Green Killing Machine Internal 9 Watt UV Sterilizer

[brothergc]

well I just got a Green Killing Machine Internal 9 Watt UV Sterilizer by aa aquarium . So I thought I would post on it .
I got interested in it as I was having cloudy water and I am in the middle of a ich heat treatment . Wanted to see if what I read about these were true .
Unit was bought at my local Petco , not a bad price 50 USD , the usit was easy to install , and a clever design . A all in one uv /pump in a small footprint . The only thing I do not like is the unit has a control box separate from the unit , and it has 4 suction feet . No matter where I try to stick it t, in 5 min the thing fall off . Other then that it is working fine , just a gentle water flow . ( I read you don't want fast flow on these ? )
I have this mounted inside a 20 gal long setup . My question is how effective is it going to be killing free floating ICH ? Right now all my fish have no indication of ICH as heat has been set to 86 Deg F for a week My German blue and cardinals seen active and healthy , no visable spots. is 9 watts enough ?

 

[coralbandit]

It is not only the watts that kill.
Strength is determined by light power[watts] and flow of water called exposure time.
The slower the water flows through the light chamber the stronger the uv rays are on the bacteria . So the slow flow is a good thing IMO.
I ran the same unit for over a year before deciding I didn't need it.The replacements are easy to use. Most UV lights useful spectrum last 6-12 months .Turning them on and off shortens the life span.

 

[brothergc]

It is not only the watts that kill.
Strength is determined by light power[watts] and flow of water called exposure time.
The slower the water flows through the light chamber the stronger the uv rays are on the bacteria . So the slow flow is a good thing IMO.
I ran the same unit for over a year before deciding I didn't need it.The replacements are easy to use. Most UV lights useful spectrum last 6-12 months .Turning them on and off shortens the life span.

ok cool ! good info and I appreciate it .
I am seeing clearer water , fish seem more active . I give it a few weeks and see what happens hoping I can get rid of any free swimming ICH

 

[coralbandit]

It will possibly kill free floating ich. But one should consider ich is only free swimming a short period of its life.The same time it is easily killed with a simple med.Most articles on UV and ich say it is of no use [most addressing reefs] but on the equipment side of curing ich they say the old school diatom filters really work.But they are not that easy....

 

[brothergc]

It will possibly kill free floating ich. But one should consider ich is only free swimming a short period of its life.The same time it is easily killed with a simple med.Most articles on UV and ich say it is of no use [most addressing reefs] but on the equipment side of curing ich they say the old school diatom filters really work.But they are not that easy....

thanks , I do understand that we will see what happens so far so good , I lowered temp from 86 to 80 as fish were being stressed especially the tetras . meds probably would not go well with my nerite snails . I been down this road heat in the past was best . I be keeping a close eye on all fish

 

[kashif314]

Why you keeping your temps so high?

 

[Bert2oo1]

Why you keeping your temps so high?

High temp kills the ich, you lower it back down once it’s cured. Those green machines are ment to be the bees knees when it comes to green water. Worth having even if it doesn’t work with the ich. No doubt you will encounter green water at some stage in the tanks life [emoji106]

 

[Dallascowboys16]

I've had that same model UV filter before and loved it. Really a great piece of equipment in my opinion.

 

[brothergc]

High temp kills the ich, you lower it back down once it’s cured. Those green machines are ment to be the bees knees when it comes to green water. Worth having even if it doesn’t work with the ich. No doubt you will encounter green water at some stage in the tanks life [emoji106]

could not agree more . Right now my water is crystal clear it fixed my cloudy water issue . I had some of that ugly brown stuff but now all gone !
So far no signs of any ick on my tetras and from my experience with tetras they seem real sensitive to the ICH . I be keeping a eye on it .