UV Sterilizers that have cheap replaceable bulbs for battling Dinos?

ihateSpirorbids · Feb 27, 2023

I'm looking to buy a UV sterilizer to help with my epic battle against nuisance algae and dinos. I know peeps here like the Aqua Ultraviolet brand, but that's just out of budget for me esp during this recession. My tank is also fairly small (40 gallons), and my living space has limited room, so I'm aiming for a sterilizer that will just go inside the tank.

I'm looking at the Green Killing Machine, but it looks like bulbs have a lifespan of maybe 6 months before needing replacement. Replacement bulbs are 30$ for the 9W sterilizer, which is basically half the cost of the entire sterilizer itself. That means 60$/year in on-going costs to maintain the sterilizer, and while that's relatively affordable, do you guys know if there are off-brand bulbs that are cheaper that will be compatible with the Green Killing Machine?

Or are there other UV sterilizers that have cheap replaceable bulbs and have worked well against dinos? I'm open to other sterilizers so long as it's within that pricepoint.

gbroadbridge · Feb 27, 2023

The green killing machine will do nothing for dino's.

Forget about bulbs, just save your money

Lbrdsoxfan · Feb 27, 2023

You can always use a cheap chinese brand uv light (sun sun, jebao, odyssey etc...) but caveat emptor. Some of the brands housings are cheap and you need to watch them closely with long term use (they tend to leak).

Good luck, NOTHING's cheap in this hobby.

Also as said above the GKM's uv light can work for some stuff, but I wouldn't rely on them for dino eradication. Also those bulbs last a year effectively like everything else, they are just expensive to replace compared to the price of the overall unit.

I'm old school with dino eradication, it's more work but better success. Reduce photoperiod (lights) or outright blackout, physical removal, bump up nutrients (which prolly caused it) and try maybe some different flavors of bottled bac.