Anyone DIY a UV sterilizer?

[rolibr24]

We use a lot of UV at work so I have access to UV lights, and ballasts. So I was contemplating as to whether or not to build my own UV sterilizer or not.

We use 75w bulbs that have this type of end.

About 24" long.

I was thinking of making a box for the light to sit in and then have a surrounding box with the water flow. My main concern is the type of material to build this out of and what type of fittings?

I considered glass, but I would be concerned with the silicone that I would seal the glass with deteriorating. I also considered acrylic, but I am unsure of what type to use.

Has anyone made their own sterilizer? If so what did you use and how did you go about the project?

 

[bblumberg]

I haven't made a UV sterilizer, but have and have had quite a few. If you are going to separate the lights from the water with a sleeve (as you should), then it needs to be quartz. Otherwise, the UVC (200-280 nm) germicidal wavelengths (mostly 254 nm) will not pass through the glass.

 

[Reef-junky]

A lot people don’t use one to begin with.

 

[Cory]

You could just put one of those over a special aquarium refugium with an open top and just paint the sides black and put a cover over it so you dont blind yourself. Then plumb in bulkheads and run tank water.

 

[Barnabie Mejia]

You could just put one of those over a special aquarium refugium with an open top and just paint the sides black and put a cover over it so you dont blind yourself. Then plumb in bulkheads and run tank water.

I was thinking this with a 10g or 20L with bulkheads low in the tank and some gate valves to control the water level. maybe 1 bulkhead on the supply side and 2-3 on the exit side? then building a black acrylic hood with mounting for the light.

In my head the low water level would have better contact time to the UV light production. and if you needed less contact time you could increase the flow in the tank by opening the gate valve and allowing more water to pass through.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

You could just put one of those over a special aquarium refugium with an open top and just paint the sides black and put a cover over it so you dont blind yourself. Then plumb in bulkheads and run tank water.

I saw a FW tank a while back that did something like this. Made an aluminum shade similar to a DIY MH housing and just let the light blast straight down over most of the sump.