UV Sterilizer

[cgrabe]

Originally posted by got_nailed
IMO it is best to only run ½ of the filtered water through the UV unit.

Why is that?

 

[got_nailed]

UV lights will kill everything that passes through them. There is an argument about how UV filtration can kill too much of the water born good bacteria.

I think I should point you to an older thread to read.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28147

 

[Auren]

I am curious about IV light, I once read that common UV sterilizers are just good enough for green algea, and that the ones that kill harmful stuff requiere more Watts. Does anyone habe info on this??

 

[JSchmidt]

I think you're correct. I had a mycobacterial infection in a tank that caused me to get a UV unit, and I thought that most pathogens required somewhere on the order of 20 or 25 watts for efficacy. Even at that, you had to adjust the flow rate so the water was exposed to the UV light for enough time to scramble the DNA. Another thing, I don't believe UV kills bacteria; I think it just messes up the DNA enough to prevent replication. (Microbiologists, jump in and correct me if I'm wrong here!)

Jim