WOW UV Sterilizers

Reef2Land · May 29, 2019

I've NEVER run UV Sterilizers in the shop because there's so much debate on whether they work or not. I have a 175-gallon aquarium about that's about 2 years old and was overrun with bryopsis, Ulva, and bubble algae. I finally decided to break down and got a Rainbow Lifegard 55 Watt Pro Max UV Sterilizer. The flow through these things is awesome. A month after I installed it and there's not a single bit of algae anywhere in this tank. I've had a few mornings where I look in the tank and just assume everything is dead because I used algae to gauge how this aquarium was for so long LOL Like the algae is gone and I started testing all the water parameters because I assumed something got in the tank that killed off all the algae. I am 100% for sure adding UV sterilizer to every tank I have. They absolutely work and nothing has returned.

DLHDesign · May 29, 2019

I'm looking forward to enjoying the benefits of mine once I get past the obligatory "ugly phase" of the cycle.

Phil D. · May 29, 2019

UV's work! Before I got into saltwater, I had a 60 gallon freshwater planted tank with Discus. I lost 2 before I put the UV, after that the 4 I got I had for 6 years before selling them. They started out 2" in diameter and when I sold them they were 6" in diameter!!

Phil D. · May 29, 2019

PS, the only bad thing about using UV on saltwater is they can kill off the pod population in their journey from your sump to the DT.

Mike.P · May 30, 2019

Phil D. said:
PS, the only bad thing about using UV on saltwater is they can kill off the pod population in their journey from your sump to the DT.

It all depends on how you install it... Mine isn't set up yet, but I'm going to have its pump in the skimmer chamber, so water will go through the sterilizer, then into the refugium, and then out into the return chamber. I know some pods will always end up in it anyway, but doing it this way should avoid most of the devastation. lol

Mike.P · May 30, 2019

P.S. - Yes, they absolutely work... The key is getting a properly sized one, and giving it slow enough flow, in order for the necessary contact time to take place.

xionggotstyle · Apr 2, 2020

Need an update on this unit? So what flow rates are you running this unit on? And long term update on the unit???

DanConnor · Apr 2, 2020

Reef2Land said:
I've NEVER run UV Sterilizers in the shop because there's so much debate on whether they work or not. I have a 175-gallon aquarium about that's about 2 years old and was overrun with bryopsis, Ulva, and bubble algae. I finally decided to break down and got a Rainbow Lifegard 55 Watt Pro Max UV Sterilizer. The flow through these things is awesome. A month after I installed it and there's not a single bit of algae anywhere in this tank. I've had a few mornings where I look in the tank and just assume everything is dead because I used algae to gauge how this aquarium was for so long LOL Like the algae is gone and I started testing all the water parameters because I assumed something got in the tank that killed off all the algae. I am 100% for sure adding UV sterilizer to every tank I have. They absolutely work and nothing has returned.

Correlation, or causation? UVs are great for dinos, but I don't see any reason why they would work for your algae. Were there other things you did in that month?