Thank you again! This reduces the overall population of the parasites in your aquarium which means your less likely to experience a widespread parasitic infection. It will make the free-floating microalgae spores unable to multiply further and they will eventually die out. An overall great product, in my opinion. For this reason, I also consider the GKM one of the best and most adequate nano UV sterilizer choices for smaller aquariums. Turn the sterilizer on every 3 days or so for a couple of hours. If you have a reef tank, get a Jebao PU-36 as an alternative because it also has a 36-Watt bulb, but is more resistant to salty water than the Turbo Twist. These live foods won't be able to sustain a sufficient population in your display, with or without a UV sterilizer, and could potentially foul the aquarium water if left unremoved by your filtration. Hello what if i use more watts for lower gallons will this do the job quicker? Anyway, youve probably already noticed the price tag. Im assuming youve followed my recommendation from above, which means it will be more than 200 gallons, correct? Ive run this on a 90-gallon freshwater tank and it did an outstanding job at clearing the water. Are you familiar with the basics did you know that a submersible UV sterilizer with its own pump powerhead would work best for your aquarium? A UV sterilizer is a filtering tool, specifically designed with a fluorescent bulb that emits UV light. The Coralife Turbo-Twist X12, however, will be powerful enough to keep your water free from parasitic outbreaks and persistent bacterial blooms (see this unit at Chewy and also Amazon). Youve heard about the power of the ultraviolet spectrum, but should you trust your fish tank with it? This water sterilizer works for both freshwater and saltwater reef tanks alike. Again, this doesn't mean you can kill what has already infected your fish and should be looked at as a method of prevention and control. That, however, is not realistic (from my observations) and it actually turned around350 GPH. It may be that the sheer unfiltered volume of water is enough to give time to certain pests the opportunity to bloom. I can totally vouch for this UV water sterilizer serving your 150-gallon fish tank well when it comes to green aquarium water. Coralife BioCube UV Sterilizer 5. What model did you choose in the end? I have personally witnessed this UV sterilizer take care of a cant-see-through algae soup in just about 3 days. This reduces the number of parasites, and more resilient bacteria and microbes. In such a case, it is best to run one until it clears the water and then remove it. The Coralife Turbo-Twist X6 is a beast in the industry, that along with being really efficient comes with extra durability (for some reason). Never go smaller but you can go larger in terms of wattage. The wavelength of the ultraviolet spectrum is not picky, it will destroy anything that gets irradiated by it. The UV light from the bulb irradiates microorganisms in the water and kills or prevents them from multiplying. The higher the flow rate, the more UV power you want, because the dwell time (time in which the microorganisms are exposed to the UV light in the tube) gets reduced. The UV light from a sterilizer also works to kill off parasites that may be present in the water . However, this is not the full answer to be had here. The UV sterilizer wont be of help with that. Some people report having cleared their ponds of over 9000 gallons with this unit. Thats apart from reading the instructions though. Won't work well for large tanks. Note that if your budget is really tight you could go for a Jebao PU-36 here which you can find at both Chewy and Amazon. Aqua Ultraviolet 80 Watt Classic UV Sterilizer - White Body $998.50 Add to Cart Aqua Ultraviolet 15 Watt Advantage 2000+ UV Sterilizer with Hanger Spout Rating: $213.45 Add to Cart Aqua Ultraviolet 8 Watt Advantage 2000 UV Sterilizer with Hanger Spout Rating: $197.05 Add to Cart Aqua Ultraviolet Let me give you some suggestions on where and how to use them. What is a UV Sterilizer For A Fish Tank? 12 Best Freshwater FISH IDEAS for a 10-Gallon Tank, 13 Different Axolotl Colors and Their Morphs, 9 Live Aquarium Plants to Grow in a Sand Substrate, Neon Tetra eggs 101: The What, When & How, How big do axolotls get when full-grown? In addition to being easy to install, requiring low maintenance, and being affordable, they can provide huge health benefits for your fish. Form your freshwater or marine Shrimp Squad today! With UV sterilizers, bigger is better. $55.10, Starting at: All rights reserved. I have not personally used this unit, but based on my experience with other UV sterilizers Id say its a pretty solid choice for keeping the pathogens in a 200 to 300-gallon fish tank under control. How to Install a UV Sterilizer, Set the Right Flow Rate, & Avoid Mistakes! The UV light from the bulb irradiates microorganisms in the water and kills or prevents them from multiplying. UVC light damages the DNA, which creates a mutation, preventing the organism from being able to reproduce or grow. The twist of the water flow forces the water to spiral around the UV bulb more so than with other units on this list. In fact, thats one of the most efficient tools to treat these conditions. All in all, my opinion is that the COODIA Internal UV sterilizer is a decent budget choice for clearing the water in smaller tanks and should not be overlooked. I like and recommend this UV sterilizer to fish keepers with above-medium-sized aquariums for the best performance. The Green Killing Machine 24W is powerful enough to clear the water of 180-gallon fish tank in just about 4 days. Some bacteria can reproduce as fast as once every 20 minutes under the right conditions! The water inside the aquarium is pumped through a sleeve made of quartz crystal, and it's made to pass through high-intensity UV light. Its an internal, submersible UV sterilizing system that will do its job as its rated for up to 20 gallons. However, dont expect to rely on it for too long, even if used for maintenance. Yeah, Amazon keeps randomly removing the Green Killing Machine from their listings. Turns out its a low-cost alternative to other, more expensive brands, and it actually does the job. 1. Since these organisms are not free-floating in the aquariums water column, a UV sterilizer wont be able to kill the established colonies of beneficial nitrifiers. It also has to do with how fast the bacteria can replicate, by running through the sterilizer more often with a faster flow, you are ensuring the bacteria cannot reproduce faster than you can sterilize. The UV lamp in your new UV sterilizer will effectively reduce said numbers and it will prevent a possible outbreak of a variety of parasitic creatures. Could I get by with positioning two on the opposite ends of my 30-gallon sump instead of the display tank? A UV sterilizer of this bracket will easily keep the free-floating pathogens in a 90-gallon aquarium under control. Is your setup freshwater or saltwater? This allows fish to build up their immunity and slime coat, and easily handle the few spores that are left on their own. Still, the UV bulb is particularly durable and strong enough to handle aquariums of up to 125 gallons in volume. 2023 Aperture Pet & Life. The chart below provides guidelines for determining the bulb size and flow rate you require for UV sterilization. A con I would like to mention if I can call it this way, is that the hose of your filter may not always fit with the unit. While it is true that a UV sterilizer will kill live phytoplankton and other suspended organisms, these things get removed by your protein skimmer and other means of filtration anyway. The UV light will "break" the bond of the chelating agent, and the aquarium will have a sudden, lethal concentration of ionic copper. I am a huge fan of these units, and I personally own 2 of them (one 9W and one 24W for a larger tank I have). Fed from a pump, they work best with 3x-5x the aquarium volume flowing through them each hour. This includes both beneficial and harmful organisms. A UV sterilizer cant crash the Nitrogen cycle in mature fish tanks. The performance of your UV sterilizer depends on the dwell time of the microorganisms. However, knowing the nature of human error I decided to do some further digging. Is It Worth it? JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. In such systems, its normal (and healthy) to have the water turnover at 6 to 8 times per hour, which often equals more than 600 GPH. Learn more about that in the next section. Scaling the Wattage is important because the bigger the aquarium, the more flow is needed to maintain its full capacity under protection from harmful organisms. UV Light Sterilizer for Aquarium, 11W Green Killing Machine for Fish Tank Algae Control, Submersible Waterproof Clean Light with Timer and Hood for Pond Sump Swimming Pool. Furthermore, any sort of natural food chain in the tank is only supplemental to what we are manually feeding the tank inhabitants. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Once you introduce a UV Sterilizer into your system, carefully monitor your aquarium's temperature. Get the X12 if youre struggling with parasitic outbreaks such as Ich, or persistent fogginess of the aquarium water caused by massive bacterial blooms. However, I would say that placing them both in the sump would defeat the purpose of attacking pathogens on two fronts (too much water will be left unfiltered for a longer period of time, because of the low flow of the UV units). You can get away with the Turbo Twist X12 (Chewy and Amazon both offer it), which has a bulb power of 36 Watts. For me, it all changed when I got my first UV sterilizing system. The lamp produces light with a wavelength of about 254 nanometers. In just about 3 days, if I remember correctly, the water in my large tank was back to normal. It's probably the single most important thing that all other aspects of fishkeeping rely on. Lifeguard UV Sterilizers are designed to provide rapid, consistent and complete disinfection of all types of aquarium waterfrom fish bowls to large aquariums. This may seem kind of obvious, but I must say it. Dont get me wrong, if youre experiencing a simple bloom of algae that has turned the water in your fish tank green, this UV sterilizer will likely take care of the issue almost immediately. Though I was skeptical at first, it turned into a must-have for many of my tanks. In my experience, it will efficiently reduce the harmful microorganism colonies that inhabit the aquarium and eliminate any anxiety that you may have over external parasites. Obviously, for pathogenic control in such a large aquarium, you could use the 55 Watt Jebao. Furthermore, the reproductive cycles of said parasites are often measured in days rather than minutes or hours meaning they cannot reproduce faster than you can sterilize. Also, many medications can be "denatured" by the UV light, so the sterilizer should be turned off when using medications, especially chelated copper treatments. As you can see, control is everything here. Water is delivered to the UV sterilizer via a pump where the water passes through a quartz chamber. I notice that you clearly stated those features about the Corallife but Im more interested in the AA Green Killing Machine (GKM) 24W, only because the ease of installation. It will also allow you to get away with a weaker UV bulb because you will control the dwell time. So far, UV sterilization is the most effective sterilization and sanitation method that is quite efficient. If you have an account, sign in with your email address. This article may contain affiliate links (disclosure policy). The UV filters that Ive chosen in this article all use the germicidal wavelength. In Aquanswers, Momchil shares knowledge about freshwater and saltwater home aquariums with the people from his community. Thats a good tip for any water sterilizer out there, as this way theyre only targeting microorganisms and not gunk or debris. Thanks for your blog, I will keep reading your new posts. The best unit, in that case, would be the clip-on Green Killing Machine (check it out at Chewy.com and Amazon.com). There are some units that get super expensive and youll hear that theyre recommended for your tanks size. 6325 Sandburg Road, Suite 400 Golden Valley, MN 55427. The AA Aquarium UV sterilizer is a totally submersible powerhead and UV sterilizer in one. Usually, in larger aquariums, the need for filtration is greater, because theyre housing larger, messier fish. Select the appropriate wattage based on your tank size. I say for some reason, because, at first, it looks cheaply built, but you can actually use it for years to come, provided you interchange bulbs when needed. I run the units just as a precautionary measure. Quarantine tanks are a reasonable option for keeping an eye on new fish, but thats a whole other setup to take care of. I got a separate unit for all of my tanks, eventually. Make sure you get one that is the correct size, operate it under the appropriate conditions, and follow the manufacturer's maintenance guidelines to ensure that your UV sterilizer can do the job for which it was designed. This way, it is capable of eradicating micro-organisms and pathogens that cause immense damage. My only purpose in wanting a UV Sterilizer at this point is to clear pathogens and parasites to avoid ich/diseases as best as I can. Its rated for up to 36 gallons per hour, so it may add slight turbulence to the tanks water. Once youve dealt with whatever nuisance in the water of your fish tank its smooth sailing from then on. This external UV sterilizer, however, does not come with its own powerhead. UV bulbs will need to be replaced after 9 to 12 months of continuous use. The architecture allows for maximum dwell time (read the guide above if you dont know what that is). For controlling parasitic outbreaks and cloudy aquarium water that keeps coming back, Id recommend getting the Coralife Turbo-Twist X6 UV Sterilizer (see it here on Chewy.com and here on Amazon.com). 3 Top 6 UV Sterilizers For Aquarium (Reviewed) 3.1 1) Coospider Sun JUP-01 UV Submersible Filter Machine. I was at my wits end so I decided to give this guy a try, after seeing its lighter version clearing the water in my smaller tank. From my research, it appears very durable and the price tag is acceptable. Quartz sleeves should be cleaned at least every six months. You guys make this possible (as I describe in my About page) . A UV sterilizer that will best fit and clear the water of a 150-gallon tank would be the GKM24W. Thanks Another scenario is if you have algae that are already growing on decor and other plants and not microalgae. Im very happy with this brand. How to Set Up Ozone for CLEAR Reef Tank Water! Most cheaper units will absolutely do the job and this device is the perfect example of that. The best UV sterilizer for a saltwater reef tank would be the one that runs on a proper schedule. The water inside of the chamber travels in a spiral around the UV bulb, maximizing dwell-time. Operating Guidelines While UV sterilizers usually do no harm, do not use one when you first cycle your aquarium, as it may kill beneficial bacteria before they attach to the bio-media or gravel. Studies have found that at any time there is a number of living microorganisms in a fish tank. Finally, you have to tune the flow rate through that sterilizer to accomplish the rate of sterilization required to either kill bacteria and algae or target parasites. FISH Pros And Cons of Uv Sterilizer in Aquarium UV sterilizers are a popular choice for aquarium owners who want to keep their water clean and clear. 2. Ok great, yes that does help. Anyway, If you own a reef tank you should likely get the AQUA Ultraviolet Advantage 2000+ as it handles saltwater better than Coralifes X6. These ratings do not always match reality. What I also like about this super-strong UV sterilizer is its compact size. In that case, you need some sort of fine mechanical filtration such as polyfill filter floss. AquaUltraviolet Advantage 2000+. This is often a high GPH rate, which imposes the need for a very strong UV bulb as without a separate pump thats the only way you control dwell-time. Note that if you have a Betta with large, beautiful fins it may experience some difficulties swimming around. The manufacturers claim that it will tolerate up to 4400 GPH. Do Saltwater Tanks NEED a Special Filter? The flow rate of the pump that forces water into the tube; If you seek a UV sterilizer for a larger aquarium (think 55+ gallons) youd want to get one that has its own powerhead. How Does A UV Sterilizer Work? An absolute beast, that I actually own and am pretty happy with. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. See, for the water to be irradiated by the UV bulb it needs to pass through the tube where the bulb sits. I am fairly new to reefing and do not have a problem with algae blooms or green water in my 180-gallon Waterbox yet. You can absolutely get away with a cheaper water sterilizer if you dont own a decently sized pond or aquarium (think over 150 gallons). If you want to have a disease-free large aquarium and keep your expensive fish healthy for the rest of their days, buy a 36 Watt Coralife Turbo-Twist X12 Ultraviolet Sterilizer and call it a year. 5. The UV bulb will actually bombard their genetic code with high-energy particles, effectively causing mutations, and giving them cancer. It's easy for pollutants to build up and diseases to spread - this is why filters are used. The main plus of COODIA is its competitive price. Plug the Advantage 2000+ UV sterilizer right after any form of filtration in your sump. And by that I mean, it makes that volume of water crystal clear over that period. In truth, if you manage to find one that has its own powerhead, you can cut the cost of expensive bulbs that will also need changing over time. No joke, the Green Killing Machines are worth every penny (in fact, I think theyre underpriced). It will only reduce the population of parasites in the water column, but it wont take care of the ones that are already in or on your fish. I have an acro dominant 25 lagoon. Greetings. This particular aquarium UV sterilizer can be used for freshwater fish tanks that are up to 125 gallons with great success. That being said, Id only use Coralifes X6 UV sterilizer model on fish tanks that hold no less than 55 US gallons of aquarium water. Ever since that one purchase, I havent really experienced any nasty diseases in my fish tanks. This one, unlike the Green Killing Machine ones I recommended so far, does not have its own powerhead, so make sure that you plumb it in your filter or pumps outtake.