Needing advise re: UV sterilizer

Turtle Gurl

After going through a few bouts of green water (fish loved it - I hated it), I got this great idea to by a UVS. Purchased a Coralife Turbo-Twist 3x for great price. Oh yeah, the FW tank this is for is a 55-gallon heavily planted, moderately stocked community tank. Embarassing to admit this, but I'm using for filtration 3 (not 2) Hagen Aquaclear hang-on-the-back 50's (got them cheap, too). pH is a steady 7.0, nitrates <20 ppm, ammonia 0.0 ppm, phosphates - who knows? Why you ask? Because I use Seachem's Neutral Regulator pH 7.0, which removes chlorine, etc. Its ingredients and method of softening water by precipitating calcium and magnesium also just happens to completely throw off phosphate tests. But here's the kicker. I think I'll need to either buy a cannister filter in order to utilize the Turbo-Twist or sell the darn thing (never used) on Craig's List. For the life of me, I can't figure out how to get this UV to work with a hang-on-the back filter. The required pump is one of my Aquaclear 50 powerheads that I usually use with the quick-filter attachment (greatest invention since the bagel slicer). I've read everything that Coralife has on this gizmo and it's obvious that they assume I've been using UV's forever. Any recommendations out there? Bag the UV, bag the 3 Aquaclear filters and get a cannister filter? Live with the occasional outbreak of green water (turn out the lights, cut back on food, etc.). I perform weekly 25% water changes, removing with a razor blade all algae that grows on 3 sides of the tank. Enough of my rambling, let's hear from all of you more experienced aquarians that have been there, done that. In other words - HELP!

Jay

Hey Turtle Gurl

You are correct, the UV is designed to be used in line on the canister filter return hose or you can rig a submersed pump powerful enough to push water out of the tank through a hose to the UV and back into the tank.

A diatom filter will also clear green water quickly, but another hundred
bucks

I am sure you know that green water is a bloom of algae and or photo organisms feeding in the water column. You need to figure out where the nutrients are coming from and cut back. Flake food is a major contributor.

I would do a series of 50 - 75% water changes and cut back on the light for a few days...vacuum really well each time. You say you are heavily planted, do you have a fert routine?

Why are you using the neutral regulator? If it precipitates out Calcium and Magnesium (GH) and other mineral salts are you replenishing them with a trace mixture for your plants.

Algae are opportunistic and as you mentioned scraping the glass for soft green algae frequently you may have a nutrient imbalance, which for a heavily planted tank usually triggers algae blooms of some kind.

Oh..I saw a submersible self contained UV filter on the Marine Depot site, no plumbing, pumps, hoses needed I do not know how well it works.

Regards,
Jay

BJP

I've taken the output side of Hagens powerheads and in a very ugly manner showed large clear tubing over them at the hardware store (dragged stuff across the street and dripped on their floors dozens of times over the years trying to get projects going quickly) then by matching other size tubings outside diameter to the inside diameter of the first piece of tubing, run an ungly loop up out of the tank to UVs.

Keep in mind that any pump, powerhead or cannister should not have a flow rate in excess of the UV's operating range or the water passes through too quickly for the light to serve any benefit. In fact the slower it passes through the more it can accomplish in terms of killing stuff other than just algae. If your flow is too high you might have to T off the output sending only a portion to the UV and the rest back to the tank bypassing the UV.

If you do go with a cannister and the UV is the inline style you could always exist through a submerged spraybar to help your CO2 levels now or in the future if you ever add CO2 to the mix.

dbrowning

I have also used neutral regulator in my tank. I bet your phosphates are high. Neutral Regulator is a "phosphate buffer". I would not use it anymore and get a po4 test kit.

Jay

I can think of a lot of reasons to stay away from pH altering chemicals, but PO4 does not cause algae blooms in a planted tank, it is just the opposite.

TurtleGurl is going to have to look elsewhere for the source of nutrients holding up the bloom.

Regards,
Jay

BJP

Too much potassium can.



It may or may not be a place to look here but the only time I've ever managed to achieve green water without the assistance of direct sunlight was a few days after I spilled too much of Seachems Potassium in a tank. I try to be careful now and make all chemical additions to a seperate small container first instead of trying to juggle measuring spoons, bottles and such with wet hands over a tank.

Goldie Lox

Last week I installed a new Eheim Ecco 2234 (for up to 60 gallon tanks), so that I can eventually install the Turbo Twist. I love the ease of use and quiet operation of the Eheim. I am still running two Aquaclear 50's, and will wean off them one at a time in order to get the Eheim cycled properly. Stopped using Seachem's Neutral Regulator, switching to AmQuel+. I think I went overboard, however by installing Hagen's ladder CO2 system, using my own yeast/sugar/baking soda formula. Overboard, you ask? Too many changes all at the same time! Now not only is my pH down to 6.4 from 7.0, but my KH is 3 dKH. Fish seem fine so far. Since I was running the CO2 24/7, I pulled the plug tonight at midnight, turned my aerator back on, and will check values in the morning. Plants are still algae-covered (oto's are lovin' that). I have yanked more plants than I can count because they get so ugly with algae (not the hair or thread type, just black) that I replace a lot of them at least once a month. The algae problem is the only one I really have. The liquid ferts I use (and this may be the problem) is Flourish, Flourish Excel, Leaf Zone, and once every couple of month the Flourish tabs. I think I'm missing something. What will prevent algae from clinging to all my plants? The UV sterilizer will only kill free-floating algae, which I haven't had in quite some time. I did a 50% water change a about 4 days ago, and the algae problem still exists. Desperately seeking advise on ridding my plants of algae. Help...... and thank you all for your valued opinions and advise. It's great to have "fishianatos" to turn to, since none of my friends have aquariums.

Jay

Hey Goldie...

Your KH of 3 DKH is just fine and a pH of 6.4 down from 7 with some CO2 added is also no problem.

There is a thread going on now in the planted aquarium sub forum concerning a lot of your issues. "The Batman Algae thread". You may want to subscribe.

Regards,
Jay