UV vs. Algae

Discussion in 'Algae' started by Pipe_Organ, Apr 4, 2004.

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  1. Craig Manoukian

    Craig Manoukian Giant Squid

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    Thanks Mike! Great perspective and very understandable for us laymen!
     
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  3. NUGIO

    NUGIO Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    ditto Craig .Karma 4 ya mojo!
    I may be considering a uv now Mike.Do you use one? if so is it on all the time?
     
  4. Pipe_Organ

    Pipe_Organ Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    Thanks too Mike. I'm seriously thinking of getting a UV. Maybe I can turn what's become a job back into a hobby. :)
     
  5. mojoreef

    mojoreef Bristle Worm

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    While I'm glad the information helped. There seems to be over the last few years a real surge into trying to keep every last little microscopic life form a live in our tanks. Doing this has really compromised the water quality conditions it most people's tanks. In all the years of keeping a reef that I have experienced the one methodology that has always worked time after time is to concentrate on keeping great water quality. If you do that your coral has no other choice but to grow.
    On the UV in my tank I run three separate 40 W UV sterilizer's and they run 20 47 365.
     
  6. gamma

    gamma Spaghetti Worm

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    Is there a rule of thumb when purchasing a UV sterilizer?

    #watts/gallon? or turnover rate?

    Any good brands or brands to stay away from?
     
  7. Pipe_Organ

    Pipe_Organ Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    I understand what you're saying about water quality. As soon as I started feeding my tank, between the Krill and phytoplankton that's when I started with the algae problems. I read that it's watts vs. gallons when buying a UV. For a 75gal. I would need between a 8~9volt UV. I was looking at a Custom Sea LIfe and my LFS{not so local} told me they were out of Business. So now I'm checking out a Coral Life.
     
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  9. mojoreef

    mojoreef Bristle Worm

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    Yep phytoplankton is pretty much pure phosphate, pretty tough stuff to be adding to the reef tank.
    On choosing a UV sterilizer there are a couple things to take into consideration. A UV sterilizer is most effective for its germicidal value in a clear water application at a wavelength of 265 nanometers. With proper exposure, ultraviolet radiation energy (ultraviolet light) penetrates a microorganism’s cell wall. It then destroys the nuclear material, causing abrupt modification and quickly bringing about its destruction. It's really tough to figure out what size to get based on wattage alone as there are a lot of other factors that come into play, such as the turbidly of the water, clarity of the glass, speed of the flow through the UV and so on.\
    here's the formula that I usually use when people ask for suggestions on UV size of types. Make sure that the UV uses a Low-pressure mercury type UV lamps. Then take whatever the watts per gallon is and either double that amount or reduce the suggested flow amount by half. So one example would be if it was suggested to you to use and 8 W UV at 200 gallons an hour water flow, I would suggest getting a 16 W UV and running and that 200 gallons an hour, or getting the 8 W UV sterilizer and running it at 100 gallons per hour.

    Anyway hope it helps

    Mike
     
  10. Pipe_Organ

    Pipe_Organ Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    Thanks you've been a big help.
     
  11. Craig Manoukian

    Craig Manoukian Giant Squid

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    Thanks for the clarity on the subject Mike!
     
  12. Pipe_Organ

    Pipe_Organ Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    I bought an 18W Coral Life UV. I will keep you posted on results. Thanks again to everyone for your help..