# SunSun Built in UV- Community Feedback



## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

I would like to gather as much feedback from people who have experience with SunSun canister filters with the built in UV bulbs. I have two of these canisters (303B on a 55G and 702B on a 29 G). 

I have 3 main questions (and some sub-questions :wink2:

1- For everyone who has a SunSun filter with UV, do you use the UV function? How long/ often? Why do you use it? Do you think it is effective?

2- Has anyone had issues with running their UV light and it destroying the plastic media trays, media, etc.? 

If yes, what was the frequency/ duration/ stats on how you were running the UV, and what model?

3- Has anyone modified their trays to accept a PVC pipe around the UV bulb to shield and prevent failure? 

The overall intent is to learn from each other, and help us avoid a 'possible' catastrophic failure. 

Note: This is not my picture, it is from a YouTube video that can be found at this link


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

Does the UV light go in a quartz sleeve with these filters? If it doesn't then yes it's going to destroy the filter slowly but surely.

Ed. Scratch that it's just all plastic. There is a reason why a quality UV unit from Pentair or AquaUV have the bulbs encased in a quartz sleeve. The quartz is used to protect the casing from being destroyed by UV.


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

So much bad information on the comments section in that video as well. For starters:

UV units are meant to run 24/7. The turning on and off of the bulb kills it prematurely. This is why AquaUV and Pentair units start at $200 for a cheap one. It's not because they can but because the UV bulb needs to be encased in quartz to protect the outer casing. Call up Pentair or Aqua UV to confirm but in the instructions it will even say to run the unit 24/7 only.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I use the Sunsun 304B and it does have the UV. I did not buy for the UV as I rarely have green water but suddenly I did need something and turned the UV on for a few days and it worked magic!! But I turned it off after a few days and getting the tank right. Would it bother the plastic if left on? Don't know but sometimes it seems for others. Is the "glass" around it quartz? I'm not at all sure I can tell the difference between quartz and glass. Not sure of the value of U-tube evidence as some folks can and do screw up the anvil!
Millions of users and a few have trouble to make a video? I would need more and more reliable evidence before deciding. 
I would go for only using it when needed and running less risk of longer term use being a hazard. If one were needing to repair the tray, I would want to use something much easier to fit and longer lasting like thin metal like flashing as it is easy to work, cheap and much more durable. All one needs is a thin shield to keep the uv off the plastic. PVC would seem too thick and too hard to work. Flashing cuts with scissors and glues well .


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

PlantedRich said:


> I use the Sunsun 304B and it does have the UV. I did not buy for the UV as I rarely have green water but suddenly I did need something and turned the UV on for a few days and it worked magic!! But I turned it off after a few days and getting the tank right. Would it bother the plastic if left on? Don't know but sometimes it seems for others. Is the "glass" around it quartz? I'm not at all sure I can tell the difference between quartz and glass. Not sure of the value of U-tube evidence as some folks can and do screw up the anvil!
> Millions of users and a few have trouble to make a video? I would need more and more reliable evidence before deciding.
> I would go for only using it when needed and running less risk of longer term use being a hazard. If one were needing to repair the tray, I would want to use something much easier to fit and longer lasting like thin metal like flashing as it is easy to work, cheap and much more durable. All one needs is a thin shield to keep the uv off the plastic. PVC would seem too thick and too hard to work. Flashing cuts with scissors and glues well .


It's kind of irrelevant when UV units are designed to run 24/7. Look at the systems in aquariums and reservoirs and they all run 24/7. If you can't run the UV 24/7 on whatever it is that you bought then it's not designed to spec. Putting PVC over it will destroy it eventually as well. At the end of the day if the bulb is not encased in quartz the canister filter is going to fail and leak eventually guaranteed.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

sorry, you got it a bit backwards I think.. quartz glass is used to allow max. UV out...










stainless steel chamber..
https://www.servapure.com/Viqua-S2Q-PV-Vending-UV-System-3-GPM_p_8918.html


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## gus6464 (Dec 19, 2011)

jeffkrol said:


> sorry, you got it a bit backwards I think.. quartz glass is used to allow max. UV out...


That makes no sense though. The casing on an Aqua UV is made of plastic. Long-term UV exposure destroys plastics. Fiberglass is more resistant which is why pool filters and such are made of fiberglass. Double ended MH fixtures require a quartz splash guard to protect from UV.


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

Around the sunsun bulb there is some sort of glass, not sure what it is made of though. But the water flows around that casing, so the UV would need to escape the 'glass' casing to have any benefit. And absolutely contact the thin, plastic baskets.



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## Letsfish (Jul 11, 2017)

I have a Vecton 600 on my 55 -Gallon and it runs 24/7.The bulb sets inside of a quartz tube.


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

It looks like the tube around the UV bulb in the sunsun canisters may be quartz?

But quartz let's UV through, right? I mean the point it to clean the water, and the water flows around the outside of this.

Aquarium Pumps & Filters GLASS TUBE UV QUARTZ SLEEVE SUNSUN SUPER HW-303B HW-402B CANISTER https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9D2XPZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_fNZaBbJP243F5

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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I have read lots of posts here and there but I feel there is a good chance that many of the stories may be from people who jump to wrong conclusions. 
My guess is that the design is okay but the user doesn't get it right when they mod the design. Several of the online pictures look more like heat damage than UV degrading the plastic. I see heat melting plastic while UV degrades it and creates cracking. So how about the theory of adding too much media that blocks the water flow around the UV glass so that heat collects and melts the plastic. 
We have two ideas/possible problems to look over. One is the designer is an idiot and doesn't understand UV but builds a UV system anyway or number two is that there are users who don't think through their changes fully and screw up the design. 
Thinking over the number of major design errors versus the number of novice users who screw up, I'm betting on the second being the more common cause. 
Looking at the picture above, I see a pretty thick looking mat of some type with added scrubbies that may really kill flow and killing the flow may overheat the plastic near the bulb. 
So maybe the OP needs to add another question to the survey. If you have damage on the filter, did you use the media as provided or did you DIY a substitute media?


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

PlantedRich said:


> I have read lots of posts here and there but I feel there is a good chance that many of the stories may be from people who jump to wrong conclusions.
> My guess is that the design is okay but the user doesn't get it right when they mod the design. Several of the online pictures look more like heat damage than UV degrading the plastic. I see heat melting plastic while UV degrades it and creates cracking. So how about the theory of adding too much media that blocks the water flow around the UV glass so that heat collects and melts the plastic.
> We have two ideas/possible problems to look over. One is the designer is an idiot and doesn't understand UV but builds a UV system anyway or number two is that there are users who don't think through their changes fully and screw up the design.
> Thinking over the number of major design errors versus the number of novice users who screw up, I'm betting on the second being the more common cause.
> ...


If heat was the problem, that much heat would kill any BB living in the canister. The canister would have to be completely plugged up.

That said, on my 302b, its difficult to get the trays to line up, and water can bypass the down tube and miss the lower trays unless the tubes are carefully manipulated into place on reassembly.

Also, I've been using a 302b for past 1.5 years, and have a 304b ready for my next tank, but the black plastic parts are very fragile. The 302b is on its last leg because the black plastic that the hoses clamp onto has mostly broken away.

I think the problem with SunSun is that it looks like a good design, but cheap materials and poor tolerances let down what could be a much better product. I think it fits a market, but also there are much better products.

BTW, I suggested PVC in another thread as a way to fix broken trays; wasn't aware of anyone who had done it.


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

ChrisX said:


> That said, on my 302b, its difficult to get the trays to line up, and water can bypass the down tube and miss the lower trays unless the tubes are carefully manipulated into place on reassembly.


I have the same issue. It was so bad that I actually bought a pre filter 603b, to do all the mechanical filtration so that clean water entered the canister. That way only bio/ chemical are in the canister and keep my media free of detritus. 

Doing more reading on UV, will likely post thoughts again later. 

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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I had a 303b with stock media. UV stopped working after about 2 weeks and the clear casing around the UV bulb got broken. Nothing got melted. Did I break it? Don't know but I did not drop it on the floor. I replaced sunsun with another brand within a month.

If I understand how UV sterilization works, then a minimum dwell time is needed for UV to kill anything. Given sunsun's rated gph, I question whether that contact time is achieved.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I also had serious doubt about the dwell time being long enough to do the job. But I also have a different view of the process as I thought it was not designed to kill but to change the buggers so that they no longer multiply! But that really isn't the bigger question to me. I was a doubter until I did have green water, put the UV on for a day and it was gone, turned it off and the green came back almost immediately so I turned the UV on again and left it for a couple days and then the green was gone for the duration of that tank. If it had been a single occasion thing, I would have said it might be just lucky timing but when it cleared it twice, I had to say it was working. 
At the time I bought that filter, I knew the tank setup would be not more than two years so I did want an cheap upfront price! When it sets in the closet, it really doesn't matter how good or bad?


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

OVT said:


> If I understand how UV sterilization works, then a minimum dwell time is needed for UV to kill anything. Given sunsun's rated gph, I question whether that contact time is achieved.


So from what I have read that is spot on. With the 303B I have, 9w UV can do bacteria (reduced flow due to media and reactor), but struggles with algae (alegedly). If I really want to blast the tank from anything I would need the 36w, which would be something like a coralife. Here are the stats they post.











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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Been using Sunsun canisters for a few years and currently have two 304B and one 704B.

These days I only run the UVs for 24-48 hours after a big trim/move, or anytime Ive disturbed the substrate very much. 

For the first couple of years I ran them 24/7, never saw anything like in the video. I believe that guy has a different set of problems.

How strong is the UV? They're strong enough to knock out a bad green water bloom in just a few days. Other than knowing that I have no idea, but I like the option of having it.

Besides having a strong flow rate, being dead silent and easy to start/stop, the built in surface skimmer is the main draw for me. That's a great feature. 

Yes the filters in general are rather cheaply made. You have treat them like a delicate piece of equipment. Cant be jerking them apart or forcing things back together. Slow and deliberate is the way to go.

Ive had several over the years, probably one out of five turned out to be a dud and failed in some way after about a year. For the price though, I dont even care, just buy a new one and have a set of spare parts.

The pipes alone are damn near worth the cost. Not just for the skimmer, I like the black color, the narrow throats, and that you can aim the outflow any way you want it (if you use both elbows) I use Sunsun pipes on all my canisters.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Grobbins48 said:


> I have the same issue. It was so bad that I actually bought a pre filter 603b, to do all the mechanical filtration so that clean water entered the canister. That way only bio/ chemical are in the canister and keep my media free of detritus.
> 
> Doing more reading on UV, will likely post thoughts again later.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk


What I've been doing, is using the stick end of a glass cleaner to make sure all the tubes line up. I will rotate it around and drag it up the side of the shaft to make sure there isn't a loud click.. that would mean the tubes are not mated.

They are really not suited to heavy ceramic bio material as that causes the trays to flex and the tubes to become misaligned. Trays are only half full, but it still has more than enough bio.


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

So good feedback so far, and increasing the sample size with experienced users. 
@burr740 you are spot on with the build and functionality of the filters. Also, the fact that they are fragile and you need to be delicate. Many times I have flooded the head unit improperly removing thebquock disconnects, but that is in another post.

And it did knock out a bad green water bloom rather quickly. 

I would love to keep getting more feedback as to people experiences with these. Also, to continue the practacility of what they do. I figure I can knock out bacteria and green water, but won't be touching any parasites with 9w...

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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

@ChrisX I tossed the stock media. Well almost all of it. The very bottom has the ceramic rings below the trays, but it is not being used as bio media, it's more to diffuse the flow across the basket. I use MarinePure 1.5" ball media, 2L of it, and another 2L of seachem matrix. Gives me insane amount of bio filter, and also helps me if I need to start something new. 

I just recently set the 702 up on my 29, and I grabbed some of the cycles media from my 303 and places it in the 702, and then some new media to both.

Anyways, that is a good idea for making sure things are lined up, and I'll still want them in line, so next time I'm in the canister I'll be sure to check that alignment. It made me so frustrated to have such good media covered in muck before I got the 603 prefilter. 

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