What are the Components of a UV System for Aquarium

What are the Components of a UV System for Aquarium?

What are the Components of a UV System for Aquarium?

UV stands for ultraviolet radiation. These are the radiations used for killing viruses, protozoa, and algae fungus and other harmful bacteria from the aquarium water.

A UV sterilizer makes the aquarium water fit for your fish health. It is extremely important to use in a tank once or twice a month depending upon the tank water situation.

In this article, our editors have explained all the details about the UV System for an Aquarium along with its benefits.

You can easily learn about the components of a UV system. It consists of just a few components; all of which coordinates in cleaning or sterilizing water from bacteria. It is recommended that you carefully install a UV System for your fish tank.

What are the Components of a UV System for Aquarium?

UV System is essential for your aquarium. It has some of the components in it whose description is given below for your information. First of all, there are four components of the ultraviolet system. these are;

UV Lamp 

The ultraviolet lamps have a particular wavelength that is known for its germicidal effects; that’s why it is called ultraviolet radiation.

Different lamps have different wavelengths according to their size and demand. High levels of Mercury extremely dangerous not, and not every bulb is for every fish aquarium.

But the mercury lamp is non-dangerous providing no harm to your fish and kill bacteria and other germs by emitting its radiations.

You can also change the UV lamp if you require high radiations in your fish tank. There are different kinds of lights available at online stores.

Like, the low-pressure ultraviolet lamp, which we consider as the standard one. The others are low pressure and high output lamps. The last category is of low-pressure amalgam lamps.

All of these lamps are for aquariums because of their safe levels of radiation. But still, these bulbs are not meant to run all day long.

Turn on the lamp for a particular time and then turn it off when you get the desirable results.

Quartz Sleeve 

It is a long cylindrical glass tube with quartz in it, which is purposeful to protect the UV lamp. The lamp is powered by electricity from the water flow rate.

You insert the lamp in this tube, and it emits its radiations in water after passing through this tube. This tube makes the radiation safe and bearable.

You should never allow the contaminants to stuck in this tube because it can decrease the efficiency of the bulb.

This tube should be clean every time whenever you change the bulb. It is quite a simple component but extremely important for the proper functioning of the ultraviolet lamp.

Control Unit 

A control unit is known as the brain of every electronic device. This system also contains the control unit.

This unit controls the electric output of the lamp and power to help reduce the UV light radiations. Some controllers are simple right under the complicated depending on the system brand.

These units also vary in their size and complexity, but their efficient working is the same. It also contains an alarm sound that keeps notifying you for the achievement of safe levels for cleaning.

Using cheaper and low-quality bulbs can lower the efficiency of the control unit. It is also responsible for the highest degree of disinfection performance.

You can even call the manufacturer if you think that you are not using the right lamp for the system. High quality of efficient working system clears the green water, which is visible clearly and also kills the harmful agents in fish tank water.

Reactor Chamber

This part of the system physically houses the UV lamp and sleeves. Not only this work, but it also controls the water flow rate throughout the system to keep it low.

It is mostly available in a stainless steel manufacturing material. There are different kinds of reactor chambers available.

These are the axial or boot-shaped chambers. These reactors come with ports in a variety of sizes, depending on the model brand.

No matter the chambers belong to any brand, they perform a similar function, though.

How to get maximum out of UV System for Your Fish Tank?

Some factors influenced the functioning of the ultraviolet system sterilizers.

Size of the Organisms 

Usually, the viruses and bacteria are tiny and invisible to the naked eye. But when sterilization comes for significant organisms like protozoa, there is a difficulty in sterilizing that water.

As you have read the killing ranges above, it clears that the protozoa require the highest amount of UV radiation for becoming dead.

Still, there are some of the bacteria which are highly resistant to UV radiation. They also require a high UV dosage.

After giving the sterilizing radiations, you can check out the quality of your fish tank water. If there is still a need, you can turn on the UV sterilizer for some more time.

Incomplete UV Light Penetration 

When there is an incomplete penetration because of the high impurity level in the water, the UV radiation will not correctly penetrate the water.

When there is no proper exposure of water to radiation, the microorganisms will not kill properly. There is another thing which is salinity, which affects the penetration power of emissions.

UV radiations penetrate in a better way in freshwater as compared to the saline water. You must have to take care of the thing that the lamp is not wrap up with a slimy layer or some impurities.

Because these things also affect the power of the bulb. The last thing is that the effectiveness also got hit by the distance of the lamp from water.

When the lamp is close to water, the exposure is more effective and vice versa.

Contact Time With Water 

When the bulb radiations stay more in contact with water, it kills the harmful bacteria more effectively.

If your aquarium water is not getting enough exposure to UV radiation, then the result will be according to the disclosure.

It is an actual and tricky technique with sterilizers. The method is to slow down the flow rate of water as low as possible.

Because slight movements of water increase the contact time with UV radiations, the long length of the bulb is also useful in giving the best exposure to ultra-violet radiation.

Temperature Effect

The temperature has a significant influence on the sterilizer effectiveness. The water temperature at about 104 – 110° centigrade is best to produce enough radiations to change the genetic makeup of microorganisms.

The quartz sleeve insulates the bulb from the cold temperature of the water inside the aquarium. It results in a useful output of radiation from the lamp.

The Power of Bulb

If you are bulb is of high watts, then Definitely its efficiency will be more as compared to the lamp with a low watt.

Watt means to show the power of any bulb. You can check out the number of watts of your bulb by checking it’s manual.

A high wattage bulb produces more light, and low wattage produces low light. These bulbs need our replacement every six months.

The lamp should not come in direct contact with the water, but it should have a quartz sleeve over it for protection and insulation.

What are the Limitations and Potential Side Effects of UV Sterilizer for Aquarium?

This product has just a few limitations and some of the harmful side effects only in specific cases. These are;

It can be for every type and size of the aquarium, but if you have a nano aquarium less than 24 gallons, then using it in such a small tank is impractical entirely. Also, it can cause harmful effects in such a small container.

They can never be a replacement for biological and mechanical filtration, control of the nitrogen cycle, and regular water changes. These things you have to do must go in any case.

It is ineffective against string algae and trouble of the disease-causing invisible microorganisms. It cannot treat the already sick fish.

You should not use any treatment medications inside the aquarium water when you are using the UV light sterilizer cause it can damage and denature the medicines.

It can also break the bonds of chelating agents. It can heat the fish tank water, that is why it is not for small tanks, and a chiller is a must, then UV radiations are on in a fish tank.

What are the Benefits of UV Sterilizers?

It can kill the bacteria viruses parasites, free-floating algae, and protozoa too. It promotes the health of a fish tank.

It can decrease the stress levels in your fish. It can also help to get rid of so many fish diseases, yet do not every disease but still cope with multiple issues of pet fishes.

Algal blooms become dead when UV radiations fall on them. It releases your fish tank water from suffocation that occurs because of the considerable algae growth.

It can save your time, dollar, and effort to fight with algal blooms in water. It is amicable for your tank environment.

It is entirely safe for your fish, either they are small or large. It can help them to fight against parasitic diseases.

Although its radiation cannot cure a sick fish yet, it can help in disease prevention. Another benefit is that it cannot harm the beneficial bacteria that are protecting the slimy fish coat and doing other useful things.

It is also safe for the plants, corals, invertebrates, and other life forms of your fish tank. It prevents the spread of diseases that occur through floating microorganisms.

If your fish tank water is becoming green and cloudy, use this device, and the water will be all clear like a crystal.

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