UV sterilizer
- Thread starter rstiles
- Start date
merredeth
Active Member
Originally Posted by mrdc
I was thinking of getting one and was looking at the Turbo-Twist UV. Do you basically just mount them and plug them in? Or do you need to hook up a power head?
I have mutiple tanks and have the Turbo Twist on my aggressive tank where the eel is at.
They are good ones and you definitely need to have a powerhead. Because the Turbo Twist needs more force to get through the twist (which prevents dead spots found in other UVs) so I highly recommend getting a Maxi Jet 900 to do the job.
When you put the tubing onto the TurboTwist, heat the ends of the tubing with boiling water to make it more flexible to go over the nozzle. Then clamp it or zip tie it and you should be good to go.
I've never had a problem with my aggressive tank.
Denise M.
I was thinking of getting one and was looking at the Turbo-Twist UV. Do you basically just mount them and plug them in? Or do you need to hook up a power head?
I have mutiple tanks and have the Turbo Twist on my aggressive tank where the eel is at.
They are good ones and you definitely need to have a powerhead. Because the Turbo Twist needs more force to get through the twist (which prevents dead spots found in other UVs) so I highly recommend getting a Maxi Jet 900 to do the job.
When you put the tubing onto the TurboTwist, heat the ends of the tubing with boiling water to make it more flexible to go over the nozzle. Then clamp it or zip tie it and you should be good to go.
I've never had a problem with my aggressive tank.
Denise M.
mrdc
Active Member
Originally Posted by J-Bird
What exactly is a UV sterilizer, what does it do?? :notsure:
Here is a brief description on what they do.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11...ot_parent_id=6
What exactly is a UV sterilizer, what does it do?? :notsure:
Here is a brief description on what they do.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11...ot_parent_id=6
merredeth
Active Member
Originally Posted by rstiles
I run mine uv though my fluval 304 / 260 gph and seems to work fine one less thing in the tank - I also have the turbo-twist
The Maxi Jets are rated at 230 gallons per hour. I prefer using the recommended powerhead only because the longer the water is exposed to the ultraviolet light, the better the chances of splitting the DNA.
While it may be one less thing in the tank from your perspective, the return has to go someplace. Returning the water to the main tank with the line and if properly positioned the return tube will still do the job of creating some water flow so there is less dead space in the tank.
From the way my main community display tank looks (it has the TurboTwist), it really doesn't create more visual chaos due to good rock placement.
However, the recent aggressive tank upgrade I'm doing requires even more rock to make it look as good as my community tank. On the aggressive main tank, I have a TetraTech with a Maxi-Jet 600 which only puts out 160 gallons per hour. I figure in about two months I should have enough rock in it to make it look just as sharp as I'm VERY picky about the rock shapes I'll buy. That is probably why all my tanks have a variety of different types of rock.
Denise M.
I run mine uv though my fluval 304 / 260 gph and seems to work fine one less thing in the tank - I also have the turbo-twist
The Maxi Jets are rated at 230 gallons per hour. I prefer using the recommended powerhead only because the longer the water is exposed to the ultraviolet light, the better the chances of splitting the DNA.
While it may be one less thing in the tank from your perspective, the return has to go someplace. Returning the water to the main tank with the line and if properly positioned the return tube will still do the job of creating some water flow so there is less dead space in the tank.
From the way my main community display tank looks (it has the TurboTwist), it really doesn't create more visual chaos due to good rock placement.
However, the recent aggressive tank upgrade I'm doing requires even more rock to make it look as good as my community tank. On the aggressive main tank, I have a TetraTech with a Maxi-Jet 600 which only puts out 160 gallons per hour. I figure in about two months I should have enough rock in it to make it look just as sharp as I'm VERY picky about the rock shapes I'll buy. That is probably why all my tanks have a variety of different types of rock.
Denise M.
sharkbait9
Active Member
coralife turbo twist recommends that it is connected to a prefilter first. I have mine connected to my canister filter exhaust. The reason behind having it hooked up to a filter is to help prevent build up in the twist channel. I was getting a little green dust like algae on my front glass (next to a window, had no choice in placement) once I hooked up my UV and cleaned my glass again and did a water change again, my green dust on the glass is gone. I could not figure out why my glass was getting a hint of green dust on the front glass, the tank was next to the window not in front but it was and after reading about the UV I picked one up and now 6 weeks of using it, I have no problems and it really only took 48 hrs and my green dust was gone and has never come back. Some people will argue over the fact that it will kill other beneficial organisms in your tank like micro verts and phytoplankton and other stuff, but are you really trying to harvest and maintain those organisms? good luck if you are. I have copod and stuff on my rocks can see them crawling around they are not dead and after six weeks of uv sterilizing they show no signs of dying or not being able to breeding. The only problem with my copods are when I change my filters media out I have to watch I don’t dup the copods out, it maybe me I don’t know for sure but my copods love to live in the canister and seem like that’s a breeding ground. I have read and heard three different running times with a UV, some say 24/7 some say 6month and a few say run it for a month or as needed. I might only needed to my run to split my single celled algae. My parameters are all on target, silicate is 0 or none detectable, phosphate 0, ammonia 0, Ph is 8.3, trites 0 trates 0 CA 420 DKH 8.6 ALK 3.9 so on and so forth. Like I was saying I could never really say for sure why I was getting a green dust because my levels were always on target. Like I was saying the benefits out way the negatives, even if you were to run it for a couple of weeks to split any single cells or kill off any free floating ick in the tank. You should just make sure you are profiteering the water before entering the twist channels. Just my 2cents
merredeth
Active Member
Sharkbait9:
I don't use a pre-filter and probably won't since I take it apart every month or soI just use a bottle brush and it cleans the twists out well. I also go through the tubing and clean it out because I hate the look of gunk in my tubing.
I have had no build-up at all without the pre-filtering so I probably won't do it.
I don't know why you lost the green color after installing it. I do know thatafter using the first UV, I decided also the benefits outweigh the arguments against having them. ScubaDoo has great arguments for people to consider before just getting one for a display tank and after much discussion with him on a thread, I opted to continue using them.
Like I've said before, I run them on each tank 24/7 and I haven't had a single outbreak since.
Denise M.
I don't use a pre-filter and probably won't since I take it apart every month or soI just use a bottle brush and it cleans the twists out well. I also go through the tubing and clean it out because I hate the look of gunk in my tubing.
I have had no build-up at all without the pre-filtering so I probably won't do it.
I don't know why you lost the green color after installing it. I do know thatafter using the first UV, I decided also the benefits outweigh the arguments against having them. ScubaDoo has great arguments for people to consider before just getting one for a display tank and after much discussion with him on a thread, I opted to continue using them.
Like I've said before, I run them on each tank 24/7 and I haven't had a single outbreak since.
Denise M.
sharkbait9
Active Member
Originally Posted by Merredeth
Sharkbait9:
I don't use a pre-filter and probably won't since I take it apart every month or soI just use a bottle brush and it cleans the twists out well. I also go through the tubing and clean it out because I hate the look of gunk in my tubing.
I have had no build-up at all without the pre-filtering so I probably won't do it.
I don't know why you lost the green color after installing it. I do know thatafter using the first UV, I decided also the benefits outweigh the arguments against having them. ScubaDoo has great arguments for people to consider before just getting one for a display tank and after much discussion with him on a thread, I opted to continue using them.
Like I've said before, I run them on each tank 24/7 and I haven't had a single outbreak since.
Denise M.
Opting to not run a pre filter is your choice, I try to do as instructed to do by the manufacturer, until I find a way that either works for me or better then the manufacturers suggestions. I personally don’t like to have to clean other stuff out every month unless I notice a decline in optimal performance. What works for some don’t work for others, what some like others don’t. Saltwater is a very diversified hobby, every body has a different way of doing things to accomplish the same goal. UV breaks down algae so as to not reproduce so that’s the answer to that. Along with ridding my tank of the green algae I have definitely noticed an increase in my coralline algae, does that have anything to do with a uv sterilizer I can’t say for sure, and again what worked for me to get the increase may not work for you.
Sharkbait9:
I don't use a pre-filter and probably won't since I take it apart every month or soI just use a bottle brush and it cleans the twists out well. I also go through the tubing and clean it out because I hate the look of gunk in my tubing.
I have had no build-up at all without the pre-filtering so I probably won't do it.
I don't know why you lost the green color after installing it. I do know thatafter using the first UV, I decided also the benefits outweigh the arguments against having them. ScubaDoo has great arguments for people to consider before just getting one for a display tank and after much discussion with him on a thread, I opted to continue using them.
Like I've said before, I run them on each tank 24/7 and I haven't had a single outbreak since.
Denise M.
Opting to not run a pre filter is your choice, I try to do as instructed to do by the manufacturer, until I find a way that either works for me or better then the manufacturers suggestions. I personally don’t like to have to clean other stuff out every month unless I notice a decline in optimal performance. What works for some don’t work for others, what some like others don’t. Saltwater is a very diversified hobby, every body has a different way of doing things to accomplish the same goal. UV breaks down algae so as to not reproduce so that’s the answer to that. Along with ridding my tank of the green algae I have definitely noticed an increase in my coralline algae, does that have anything to do with a uv sterilizer I can’t say for sure, and again what worked for me to get the increase may not work for you.
merredeth
Active Member
Originally Posted by sharkbait9
Along with ridding my tank of the green algae I have definitely noticed an increase in my coralline algae, does that have anything to do with a uv sterilizer I can’t say for sure, and again what worked for me to get the increase may not work for you.
I don't know if it helps correline per say, but I'm thinking the added water turnover that occurs when incorporating a UV, I would think the clean up crew may deserve a little credit for helping seed your rock.
Now that I think about it, my rock started really populating with correline in one tank after adding the UV.
I wish ScubaDoo would see this note as he may be able to add some positive dialogue with this theory you have.
Denise M.
Along with ridding my tank of the green algae I have definitely noticed an increase in my coralline algae, does that have anything to do with a uv sterilizer I can’t say for sure, and again what worked for me to get the increase may not work for you.
I don't know if it helps correline per say, but I'm thinking the added water turnover that occurs when incorporating a UV, I would think the clean up crew may deserve a little credit for helping seed your rock.
Now that I think about it, my rock started really populating with correline in one tank after adding the UV.
I wish ScubaDoo would see this note as he may be able to add some positive dialogue with this theory you have.
Denise M.