Coralife Turbo Twist 3X - 9 Watt U.V. Sterilizer

[Guest]

I am planning on getting this for my tank but I had a couple questions.

1) It says it is good for up to 125 gallons as long as the filter flow rate is 100-200gph. Mine is 260gph (Fluval 304) and my tank is 55g, I'll be okay, right?

2) Am I going to have any problems with my plecos with a algea-less tank? I know my plecos are not primarily algea eaters, but do they need some in their diets? Right now I supplement their diets with sinking shrimp pellets.

3) Any other concerns I should be aware of?

4) Does anyone know any hot deals on them right now? BigAl's has it for $77.99, the lowest price I've found.

Thanks everyone!

 

[SerLunchbox]

1) It says it is good for up to 125 gallons as long as the filter flow rate is 100-200gph. Mine is 260gph (Fluval 304) and my tank is 55g, I'll be okay, right?

That will be fine

2) Am I going to have any problems with my plecos with a algea-less tank? I know my plecos are not primarily algea eaters, but do they need some in their diets? Right now I supplement their diets with sinking shrimp pellets.

No problems with your plecos. It won't totally eliminate algae but will greatly reduce it.

3) Any other concerns I should be aware of?

Don't expect it to be a miracle solution. While it does work great in a lot of cases, it is not the be all end all solution.

4) Does anyone know any hot deals on them right now? BigAl's has it for $77.99, the lowest price I've found.

you could check aquariumguys.com to see if they have it, remember they give a small discount to AA members. I think you have to mention that you are part of aquarium advice i believe to receive it.

 

[Big C]

Hey Mr. Calgary Flame:

Don't expect it to be a miracle solution. While it does work great in a lot of cases, it is not the be all end all solution

I'm also trying to decide between a UV sterilizer and a diatom filter to help getting rid of algae. So far (touch wood) my fish have not had any other diseases, the only casualties I had were caused by my own inexperience or other tank dwellers (again, my own inexperience). But I feel very frustrated that I cannot have a crystal clear tank as I used to have before, when I didn't pay any attention to it!

My fish are very happy, all swimming around doing their fishy thing and eating everything that goes into the tank. I'm a little groussed out because yesterday I saw the diamond tetras and the barb eating one of the poor ghost shrimps ALIVE!!! No wonder they are disappearing!

Al advise will be appreciated!

 

[Guest]

Once again SirLunchbox, thanks a lot, very helpful!

 

[SerLunchbox]

Once again SirLunchbox, thanks a lot, very helpful!

not a problem

My fish are very happy, all swimming around doing their fishy thing and eating everything that goes into the tank. I'm a little groussed out because yesterday I saw the diamond tetras and the barb eating one of the poor ghost shrimps ALIVE!!! No wonder they are disappearing!

Called Natural predatory skills. It will happen with ghost shrimp because they are so iddy biddy and bite sized.

As for between diatom filter or UV sterilizer, it really all depends on all your issues. A diatom filter is used for most algae cells that you can encounter. A UV sterilizer is good for most algae plus it helps to reduce harmful micro-organisms that might be in your water.

 

[newhobbist]

I ordered diatom filter on Thursday and chose it over UV sterilizer mainly because it actually removes (not kills and lives in the tank) "green water" algae and it doesn't have to be on all the time.

 

[krap101]

[/quote]
you could check aquariumguys.com to see if they have it, remember they give a small discount to AA members. I think you have to mention that you are part of aquarium advice i believe to receive it.[/quote]

i thoguht that ended on may 15?

 

[Guest]

Tony, you need the next size larger UV sterilizer. The 3X-9 has a maximum recommended flow rate of 200gph, and you are outputting 260gph. What that means is the water flowing through the sterilizer will not have enough "dwell time," the time the water is being exposed to the UV, for maximum effectiveness. Either that, or reduce your flow rate on your Fluval.

 

[Guest]

Tony, you need the next size larger UV sterilizer. The 3X-9 has a maximum recommended flow rate of 200gph, and you are outputting 260gph. What that means is the water flowing through the sterilizer will not have enough "dwell time," the time the water is being exposed to the UV, for maximum effectiveness. Either that, or reduce your flow rate on your Fluval.

But if it can handle 125g at 200gph, shouldn't it be able to handle 55g at 260gph?

 

[Guest]

No. The size of the aquarium has nothing to do with its effectiveness. All that matters is dwell time. If what is in the water is not exposed to the UV light long enough, the UV will not kill it. That's all there is to it.

 

[Guest]

Aren't the actual gph rate on filters usually much lower than advertised, especially full of media?

 

[Guest]

It sounds like you're grasping for straws now. :| Trust me, if you can afford it, go with the next size larger sterilizer.

 

[Guest]

I already ordered it, so yeah, I'm grasping for straws I think it will be okay though, and if I ever do have a disease outbreak I will lower the filter gph. They have a chart in the instructions I can't fully understand, but it looks like the higher the gph, the more stuff it will kill. Download the instructions from Big Al's if you have time and see if the graph on the last page makes sense to anyone.

 

[Guest]

Certainly -- the more water you have flowing through the sterilizer, the more water can be sterilized, the more effective it is. I have not seen the graph, but it is probably assuming the water dwells in the unit long enough for the UV to be effective, however.

Just checked Big Al's and saw the next size up Turbo-Twist was almost double the price. 8O So I understand where you're coming from.

 

[Guest]

But the graph even has flow rates over 200gph and they are shown as being more effective not less. Unless I'm reading it completely wrong, which is not outside of the realm of possibilities. :?

 

[Guest]

You're reading it backwards. The lower the flow rate, the more exposure the water receives and the more it can kill. I assume you're talking about this graph?

It takes more UVC energy to kill a parasite, for example.

 

[Guest]

So tank size does not matter at all, only gph.

 

[Guest]

Correct.

 

[cougaran]

The 9 watt sterilizer is rated up to a 125 gal tank. I have a 90 gal and went with the next size up 18watt which is rated to a 250 gal tank. The reason i went with the bigger unit is the higher wattage is more effective in controling ich, but the 9 watt would be plenty. The whole idea is exposure time to the uv bulb. Bacteria takes less time to kill than algae, algae takes less time to kill than parasites. These articles will help explain: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=39&page=1

this article recommends, "The key is to stay under the maximum effective flow rate by 50gph. This will present the best kill ratio. "

http://aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=31

The problem with the turbo-twist is that you can't really compare it to other uv lights because the twist created more exposure time to the uv light, which is the reason the lights have lower wattages than some of the older straight flow uv lights.

The other problem with GPH is that you have to factor in head height. A pump that pumps out at 5' high isnt going to put out the same gph with one that has no head height. To figure out gph you would have to set the pump up and dump the water into a gal container till it fills it. When you start it have someone time the seconds it takes to do that. Lets say it takes 15 seconds. Now divide 60 by 15(# of seconds it takes to fill a 1 gallon jug)=4. So every 60 seconds(1 minute) you can fill 4 gallons of water. Now mulitiply 4(# of times you can fill a gal in 60 seconds) times 60(# of minutes in an hour)=240 gph. I hope that helps.

 

[Guest]

So basically I am going to run my filter, which probably effectively pumps 220 gph, at full force normally, and drop it way down to 50 gph if I get and parasite outbreak in the tank.

My other question is am I ok running the uv 9 hours a day (putting it on the same timer as my lights) for normal conditions? Obviously if I have a sick tank its going on full time but for just a normal day is that a good plan to save on electricity and replacement bulbs? Thanks to everyone again for the help, everything is starting to make sense.