tank means that i don't provide any additional nutrients or lighting that algae also utilizes.