External Filter With Uv Bulb

[dalios]

Hi
 
I purchased an external filter with the built in uv bulb, are these anygood or did i just waste extra money that wasnt needed? I did read up that these were a good thing to have but thought i would ask.
 
Thanks

 

[techen]

Normally the UV bulbs are so low wattage they make no difference in a FW set up.
 
Normally marine tanks use them at the 200-400w rating.

 

[looking-glass]

depending on the wattage they can be quite good for keeping your algae down

 

[KirkyArcher]

Yes, it's usually a combination of lamp size and water flow rate that is important to make any use of a UV steriliser, the longer the "Dwell time" or the length of exposure the water has to UV light the more effective it is, so for high water flow you need larger bulbs or slower flow rate and reduced filtration, and unfortunately most UV lights contained within filters are a waste of time they may reduce things like green water (but they won't eliminate it) nor will they be strong enough to effectively kill off any pathogens

 

[dalios]

Thanks for the info, i did see that it was ment to reduce algae even if it does slightly it is a bonus! The filter is 1000 lph and has a 9watt uv bulb

 

[KirkyArcher]

For that flow rate of your filter 1000 Litres/hour which in reality with media will be no more than 800 litres/hour a 16 watt UV lamp would be minimum recommended size for it to have any meaningful effect.

 

[techen]

Yea, They put a "We have UV" to get people to buy it. But it's just a market thing with no benefit.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The use of UV in fw tanks is of limited benefit. It would best be used in Q tanks with new fish. A proper set-up will nuke many bad bacteria and viruses. But UV only helps with green water algae- whet is free floating in the water.  UV is more common in ponds than aquariums.
 
That said, I have a UV unit for spot use. It runs on its own power head/pump so I can get thep roper dwell time and turnover rate needed for effective use. If you want a pretty good explanation of UV and all its ramifications, have a read here: http/americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html

 

[dalios]

Silly really then to not put a 16watt uv bulb in there will see if i can upgrade to one if not may just give it 6months when the bulb needs to be replaced then just not bother with it and turn the thing off. Thanks twotank will have a look into it.

 

[star4]

I take this is an all pond solutions filter. I use the 2000 l/hr with 9w uv in my 300l tank in the conservatory, which gets stupid amounts of natural light which filters would just end up with green water almost overnight. Using the 9w uv on a 2000l filter keeps this 300l tank clear of green water. The UV does not clean algae off the glass, plants or ornaments. The way these filters work is because the light is inside the unit the water is slowed down considerably allowing the uv to do its job on the green water, it does not flow over the light at 1000 - 2000l/hr. They are not just a marketing gimic as so many people claim without even ever having bought one yet alone tested it. Yes they work on green water even under extreme conditions, you have not wasted your money, you have bought right.

 

[dalios]

Thats good to know star4, yes i did get mine from allpondsolutions, i read the reviews on them and there were all brilliant and they sold tons on ebay, i got the 1000l as i only have 180litre tank seemed better to have the uv bulb than not, so am glad to see they are a good thing to have will keep it going! Thanks for the info on this.

 

[KirkyArcher]

Sorry to burst your bubble once again but unfortunately green water (algae bloom) is not caused by excessive exposure to natural daylight, usually it's due to ammonia spikes, excessive phosphates and/or high nitrates and low Co2 not helping either, so If you don't experience green water it's down to not having the afore mentioned water conditions,

 

[star4]

Sorry to burst your bubble once again but unfortunately green water (algae bloom) is not caused by excessive exposure to natural daylight, usually it's due to ammonia spikes, excessive phosphates and/or high nitrates and low Co2 not helping either, so If you don't experience green water it's down to not having the afore mentioned water conditions,

 
*scratches head* ok that is really weird then and I must bow down to your superior knowledge on the workings of the uv filter and its ability to combat green water. So the problems I was experiencing with green water with the tanks in the conservatory due to the excessive light, so I thought, was incorrect, and changing the tetratec and fluval filters for APS filters with uv was a waste of time and it was not the new filters with uv that cleared the problem and keep the tanks pristine, its the aquarium fairies.

 

[KirkyArcher]

On any of the Algae sites all of the "informed" ones state green water is caused by the reasons stated in my post,
here's a info from just a couple :

## Green water (algae bloom)
This is the most common problem if the cloudy situation extends beyond 10-14 days. Note that "green water" (GW) is not always green in appearance! Since GW is the most common problem and the most difficult to solve the answer needs to reflect several options. The situation that causes GW is usually a combination of high nitrates, phosphates, and mixed in some ammonia/ammonium. Substrate disturbance is usually the culprit. What happens is the algae (GW form) will flourish off of the ammonia/ammonium and phosphate, remembering that algae can consume phosphate easier than plants because of their thin cell walls, the algae uses up the ammonia/ammonium and phosphate, but it doesn't go away...because algae can quickly switch which nutrient it scavenges...it moves to nitrates. So you can see why water changes will not rid a tank of GW. Nutrients can be reduced very low in GW and fairly quickly by the GW algaes, but they can scavenge other nutrients...iron and trace elements. So, it's very common for the GW to solve the situation that causes it to begin with, but that won't eliminate the GW, for the reasons I've alluded to. Five methods exist to eliminate GW. Blackout, Diatom Filtering, UV Sterilization, Live Daphnia, and Chemical algaecides/flocculents. The first four cause no harm to fish, the fifth one does.

Description This is a unicellular algae. Water goes cloudy. Sometimes just a green tint, other times it can look like pea soup.
Cause Ammonia is often the main cause green water. There may have been an ammonia spike that isn't detected with test kits. Other possible causes are an imbalance of nutrients and/or low CO2 levels.
Removal Large water changes do not seem to always help. If there is an imbalance in nutrients then fixing it will sometimes make it go away by itself after a while. A three day blackout followed by a large water change will hit it hard and sometimes may clear it. A UV steriliser/clarifier or diatom filter will clear it up very quickly and is often the only way to clear it.
A new method is to use freshly cut 1-2 year old willow branches about 0.5-1cm in width. Place these in your tank vertically so they go from the substrate to a few centimetres above the water's surface. After a few days they will start to grow roots and the green water should start to clear. When cleared remove the branches from the water.
Don't confuse this with a bacterial bloom which gives the water a white haze.

The cause of green water is not due to exposure to daylight.

The use of UV will help reduce or eliminate it completely, again as I stated in my 1st reply

and yes I've suffered with green water in my aquariums quite a while back and it wasn't exposed to any direct daylight it was caused by excess nutrients mainly due to overfeeding, and yes I quickly resolved it with an external TMC UV steriliser.

 

[dalios]

Jeez too much to know about keeping a tropical tank! Have i choose the right hobbie here lol, my bearded dragon is so simple lol, but its good and interesting to see everyones comments on things. May aswell keep my uv going as ive payed for it now and may aswell get use out of it even if it only makes a slight difference.