UV

[pwsusi]

I've been looking at the specs on a several UV sterilizers and have noticed that the different manufacturers have different specs and recommendations when it comes to choosing the right size UV for a given application.

According to Emperor Aquatics (http://www.emperoraquatics-pond.com/smart_uv_sterilizer.php), their 40 watt UV has a max flow rate of 1574 GPH and is good up to 4700 gallons of water. The dimensions of the unit are 43¾" x 3½".

Compare this to Aqua UV (http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/themes/maintenance/pdf/Instructions%20Classic%20and%20Twist%20Series%20UV %2005-19-09.pdf) who says their 40 watt UV has a maximum flow rate of 2900 gallons (almost double the Emperor recommendation) but is only good for 1200-2000 gallons of water (less than half the volume Emperor recommends). The dimensions of this unit are similar to the above.


I'm trying to figure out what would be the right size for my needs (acting as a sterlizer...approx 30,000 µWs/cm²). My systems are between 500-600 gallons and I'm running Rio hyerflo 26 pumps which are about 1500 GPH. I called Emperor and they said at 1500 GPH i should definitely get at least the 40 watt UV and that I was close to the limit border line needing the 65 watt. I called Aqua UV and they said I would be fine with their 25 watt, which according to their literature is good for 500-1200 gallons at 1200 GPH. To me this is a pretty big discrepancy. I should also mention that Emperor said GPH was the most important thing to look at when sizing a UV, and Aqua UV said volume of water was most important.

I'm confused. Since contact time is most important, wouldn't it be easier to rate these things based on number of times the water turns over per hour rather than GPH only or total volume only? Seems you would need both values (giving you turn over rate) to tell you the right size. Seems to me that using a higher than recommended GPH would be ok as long as you were dealing with a smaller volume of water (less contact time each pass, but more frequent passes through the UV unit). Conversely it's my thinking that you could be under the recommended GPH and still need a larger UV than recommended by the manufacturers if you had a large volume of water (slower going through the UV unit but water not turning over as fast).

I'm I correct in my thinking? What size do you think is appropriate for my systems? I'm thinking i could get away with 25 watt, but better with Emperor 40 watt Lite (which is 2'' diameter), but best choice would be either Aqua UV or Emperor 40 watt which have 3'' diameter.

Sorry for the long post. Please let me know what you think

[Chad Hughes]

Did it say what the application of the UV was? It's not likely that any 40 watt UV is rated for anything less than maybe algae control. If you are looking for something to control pathogens in the water, then shoot for 100 watts or beter.

I personally use O3. It's a lot cheaper!

Best wishes!

[pwsusi]

Yes...as a sterilizer. The numbers above will supposedly give you a kill rate of approx 30,000 µWs/cm²

[Daniella]

40 watts would definitly not work to kill parasites at the recommanded flow. This would work for algea only.

And this is really important, all the water must go through it in order to really work and slow enough. I have a 25 watts and the flow rate to help control parasites is 80 gallons per hour. I would think that 40 watts would be something like 120 gallons per hour, not more.

When I had my outbread, it did not control the bacteria that were attacking my fish. If the bug is already on the fish it won't help at all. It only kill what is free swimming if it is strong enough and the exposure time is strong enough and only if it goes through the UV.

Like I have 2 filter in my aquarium and some water may not go through the UV connected to the smaller flow rate canister because it may go in the larger filter and why it cycle there, that water might escape going through the UV.

It is hard to have a UV powerfull enough to get a decent flow rate so that only one filter will filter the tank and all the water will go through that filter.

But 40 watts at 1574 gph is a real joke and can only take care of green water, nothing else.

And the kill rate of 30,000 is only good for some bacterias, it will not kill most parasites.

Some parasites will require 300,000 to kill.



I've been looking at the specs on a several UV sterilizers and have noticed that the different manufacturers have different specs and recommendations when it comes to choosing the right size UV for a given application.

According to Emperor Aquatics (http://www.emperoraquatics-pond.com/smart_uv_sterilizer.php), their 40 watt UV has a max flow rate of 1574 GPH and is good up to 4700 gallons of water. The dimensions of the unit are 43¾" x 3½".

Compare this to Aqua UV (http://www.aquaultraviolet.com/themes/maintenance/pdf/Instructions%20Classic%20and%20Twist%20Series%20UV %2005-19-09.pdf) who says their 40 watt UV has a maximum flow rate of 2900 gallons (almost double the Emperor recommendation) but is only good for 1200-2000 gallons of water (less than half the volume Emperor recommends). The dimensions of this unit are similar to the above.


I'm trying to figure out what would be the right size for my needs (acting as a sterlizer...approx 30,000 µWs/cm²). My systems are between 500-600 gallons and I'm running Rio hyerflo 26 pumps which are about 1500 GPH. I called Emperor and they said at 1500 GPH i should definitely get at least the 40 watt UV and that I was close to the limit border line needing the 65 watt. I called Aqua UV and they said I would be fine with their 25 watt, which according to their literature is good for 500-1200 gallons at 1200 GPH. To me this is a pretty big discrepancy. I should also mention that Emperor said GPH was the most important thing to look at when sizing a UV, and Aqua UV said volume of water was most important.

I'm confused. Since contact time is most important, wouldn't it be easier to rate these things based on number of times the water turns over per hour rather than GPH only or total volume only? Seems you would need both values (giving you turn over rate) to tell you the right size. Seems to me that using a higher than recommended GPH would be ok as long as you were dealing with a smaller volume of water (less contact time each pass, but more frequent passes through the UV unit). Conversely it's my thinking that you could be under the recommended GPH and still need a larger UV than recommended by the manufacturers if you had a large volume of water (slower going through the UV unit but water not turning over as fast).

I'm I correct in my thinking? What size do you think is appropriate for my systems? I'm thinking i could get away with 25 watt, but better with Emperor 40 watt Lite (which is 2'' diameter), but best choice would be either Aqua UV or Emperor 40 watt which have 3'' diameter.

Sorry for the long post. Please let me know what you think

[seanyuki]

UV Myths


A myth that was somehow created in the industry is that an ultraviolet water sterilizer will kill parasites. Unfortunately, that’s not true in the practical sense although there’s a seed of truth to the claim. If a parasite is held under the intense ultraviolet rays long enough it will kill it. There are problems with this when considering the practical use of a UV to kill parasites. Parasites cling to fish and only a small number of them will actually go through the UV. Those few that actually make the trip through the UV go through so fast that the light only has time to give the parasite a slight tan. In other words – don’t purchase a UV light to protect your fish from parasites – it just doesn’t work that way! All you’ll end up doing is giving the parasites a tan.

[pwsusi]

I'm not expecting it to kill parasites. What i hoping is that it will keep bacteria in check. I'm experiencing higher than desired mortality rates when when i move fry from individual 10gallon tanks to my central systems. All adults and juvies are fine in my systems, but for whatever reason i tend to lose more fry than i'd like when moving the fry to the systems. A few drop each day over the course of a few weeks...then when they hit a certain size they tend to do fine. I keep my systems clean with regular water changes, filter cleaning etc...but I'm looking to UV to help with the fry problem. I'm hoping UV will help keep the bacteria levels down and clean up the water enough to hopefully help the situation.

I do also spend a decent amount of time cleaning algae off the glass of my tanks (a lot of tanks!). I keep them pretty well lit so i can inspect the fish regularly, check for spawns, and also see the bottom well enough to know i'm cleaning the tanks thoroughly. The algae control is a secondary goal; solving the fry issues mentioned above are my main objective with the UV.

I don't expect it to use it as substitution for quarantine or expect it to prevent an outbreak if i were to haphazardly drop a fish with flukes or velvet into my systems. Am i wasting my time?

[Daniella]

Well, I have a 25 watts UV running 24/7 at 80gph and it did not stop my outbreak. I had received new fish which were in a quarantine tank in the same room and that was enough to contaminate my fish in the main tank. Did the UV helped to prevent this bacteria from spreading from the water to the fish? no way. All my old fish got a really bad bacterial infection.

The UV will only be 100% effective if all water go through it and only if all the bacteria go through it before reaching any fish. Once they reach a fish, they multiply so fast that no UV will be able to control that.

There is no way for a UV to control a bacterial infection. Bacterias will attach to anything. Glass surface, driftwood, decoration, plants etc..and of course fishes.

Even if all the water go through it and there is no accessory in the aquarium, there would be a chance that a bacteria would find its way to a fish and attach to it, so the fishes would have to be removed and treated in a QT. Then all tank walls would need to be scrubed and all decoration removed and desinfected.

In my outbread, the bacteria somehow got into the water and found the fishes before it went through the UV, so it was then a lost cause.

I now use my UV permanently as a precaution only to reduce the potential pathogene in the water but I will also get diatom filtration to filter the water to a more pure state and help control parasites (if there are any).

That does nothing for bacterias though as they are too small.

Nasty bacterias should not be present in the aquarium or the fish will be sick. Then treatment and desinfection is the only way to go.

non pathogene bacterias are not a threat for the fish probably.

for your fry, there is a threat in the sticky in the breeding forum about the 4 weeks syndrome of fry dying, so you should read that and it may help you figure out what is going on. I really doubt that a UV will do any good for that.



I'm not expecting it to kill parasites. What i hoping is that it will keep bacteria in check. I'm experiencing higher than desired mortality rates when when i move fry from individual 10gallon tanks to my central systems. All adults and juvies are fine in my systems, but for whatever reason i tend to lose more fry than i'd like when moving the fry to the systems. A few drop each day over the course of a few weeks...then when they hit a certain size they tend to do fine. I keep my systems clean with regular water changes, filter cleaning etc...but I'm looking to UV to help with the fry problem. I'm hoping UV will help keep the bacteria levels down and clean up the water enough to hopefully help the situation.

I do also spend a decent amount of time cleaning algae off the glass of my tanks (a lot of tanks!). I keep them pretty well lit so i can inspect the fish regularly, check for spawns, and also see the bottom well enough to know i'm cleaning the tanks thoroughly. The algae control is a secondary goal; solving the fry issues mentioned above are my main objective with the UV.

I don't expect it to use it as substitution for quarantine or expect it to prevent an outbreak if i were to haphazardly drop a fish with flukes or velvet into my systems. Am i wasting my time?

[pwsusi]

Thanks. Could you please post the link to the 4 week dying syndrome? I can't seem to find it in the breeding section.

Paul

[Daniella]

Oooppss sorry this thread was not in this forum but in the Bidka forum here:

http://forum.bidka.org/showthread.php?t=891

It could help you with your problem.



Thanks. Could you please post the link to the 4 week dying syndrome? I can't seem to find it in the breeding section.

Paul