# UV Sterilizer: How Long?



## NyteBlade (Aug 19, 2006)

My 29 gallon has an evil green water problem. After no success with Seachem's Clarity at all, I went out to PetSmart and bought one of their cheapo UV 9W sterlizers with the powerhead for $30.

It's been running on there for about 12 hours without a huge noticeable difference. The little light on the ballast is on meaning the bulb is working, but I was just wondering how long it'll take before I notice a difference.

I'm planning on dumping some additional Purigen in there too to get it cleared. I cut back the light from 130 watts to 65 watts and now it's a complete blackout while the UV is running.


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## Stevie D (Jul 16, 2008)

That green killing machine has a low flow so i would imagine it is goin to take a few days for an improvement from what i have heard. So give it a week and it should be all cleared up. 

I bought one to help get rid of ich and it really made my water crystal clear. I ran it for 3 weeks. I've never had to deal with green water, but if i have to i know i can just throw that sterilizer in the tank and take care of it. It's great to be able to throw in any tank you have if you keep multiple tanks as apposed to having one plumed in which is only good for one tank. They don't need to be running all the time with a planted tank, although it won't hurt. It's important to clean out that blue sponge every few days as it will really reduce flow to almost nothing. 

Stevie D


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## twobunnyrabbit (Dec 12, 2002)

Hi,
With UV, it genereally takes 2-3 days depending on the size of your tank, rated UV and flow through the UV.
After 3 days, if the water still looks green or cloudy, add some floculant (eg. Crystal Clear) and your water will clear up.


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## Natty (Apr 2, 2008)

What I learned is that just because your light comes on doesn't mean the UV lamp is effective.

I got a lamp that seemed to work fine but after 3 days, green water was still there, so I replaced it with another and green was gone relatively fast.

Now I got cloudy water but its clearing up gradually.


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## NyteBlade (Aug 19, 2006)

I'm happy to report that the green water is completely gone, thanks to the 9W Green Killing Machine. While the $30 PetSmart UV sterilizer probably wouldn't even come close to my award for best UV sterilizer, the cheap little thing got the job done. :thumbsup:


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## Stevie D (Jul 16, 2008)

Good to know. Now it's not a bad idea to run that thing for a week every few months to really get your tanks nice and clear. It really makes the water sparkle. But you should do large water changes after you use it because i don't think it will remove the things it kills in the water, and the water change will help get rid of the very tiny particles. 

Stevie D


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## die2win (Aug 10, 2008)

I run an 6X18 watt Turbo twist inline with my Eheim 2215 8 hours a day in my breeder tank. Never a problem. The bulbs last about two years tops.:fish:


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## TheRac25 (Nov 5, 2008)

i used the 9w in a 75 took a little less than a week, left in for 1 week to be sure.


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## rpayer (Jun 9, 2008)

I try to run my petsmart cheapo for a few hours a day. I had a minor Ick issue about a week ago so it's been running pretty much non-stop. I bought it when I had a greenwater problem and it took about 4 days to completely clear it up. It keeps my water crystal clear now so that's all I'm worried about.


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