RE: [APD] UV Sterilizers -- or - Purple haze

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

CustomSeaLife has ceased operations--the phone number gives
a message to that effect. The email addresses no longer
work.  Warranty protection for CustomSeaLife products is
now probably only whatever the vendor, rather than the
manufacturer offers. so I wouldn't recommend CustomSeaLife
products.

UVs and their applications can be confusing. Higher
wattage, slower water flows, yield more intense or longer
exposure periods. But some models rely on the water flow to
keep some internal parts from getting too warm and
distorting.

The Turbotwist devices work well, are not as sensitive to
heat issues from weak water flows as some other brands. The
Aquanetics can sometimes be gotten for a economical price
(as UVs go), but their design is kind of clunky (although
functional) and they use the older style T8 bulbs.

You need a waterflow on the low end of the scale, or even
lower, if you want to use them to kill off protozoa. For
example, based on the info I've been able to dig up, for
the 9 watt Turbotwist model, a flow rate of about 50 gph is
necessary to kill protozoa, although the minimum flow
recommended is about 100 gph.

Another brand has the option of having an integral brush to
wipe accumulated biofilm from the quartz sleeve. As long as
the UV is running, biofilm won't ordinarily develop on the
sleeve.

Any of the brands with biaxial bulbs tend to have longer
useful bulb life than those using T8 size straight bulbs,
which can be more economical in the long run, but it
depends on how muchyou intend to use the UV and the prices
available to you.

Scott H.

--- Seweryn Bialasiewicz <s_bialasiewicz at hotmail_com>
wrote:
> 
> Reggie,
> 
> Speaking from my experience with them, I am happy with
> what they offer me 
> even though they are usually a luxury item for the
> aquarium. I have a 
> Coralife Turbotwist 18W, and so far it has worked great.
> Got rid of my green 
> water in 2 days after I tried everything else for over 3
> weeks. But then 
> again I only use it periodically (week or two at a time)
> when I have a 
> problem, so for continual usage I cannot vouch for it's
> performance.
> 
> - Seweryn
> 
> 
> >From: "Reggie Bustinza" <numbr_9 at hotmail_com>
> >Reply-To: aquatic plants digest
> <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
> >To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
> >Subject: [APD] UV Sterilizers
> >Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 16:45:00 +0000
> >
> >What are people's experiences with UV Sterilizers?  Are
> there any specific 
> >models people would recommend / warn against?  Also,
> what wattage is 
> >necessary?
> >
> >thanks,
> >
> >Reggie
> >
>
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=====
S. Hieber

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