UV Sterilizer, before & after (232KB in pics)

[superjohnny]

Based on some advice I got around here I ordered a Custom Sealife Double Helix 9w UV sterilizer from Big Al's. It has had a dramatic affect on my tank.

Here is a before pic:
http://www.johnnyanddana.com/images/Tank/pre_uv_tank.jpg

Here is a pic of what it looks like setup behind my tank. This was no easy task, let me assure you. I had to get behind the tank to set it all up and it was a real PITA anyway...

http://www.johnnyanddana.com/images/Tank/uv.jpg

I did all this on Wednesday evening and not until I was editing this photo's size did I notice the leak. I'll have to fix that this weekend.

Here is the tank as of this afternoon. It's a little hazy because I just added calcium carbonate, but you get the idea.

http://www.johnnyanddana.com/images/Tank/post_uv_tank.jpg

I'm getting a bit of melting from a few of my plants... probablly because of a lack of some nutrient. I'm dosing

[brianfl]

They do make a world of difference. I have them on my big tanks. Haven't had any problem with algae or sick fish and the water is so clear.

[superjohnny]

I just bought another anubius nana, anubias coffeefolia, anubias frazeri & a HUGE amazon sword with like 6 or 7 little one's ready to clip & plant.

I have spent ~$100 just in plants in this tank in the last month. Plus the ~$100 for the UV sterilizer. Who said this hobby was cheap? :rolleyes:

My tank's gonna look GOOD though :cool:

edit> My wife has been really cool about this though, I have to give her some credit for her patience...

[NJ Devils Fan]

Wow, thats amazing. How long do you keep it running for? Some people say that they only run theirs for a few hours a day or something like that, but I run mine 24/7.

[brianfl]

Mine run 24/7. Defnitely not a cheap hobby. I just built two ponds for my back yard, a 1200 gal and 3300 gal. I think the final $$$ is going to around $3000. Will keep goldies in the small and tropicals in the large.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Originally posted by brianfl
Defnitely not a cheap hobby.

I found that out the hard way, I think everyone does. ;)

[125gJoe]

Nice aquarium! What is the calcium carbonate for? And, how much per gallon?

UV S's work.


Thanks...

[superjohnny]

Oh man those pictures look so old. I'll get an updated photo out tonight hopefully. Got a new camera so I'm in need of subjects anyway :) I think I will be changing the theme of my tank to West African so there will be a lot of Anubias to come. I'm waiting on my bonus at work to buy some A. Gigantea, more Bartari, Coffeefolia, Congensis and maybe another Frazeri. They are slooooow growers though.

Calcium Carbonate raises the GH/KH. Portland, Or. has really soft tap water so when I originally added CO2 my pH crashed. Lesson learned. Now I add about a quarter teaspoon after each water change. It takes my KH to around 40ppm which is a nice buffer. Only downside is that it makes the water white for about an hour. This weekend I bought some crushed coral so I'm going to try that and see how it goes.

The UV sterilizer worked like a charm. Cleaned the water over-night... literally. As my plants grew in I found it unnecessary though and have since turned it off. I get a small amount of green algae on the glass, but nothing I can't take off easily with a paper towel weekly.

The key to killing algae is balancing fertilizer, light & CO2. It's a tough balance, but once worked out gives great results.

For my mini I have lost a lot of guppies... something like 5 or 6 now. They just don't seem to live in there. I got two pair of endles livebearers this weekend so hopefully they'll do a bit better. I'll have updated pics of that as well :)

Thanks for the interest Joe :)

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by 80gJoe
Nice aquarium! UV S's work......

I had to do it....(..post again on this..) LOL
UV S's do bring up the cost a little - but, for "better" water - it's worth it!



:)