UV Clarifier

[Davo]

Gday,

I am looking at buying a Hozelock UVC for my 420l planted dicus tank. I have looked around and it seems that UVC's are the same as UVS's, same lamp. Is that correct? They are alot cheaper than a quality UVS.

I spoke to Kev at SLS today and he said that a UVC will kill algae AND parasites if the water flow is slow enough through it.

Hozelock have several models but the ones that I am looking at are the Hozelock vorton 4500 and the 9000. I have 2 x Eheim filters on the tank, a 2228 (1100 ltr/hour) and a 2213 (450 ltr/hr). The 4500 has a 9w lamp and the recommended flow rate 2250 ltr/hr. The 9000 has an 11w lamp and the flow rate is 4500 ltr/hr. The price of the 4500 is $218 and the 9000 is $255.

I would run the 4500 on my 2213 or the 9000 on the 2228. The question is which one to buy? Will the higher wattage lamp kill more parasites etc than the lower wattage lamp?

Thanks,
Dave.

[parasite]

seen these http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/category51_1.htm

[Billy]

i recevied my UVS today from Age of Aquariums. I only bought the 6W model, just to see if it really makes any difference!!

If you got the budget i think u should buy a bigger one !! just a thought!!

[weird]

I got mine today to, it says that it only has approx 3000 hours usage, and you should only use it about 21 hours/week ... which to me is like 3 hours a day. In another post we were discussing using it 24/7 ... if we do that with the UV aqua pro filters ... it will not last more than 1/3 of a year !!

[Billy]

yea and what it said on the instruction is different to the box

the menu said that if your tank capacity is 100L then you should use a 100L/h pump ?? a bit slow dont you think??

Well what you PAY is what you GET !! :wink:

[Proteus]

Dave, I would be very cautious regarding those instructions. Would you only use your filters or heater for 3hrs a day??? I doubt it, same principle with the UVC...

[africandiscus]

I bought a turbo twist 18w from the U.S. I could not resist with the AUD being so strong. It cost me $180 to my door which an extra Philips 18w uv globe. It says on the box the globe will last 1.5 years at 24/7

I figured the price was right. I do not care about warranty. If it breaks down I will buy another one.

I have had it running for about 1.5 weeks and it is awesome. The water is crystal clear.

I will take a photo tonight and post it here.

Regarding the transformer I had heaps lying around. You could use the cheapest one you can lay your hands on (continuous). You are only powering a light.

[Billy]

Well, thats an excellent price

[africandiscus]

Sorry, fat fingers it was $210 which included insured UPS shipping.

It was $180 if you wanted regular shipping. I choose UPS

[Davo]

psx2doctor,

Where did you get the turbo twist from? Are you able to buy replacement lamps over here and do you know how much a cheap transformer cost?

Dave.

[africandiscus]

When I get home tonight I will PM you the details. it was a store in the US that sells them on ebay. They were awesome to deal with. They even gave me a refund on shipping because the UPS online quote was more expensive than the actual shipping. As far as repalcement bubs, I did not bother to find out if you can get locally. They are generic philips 18w uv bulbs. If for some reason you can not get them here I will just buy them from the US. It will be half the price anyway. Besides these bulbs last 1.5years. So when you buy it, buy 2 and you are good for 3 years. I bought 2, so I will worry about a replacement in 2.5 years time.

Transformers you can buy on ebay. I will put you in contact with a guy who is selling them for $20. These are up to 1500VA. The smallest one is a 100VA which is a massive overkill for any of these uv systems.

[Davo]

Thanks for the reply,

They sound good. How are you running it? Is it on the output of your filter or do you have a seperate pump? Also what size tank do you have?

Dave.

[africandiscus]

I will post a picture later. Connected to my canister filter on the return pipe into the tank.

My tank is a 250L (standard 5ft).

I see you considered the Hozelock. I did the same and actually bought one. The only problem I found is the cable. There is about 15m of cables. It is not designed for an aquarium but rather a pond where you need all that cable. I returned it and got the turbotwist.

[africandiscus]

By the way you only need one uv sterilizer. If you connect your 2213 to the uv sterlizer all parasites will be killed. The slower the flow the more effective the sterilizer

[Proteus]

psx, all you need to do is find a local friendly sparky, and they can reduce a 15m cable to whatever you want, for a few dollars and in a few minutes.

I have a German pond UV unit, and had the cable cut from 20m to 2m.

I am also under the impression you havent heard of the problems that you can have using a tranformer such as what you have got...

let me just say, many a house fire as been caused by a transformer ( they can get very hot, I have seen many totally meltdown) and you wouldnt want to ever get a power surge or RF spike, as you wont have any fish left afterwards (a massive voltage jolt is forced through the circuit, causing a nice little explosion).

I have mentioned it before in another post, and I say this from experience as well as basing my comments of fact. Using equipment such as you are is dangerous to the fish and yourself. Dont you think if it was that easy or safe, people would just bypass most electrical goods here, and go straight to the U.S.???, even with shipping on some large items you can save massive amounts.

I am over there 2-3 times a year, and have many friends and family living there, I have tried a lot of things as well, and guess what, none of them work now due to some electrical problem of some sort, either the unit itself, or a surge from the transformer fried the internals of it.

I wont bring this up again, but having an electrical engineer/electrician as a stepmonster... oops, StepDad I take his advice seriously.
Just remember, your UV unit is in contact with the water, and the fish are in the water, that is all I can stress.

BTW, the Turbo Twist units are very good... although for the 18w unit, even factoring shipping you could have saved even more $$$ (AU$158 with express shipping by DHL) :wink:

[africandiscus]

I have a mate who is an electrical engineer so I have done my research. All you are doing is powering a light, cant get easier

[Proteus]

...and if that light breaks, due to a surge which in turn rapidly (instantly) increases the core temperature of the light tube???

That is where the issue lies, yes it is just powering a light, but remember, the type of light you are dealing with... the transparent powders that are conatined within that tube = almost instant death to anything in the fish tank.

[africandiscus]

No worries, I have a good idea Proteus, dont buy one. People can do what they want to do. If you feel there is a risk then dont do it.

This discussion is pointless.

[Davo]

Proteus,

Where have you seen the 18w Turbo Twist for AU$158 inc shipping.

Dave.

[Proteus]

If it saves someone from the headache of what can, and over time is more and more likely to happen, then it is far from being pointless...

240v feed into a 110v piece of equipment, via a transformer which is designed for intermittent use, I would use logic and common sense.

I will leave it at that, and agree, yes, it is a democratic society that we live in, so do what you feel necessary.

Advice is free, but knowledge and experience is priceless.

[Proteus]

Dave, via a U.S. wholesaler (based in California)

The same place that I will be shopping at next Tuesday. (for non-electrical equipment)

[weird]

I will try out the AQUA Pro. Guess in a few months I will be able to provide a proper review. I might be a safe alternative or a piece of crap. Atleast it has been properly sized for Oz so no concerns of saftey there.

[Proteus]

Dave, it is not the size, it is the voltage and ampage.

I am yet to hear a poor review on the A Pros, other than they arent exactly the best looking unit around (some look like flying saucers - but hey, if they do the job... then that is all that matters)

[ctvu]

Dave, via a U.S. wholesaler (based in California)

The same place that I will be shopping at next Tuesday. (for non-electrical equipment)

Hi Proteus

It would be great if you could give us the web site for it. Thanks

[Proteus]

There is no website, it is for walk in customers only.

(they are a wholesaler which onsells to local stores, etc... they do sell small quantities to the public as well)

[africandiscus]

What are you looking to buy, you lucky man.

[Proteus]

spare parts... impellors, phosphate sponges, co2 bits and pieces (fittings, valves, etc)

basically just little bits and bits of stuff...

lol

[ctvu]

Hi Proteus

I don't get it, you said this is for walk in customer but before you also said that you will be shopping at next Tue, or perhaps you could be in Cali now. Actually I am interested in one of UV as well.
BTW what is the difference b/w clairifier and sterilizer?
Thanks

[Proteus]

Hi Proteus

I don't get it, you said this is for walk in customer but before you also said that you will be shopping at next Tue, or perhaps you could be in Cali now. Actually I am interested in one of UV as well.
BTW what is the difference b/w clairifier and sterilizer?
Thanks

OK, I am in Sydney Now, I will be in the U.S. in a couple of days time.

Difference between a UVC & a UVS... NONE... (there is a post in here somewhere explaining the different names) actually, there is a slight difference, and that is relating to the wattage of the tube. But to give you an idea of where things get confusing, is you will find UVS's on the market, that use the exact same tube as a UVC... The model I have (all the text is in German so I cant read it very well) has the same Philips tube in it that much more expensive UVS units have within them.

:?

[ctvu]

Thanks Proteus that's explaining things. Have a nice trip.

[Davo]

Does anybody own a Hozelock UVC or an Aqua UVS?

I am tossing up buying one or the other. The Hozelock are clarifiers and they are a fair bit cheaper but I have heard good things about the Aqua UVS's.

Dave.

[weird]

Dave I got the AQUA Pro hooked up last night to my new 3 foot tank, apart from being unsure what to do with 2 seals in the box, because they were not in the diagram (once you turn the water on , it became obvious ... haha ...) the installation was easy. The unit looks funky too ... I would show some picks but I dropped my digital camera earlier this week ... cr8p ! Anyway this is an inexpensive alternative.

[pyro]

the pro aqua bulbs might only last half as long ( mine been running for a year strong 24/7) but they are closeto half the price. No complaints from me

[nicholas76]

I just setup my UV steriliser. 15 watt aqua master lamp that is working with my new fluvol 404 filter

tank is a 4 x 18 x 18 . Sand base and thats it.

I will be running this 24 /7

I am also changing carbon every 2 weeks

my main objective is to see if i will have an improvement with fry survival and improvement within general fish growth and health

Ill update the site accordingly

NIck

[weird]

How did you connect the UV to the fluval ? I have it connected to my new fluval 204 to trial on my 3 ft tank. For connection of the uv to the ribbed tubing, I ended up using spare connectors that Hagel give you to connect the ribbed tubing to the outlet nozzel and also for the inlet pipe. I would show pics ... will get another camera soon ... not having one is frustrating me.

I am considering connecting this to my fluval 404 on my 4x2x2 foot tank ... still only running 1 cannister filter on this tank and this guy seems to be doing the trick but I am worried though that the flow on the 404 may be too fast for an UV filter unless you reduce the speed. Max speed 1300 lph.

[nicholas76]

How did you connect the UV to the fluval ? I have it connected to my new fluval 204 to trial on my 3 ft tank. For connection of the uv to the ribbed tubing, I ended up using spare connectors that Hagel give you to connect the ribbed tubing to the outlet nozzel and also for the inlet pipe. I would show pics ... will get another camera soon ... not having one is frustrating me.

I am considering connecting this to my fluval 404 on my 4x2x2 foot tank ... still only running 1 cannister filter on this tank and this guy seems to be doing the trick but I am worried though that the flow on the 404 may be too fast for an UV filter unless you reduce the speed. Max speed 1300 lph.

Hi,

I spent countless hours trying to work it out. The problem at hand is simple. The fluvol hose is ribbed therfore creating a 'tight seal' issue. No matter what i did it would leak. Tried plumbers tape, tried metal brackets all were no good.

I then replaced the fluvol hose with normal plastic hosing from the hardware store. That normal transparent stuff. It fitted nicely onto the fluvol and on to the Sterilser.

The picture shows how i have done this to outlet side of the sterilser. The inlet remains with the fluvol hosing. I have a very slow drip that i will fix shortly.

What I will be doing is getting the joining pieces ( fluvol ones ) and using that on the fluvol hoses to create the same tight seal. You can buy these from most good LFS


my UV sterilser is actually a pro aqua 15 watt model. Its large and is more than sufficent for a 4 x 4 x 18.

I was also told the fluvol 404 would blow my discus out of the water but the cannister has flow control and the best way to kill flow is to direct the water into a tank wall or cover it with a sponge.

HOWEVER! saying that it wasnt needed. Due to the large Uv cannister and the new pipe work I have lost a fair degree of pressure. Its now perfect for discus and it allows for good filtration and is slow enough to allow the UV light to work effectively.

(also for those looking for a new cannister , I cant believe how quite it is, i simply dont hear tha cannister at all )


I am using this tank for a breeder pair in due course! :)

Regards

NIck

[nicholas76]

tank

[weird]

What I will be doing is getting the joining pieces ( fluvol ones ) and using that on the fluvol hoses to create the same tight seal. You can buy these from most good LFS


I was lucky I had some joining pieces lying around so I could experiment. I was dismantling a fluval 104, from my 2 foot tank ... as I was transferring my baby discus into a 3 foot, with a 204. I love fluval cannister filters ... and if u get them online, they are not that much more expensive than other brands ...

we have the exact same uv sterilizer and canister filter, except for sizes ... I wish I posted my setup earlier ... camera went cr8p at about same time ... may have saved you setup time ... but hey I got my setup to flood because I did not put in the uv unit seals ... hehe ... so we have both had fun.

[nicholas76]

did you find the instruction manuel next to useless for the stereliser? i did!

a little info on the need to obtain additional plugs would have been of value lol


time to pull out the buckets and fix that hose lol