UV sterilizer

[Coasting]

I'm looking to add some sort of UV sterilizer to my new system. Something that will deal with 100gal or so of water, give or take... I would rather overkill then under do it....
I'm looking at what our sponsors have available, but leaning towards what J&L carries because their nice and close. That would leave me with the coralife or Pentair, BRS has the Emperor at 50 or so more.
What would you go with? what would you stay away from?
Ease of getting bulbs, ease of cleaning, ease of setup.
This will not be hard plumbed into anything, will end up running somewhere in the sump like the skimmer.

And what would be a good pump to go with whatever UV ends up being the one?

[gregzz4]

I'd heard the Coralife sterilizers use proprietary bulbs. I've had inlines before and hated the fact that the bulbs came out the bottom. This and build quality was why I bought a Pentair. You can get aftermarket bulbs, but I just get mine from J&L

I use a 15w on my 110g system, but if you want some overkill, go with the 25w. There's not much beneficial bacteria floating around in the water column, so it won't do any harm that I can find proof of
If you only want to control green water, the 15w will do just fine

Pentair maintenance is easy compared to inlines I've owned

My pump is after the skimmer and socks so the water is as particle-free as possible

As far as pumps go, I can't help as you'll have to calculate your head loss. I use 3/4" vinyl hose and an Eheim compact 2000 to pump through my sterilizer and then my chiller. I get about 225gph after both, so it's perfect for me as I am getting 15wpg/hr

There's some good reading here (http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/aquariumuvsterilization.html#flow) if you need more info on flow rates/effectiveness

Specifically, this section;

*As a Clarifier; For Algae Control (Green Water and some Cloudy Water), 40-50 gph per watt is effective to maintain effective exposure for effective UVC sterilization/radiation (depending on model UV’s design).
High Efficiency (High Dwell/Exposure) UV Sterilizers such as the TMC Pond Advantage (http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/TMCUVSterilizer.html) with long contact time as per the wattage and lamp can easily run as high as 50-60 gph per watt. The even higher efficiency (& dwell time) Pro Clear UV 30 (http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/TMCUVSterilizer.html#30watttmc) can go 70+ gph per watt.

*As a Sterilizer; Generally for bacterial control (& many virus) a flow rate of 20-25 gph per watt (75-95 liters per hour, per watt), sometimes as high as 30-35 gph per watt for high efficiency UV Sterilizers such as the TMC Vecton UV (http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/TMCUVSterilizer.html).

*As a Sterilizer; For single cell parasite control (such as Cryptocaryon) as well as a few “stubborn” viruses, a flow under 10 gph (or even less) is necessary. This is often not 100% for all parasites of this type, so a UV Sterilizer should not be relied on as the sole preventative for these parasites!

[Coasting]

Thanks for the reply,

As I was looking around I saw some cheapy bulbs, sold for the odyssea UV I think saying they fit in the coralife ones, but I think regardless JL is the closest store to me anyway that sells bulbs regardless so it would end up being there or online. (theres only a few $ different there...)
Does JL actually sell bulbs for the 15w UV? I see the 15w fixture, but replacement bulbs as 8w, 10w, 25w...
The system is only about 85-90 gallons total, but I still wouldn't mind going for UV thats designed for larger (might try and stick a larger sump in there one day if I can), so if I went for the pentair i would probably go for the 25w one....
But the 25w pentair says it does up to 200g
Yet the 18w coralife says it does up to 250g, does the style of the waterflow make that much of a difference? Or is that more about the pump you hook up to them.

Also I've never really needed to look into pumps before, so really I'm lost on both fronts here. I want quiet running! Now some are designed to be hard plumbed in and never be wet on the outside, while some are submersible, some take hoses/pipe on both end, or just 1... Haha no idea what I need here. Or whats better to run a sterilizer with, push the water through the sterilizer or pull it through...
I was hoping to have the pump in the 1st portion of my sump then the sterilizer maybe hung on the edge (I like that about the coralife one) then deposit water before the return pump... i think, yikes!

[gregzz4]

Erm, I forgot about the 8/10/15w stuff. It's the ballast it came with that drives the bulb, and mine's a QL-10, so I actually get around 22.5wpg/hr
With that in mind, you'd get your money's worth with the 25w version
I've had no experience with, nor done any research on, the Coralife units, so you'd be best to do some googling

Ultimately you may want to buy what will fit your space the best for you
If hang on will work best, go for it, but the outlet will be above water and may splash making a mess and creating bubbles
The Pentair unit requires the bulb to come out the top, so make sure you have room

We're only running aquarium water here, not bog or sewer water, so I don't see there being a huge difference between brands
Maybe judge your purchase based on reviews with your 3 stipulations in mind - Ease of getting bulbs ( and other parts ), ease of cleaning, ease of setup

You always want to 'push' water through pretty much any type of equipment
You don't want any un-filtered or air-filled water going through your sterilizer, so decide where to put the pump based on that
The pump I mentioned is submerged and is very quiet - I don't hear it over my return pump. I use barbed fittings, vinyl hose and clamps so removal is easy enough

Question - if you were to buy the QL-25, do you have room for that beast ? It's almost 28" tall

Whatever you do end up with, make sure you have enough room to work on it
I've owned 3 kinds of sterilizers;
1 - Inline
2 - HOB
3 - Stand alone

1 - pain in the arse as the design of mine dictated it be mounted vertically. This wasn't so bad for bulb replacement, but for servicing I had to take it off-line

2 - same problem as 1, but only 1 hose to remove. Still don't like it

Both 1 and 2 bulbs came out the bottom so location was an issue

3 - love how it can be serviced in place
I can do all my maintenance where it sits without disconnecting any plumbing
My unit is next to my sump in my sump room, so I have lots of room to work on it

I like to clean mine out every few months or so. I wash the quarz sleeve to keep the bulb working efficiently
So, if you're like me, make sure you'll be able to re and re it easily or you will hate it

You should replace the bulb yearly, and the quartz sleeve every couple of years or so ( whenever it starts to get milky ), so look at replacement costs

Oh, one bit of research I did that may help ...
The UV light will harden plastic
Pentair has a liner ( protective sleeve ) that can be replaced
If you can't replace the liner, the housing will eventually go brittle and you have to replace the whole unit :surprise:
And I use 3/4" fittings that can be purchased at any hardware store, so I'm not stuck replacing proprietary fittings when they break or get squished out of round

[gregzz4]

PM me your # if you want to talk, or come have a look at 2 units running