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u v sterilizers


beachy

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:) Just wanting to know if many of you are using uv sterilizers, i have seen a few tanks wich use them, fresh and salt and they always seem to look crystal clear.Does anyone recomend using them? Can you use pond uv's on aquarium or are they not as effective?
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pond UV sterilizers are far less effective than ones designed for aquarium use.

they are less powerful, and the water is further away from the UV source. As such they will have little effect on green water algae and no effect to control disease.

Get a good quality aquarium model and attach it to the outlet of a power filter. This is advisable to ensure there is no particulate matter or rubbish being pumped through the sterilizer.

saying that - this is all from literature sources as I have not personally used one! :-?

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UV filters are on the 'out' for marine tanks now, un-nessessary equipment.

UV is great for controling whitespot though.

I have heard and read (over 2 year ago since I was looking at it) that it can effect some plant 'fertilisers' and nutrilise them. So may not be a good options for a planted tank if you are dosing.

Also don't foget the bulbs only last between 6-9 months, so running costs could be high.

Pie

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Yeah, Pies is right, UV will break down chelated iron and any other chelated product (probably break down Flourish Excel too - maybe). It's a powerful oxidising agent. In a well setup planted tank it is not necessary as the plants out-compete the algae. Their only real place is to help with disease and to help keep pond clear.

Some commerial sites with central filters use them as a preventitive measure. In this situation you have small tanks with lots of fish and new stressed fish coming and going contantly. UV is worth it's weight in gold.

I used to have a fishroom with 39 tanks on a central filter. It had a 40W uv sterilser (DIY). It was great at keeping the system clean a disease free. I ran it 2 days a week. The 40W tube cost $110 to replace (wholesale + discount). I'd hate to have to pay full price for one.

It can also stops coral's spreading in marine tanks.

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