UV sterilizers?

[kodock]

Looking to see if any of you use UV sterilizers and if so, any recommendations. I see Aqua UV, Pentair & Aquatic Life have the higher end results, but the negative reviews seem to be the same as cheaper units coralife (apparently has a history of leeching rusted metal), green killing machine allegedly works but not to the extent of real inhibition.. saw the jebao but it looks meh..

Any recommendations? Thanks!

 

[Steve Burton]

I have a CUV-55 (no name, I'm assuming Sunsun) I bought used, been running a few years at night only, through 3-4 bulb changes. No problems, seems to ba as good a quality as an Aquatop 36 I ran on another tank for a while.

 

[kodock]

I have a CUV-55 (no name, I'm assuming Sunsun) I bought used, been running a few years at night only, through 3-4 bulb changes. No problems, seems to ba as good a quality as an Aquatop 36 I ran on another tank for a while.

Thanks!! What let’s you know to change the bulbs, just checking it every so often?

 

[ichthyoid]

A rule of thumb is to change UV bulbs about every 12 months, or 9000 hours of operation.
Quick math 9000 hrs/24 hrs per day = 375 days.

I have used 2 different brands successfully, over a period of decades. Aqua UV and another brand no longer made. I can vouch for Aqua UV’s performance.

We had a very long, very technical thread on here some years ago about UV. On which I was a contributor. After a lot of research on the topic, in addition to decades of practical experience, I am confident saying that UV is an effective means of controlling pathogens & algae. Also, most UV unit application specs. are over rated for most of our needs. The short answer to why I say that is that most of the data generated has been from studies on the sterilization of drinking water. Which has much more rigid requirements than aquaria use.

Lifespan of CureUV Germicidal UV-C Lamps

Question: Why do CureUV.com germicidal UV-C lamps last over 12 months or 9000 hours? Answer: The most obvious factors that affect the quality of output over time (effective/usable lamp life) of a low-pressure UV lamp are re-starts and elements erosion of fillers in the UVC lamp. Assuming you...

www.cureuv.com

 

[scuba steve]

I'm running a AquaUltraviolet on my home tank, I've also used several of the Lifegard UVs and I like their setup, they also come with a bulb life countdown timer on the ballast.