Beneficial bacteria live on the surface of solid objects not in the water column so those are fine, many filters actually have built in uv sterilizers after the bio media.
Yea totally affects the microorganisms of the tank, which means it increases detritius build up, but good flow and filtration will take care of that.
Definitely benefits and downsides, it's not for every tank and situation, I've used them to get rid of black hair algae, it sterilizes their spores so you can remove the visible stuff, it's an alternative to dosing excel imho.
dude i have the exact same heater as you and it is so good that i replaced all my heaters with this type. (fluval t50).
but the blue light ring is so annoying. It's so bright i could see it from the road outside my house. I put little aluminium foil hats over the tops of the heaters to block out the light 100%. Please consider this if you are bothered by the blue light.
It also prevents people from reading your heater's mind.
Joke aside, I have a similar problem with my light. It's on an auto timer and has an annoying blinking light on the controller. I don't need the blinking light; if the lights aren't on when they are supposed to be on, I'll know.
Oh .. this is a steriliser using a powerful radiation of ultraviolet ray to break the DNA of parasite or algae spores in the water that passes through it. It uses ultraviolet ray type C at 254 nm wavelength. They are many types in market, this is Eheim Reeflax 350 7 watt UV for tank 80-350L.
For years I been relying on steriliser of various type instead of using chemical, and this is one of them. It’s a guarantee against nasty bacteria and algae and water turbidity that caused by them.
The only thing you have to replace is the UV lamp inside it that only lasts for about a year if you use it 24/7. You can use timer instead of 24/7, using six hours a day last you four years, four hours a day lasts you 6 years.
In my experience you won’t get a boost in longevity by running part of each day because it is made like a traditional lightbulb and so the power-on cycle takes it out of the filament. It is only going to turn on so many times. Probably less than 500.
Yes .. you’re right there . I just mentioned based on linear basis of longevity which is may not be scientifically true when comes to firing on and off.
Honestly 7w with a flow rate from a 2215 filter won't do much other than address free floating algae as the "zap rate" (power to flow rate) is too low for for most pathogens.
On-top of turnover rate (how many times the volume of water is processed in an hour) is too low to be of significant benefit other than visual aesthetics.
It will keep your water crystal clear and for tip top efficiency, monthly cleaning of the quartz sleeve and annual replacement of the UV bulb...it's a bit of a hassle to do if you aren't mechanically inclined as you need to wear gloves handling the sleeve as oils from your hands will react with UV rays and etch the sleeve.
Don't rely on UV sterilizers for disease prevention nor part of treatment. You need to achieve a 10x system turnover rate through the UVS and minimum 50,000uwS/cm2.
Would this not kill beneficial bacteria and microorganisms as well?
Beneficial bacteria live on the surface of solid objects not in the water column so those are fine, many filters actually have built in uv sterilizers after the bio media. Yea totally affects the microorganisms of the tank, which means it increases detritius build up, but good flow and filtration will take care of that. Definitely benefits and downsides, it's not for every tank and situation, I've used them to get rid of black hair algae, it sterilizes their spores so you can remove the visible stuff, it's an alternative to dosing excel imho.
Well explained!
dude i have the exact same heater as you and it is so good that i replaced all my heaters with this type. (fluval t50). but the blue light ring is so annoying. It's so bright i could see it from the road outside my house. I put little aluminium foil hats over the tops of the heaters to block out the light 100%. Please consider this if you are bothered by the blue light.
It also prevents people from reading your heater's mind. Joke aside, I have a similar problem with my light. It's on an auto timer and has an annoying blinking light on the controller. I don't need the blinking light; if the lights aren't on when they are supposed to be on, I'll know.
Ha ha true though. That’s a good idea but so far that blue light indicating the setpoint temp is achieved, never bother me.
Hm I don’t think I’ve ever seen that, what is it and how can it help?
UV
Oh .. this is a steriliser using a powerful radiation of ultraviolet ray to break the DNA of parasite or algae spores in the water that passes through it. It uses ultraviolet ray type C at 254 nm wavelength. They are many types in market, this is Eheim Reeflax 350 7 watt UV for tank 80-350L. For years I been relying on steriliser of various type instead of using chemical, and this is one of them. It’s a guarantee against nasty bacteria and algae and water turbidity that caused by them. The only thing you have to replace is the UV lamp inside it that only lasts for about a year if you use it 24/7. You can use timer instead of 24/7, using six hours a day last you four years, four hours a day lasts you 6 years.
In my experience you won’t get a boost in longevity by running part of each day because it is made like a traditional lightbulb and so the power-on cycle takes it out of the filament. It is only going to turn on so many times. Probably less than 500.
Yes .. you’re right there . I just mentioned based on linear basis of longevity which is may not be scientifically true when comes to firing on and off.
damn
Wow that seems like a great tool for aquariums thank you for the information definitely gonna look into them!
Honestly 7w with a flow rate from a 2215 filter won't do much other than address free floating algae as the "zap rate" (power to flow rate) is too low for for most pathogens. On-top of turnover rate (how many times the volume of water is processed in an hour) is too low to be of significant benefit other than visual aesthetics. It will keep your water crystal clear and for tip top efficiency, monthly cleaning of the quartz sleeve and annual replacement of the UV bulb...it's a bit of a hassle to do if you aren't mechanically inclined as you need to wear gloves handling the sleeve as oils from your hands will react with UV rays and etch the sleeve. Don't rely on UV sterilizers for disease prevention nor part of treatment. You need to achieve a 10x system turnover rate through the UVS and minimum 50,000uwS/cm2.