UV sterilizers

[morefirejules08]

hi
This is my first post so i apologize if it is the wrong section. I currently have a 6 foot tank thats in need of a reboot so i have decided to go down the planted route, im doing a lot of research at the moment but have not found any information on UV sterilization.
My tank is filtered by a pressurized pond filter and 4500lph pump and the filter comes with an integrated UV light. What i would like to know is would the UV be beneficial to run or would it remove ferts etc from the water?

cheers, chris

 

[sanj]

hi
This is my first post so i apologize if it is the wrong section. I currently have a 6 foot tank thats in need of a reboot so i have decided to go down the planted route, im doing a lot of research at the moment but have not found any information on UV sterilization.
My tank is filtered by a pressurized pond filter and 4500lph pump and the filter comes with an integrated UV light. What i would like to know is would the UV be beneficial to run or would it remove ferts etc from the water?

cheers, chris

A pond filter UV is usually a clarifier for green water and is less a sterilizer. The reason is that they tend to be relatively small compared to the volume of water they are rated for. If your system is about 600 litres and the UV filter rated at 25W then it will be about right for a sterilizer which will help in reducing the number of bacteria (good and bad) and pathogens in the water column.
In regard to removing nutrients, there is no evidence to suggest anything substantial that I have come across. My personal experiance with UV sterilisers is that they are not noticably detrimental in regard to nutrients and plant health.

 

[morefirejules08]

thanks for the reply, my tank is about 560 liters as its only 20 inches wide, i think the UV is 25w as the filter is a laguna pressure flow 12000, im hoping the UV will help clarify the water when using bog wood

cheers

 

[J Butler]

thanks for the reply, my tank is about 560 liters as its only 20 inches wide, i think the UV is 25w as the filter is a laguna pressure flow 12000, im hoping the UV will help clarify the water when using bog wood

cheers

Unfortunately I don't think the UV will help clear up tannin stained water.

Your best bet for that is some chemical filtration such as purigen or activated carbon and water changes.
You could also go the other way, George Farmer has produced some pretty spectacular black water scapes

 

[morefirejules08]

although im an advocate of purigen, having used it when i first came out with great results, i cant incorporate it into my filtration set up easily,

 

[J Butler]

I imagine frequent water changes would be enough, but I don't have too much experience with leaching tannins.

I've heard that mopani wood is very bad for staining water but if it's bog standard bog wood, I think it should eventually stop releasing tannins or atleast slow down enough to not really be noticeable.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along to set things straight soon

 

[morefirejules08]

sadly i have quite a lot of previous experience with bog wood leaching, but i have never had the UV running while waiting for the water to clear. I fear the size of wood i will be looking for will need to be left to soak in a private lake of which i am a member