algae green clean light

Hoping I can help someone else out who doesn't have a sump and also has a hang over back filter! (mine is an Aqueon one, 10 gal). I went from a suddenly bright green tank with fish gasping for air to a perfectly clean one with no harm to the fish or myself. I was very worried about this light because its cheap, and this sort of light can be really dangerous if handled incorrectly. It CAN blind/kill your fish and its not good for your eyes either if exposed. Its literally the equivalent of looking right into the sun! This is why they sell enclosed ones, but if you're like me you're looking for a cheaper option because those are extremely expensive. I figured out a pretty great set up that worked well and was safe so I'll walk you through: -Firstly, replace about a quarter of the water with treated tank-ready water so that your fish have some fresh oxygen. The algae leeches out the oxygen very quickly and unlike a dangerous algaecide, this UV method takes a bit of time and patience, so you want to make sure your fish are safe and have oxygen during the short term. Try not to replace the water TOO often during this process if at all, but I still had to do it a couple times over the course of two weeks because the algae outburst I had was pretty severe and I needed to make sure my fish could "breathe". Regularly apply a stress coat/water conditioner throughout the process. I use the All-In-One water conditioner in the orange bottle. Test your water often as well. -As other reviewers mentioned (THANK YOU!) you can build a little enclosure for the lamp out of the box it came in. Simply cut a rectangle slightly smaller than the opening of your filter on the narrower side of the box, put the light back inside the box after you've removed all the packaging, and pull the cord out from the side, closing the box. -However, this can still be dangerous if you're doing it on your filter rather than a sump tank, because light can definitely still leak through to your fish due to the shape of the filter once you remove the top due to how close it is to them. What I did, literally using just scotch tape and the amazon box the package came in, was create a large cardboard flap over the side of the box, and a little extension flap that sits floating over the physical medium part of the filter. The plastic you see I added so that the cardboard doesn't get waterlogged since it's in direct contact with the water. Also from the amazon packaging -Once you've set it up, turn off your fishtank light and turn on the UV lamp. This way you'll be able to see very clearly if there's any light leaking out of your contraption. If you've done it correctly the tank should be pitch black without any light shining through, but if you peek around the side the blue UV light is still shining directly on the water inside the filter. (if you're worried about looking at it directly, you can wear sunglasses when checking on the light. I did because I'm paranoid) -Once you're sure there's no light leakage, leave it on in periods of 4-8 hrs, but make sure that you do it at a time when you can check on it regularly. A bright hot light near cardboard is not the safest idea, and while I had absolutely no problem at all with it (the cardboard didn't really heat up that much) I don't want to be responsible for someone's house burning down because they left it on during the day then went to work. -As some others have mentioned, this light is most effective if used before the filter rather than after, however, if you don't have a sump or the means to build one, you don't really have much choice. In this case, it will take longer. Some reviewers mentioned that it cleared up completely for them within 2-3 sessions- it took more like 5 or so for me, with the first couple sessions cleaning it to a safe level where I didn't have to worry the fish would die anymore, then the following sessions just for getting the water to a crystal clear level. Really, two days for safety and a week and a half for complete clarity isn't bad at all! Especially since even a water tank change did nothing for my severe outbreak. -As a tip: it really helps to keep the fish tank light off as much as you possibly can during this whole time, as the light encourages algae growth and you don't want to undo your work. This will speed things along considerably. I also took out any tank items and washed them well before (rinse THOROUGHLY!!) and didn't put them back until after I was finished with the light treatment. Also make sure to scrape any physical algae debris off surfaces in your tank as it accumulates, and change the filter before and after the treatment. That was really it! I read so many horror stories about algaecides and then about non enclosed UV lamps that I was EXTREMELY nervous, but it was so easy, building the thing took me less than 10 minutes, and it worked like a charm- my fish tank is way cleaner than it ever was even before the outbreak. I'm probably going to treat the water once a month or so for a few hours as a precautionary measure- just make sure you don't do it too often when there's not an active algae breakout because this does also kill beneficial bacteria in the tank! PS- I had this severe algae breakout in my tank because I put marimo in there. I don't personally reccommend adding marimo to a tank for this reason- save them for a smaller tank with shrimp or something like that. its not worth the amount of stress and cost I had to go through. At least get them at a reputable fish store or something if you're gonna do it so you can make sure they're healthy.

There must be a manufacturing flaw in this UV lamp. I’ve been through several and they all fail the same way. After awhile a fracture happens in the upper portion of the outside protective glass sleeve and the light itself begins to flicker. In short useless, maybe it can leach harmful chemicals, who know. In all fairness the vendor did replace an earlier tube which failed. This one failed past the 30 day window and I’m not sure I want to risk yet another. So yeah, they work great until they don’t.

uV Sterilizer worked as it was intended. Looking at some of these reviews, they either don’t know how to use one, didn’t read the included instructions or a combination of both. You do not use it as a hood light for your aquarium, you do not place it directly in the aquarium, and you don’t run it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all year long. You’re supposed to build and enclosure or use in a sump tank system for a couple of hours every few days as needed. Direct UV exposure to fish will fill them, running it constantly will kill off all bacteria in your tank, and it’s not good for human eyes either. Proper usage will give positive results. My aquarium is usually pretty clear and taken care of properly to maintain a healthy environment for the fish that I keep. However, when I seen the cost of this product, I decided to order it. The day I placed the order, I began over feeding the fish slightly, leaving the 6500K plant light running extended periods, and skipped two water changes just to cloud the water with free floating algae. Then once the UV Sterilizer arrived, I made a trip to the local hardware store to purchase some PVC tubing, PVC fittings, some PVC cement and a small fountain pump. Assembled the parts as needed to house the UV bulb assembly, attached a hose from the fountain pump to the PVC housing I had made and ran it for three hours. The results were great. Water cleared up and the fish were swimming around being more active than they were previously. Without a doubt, the product does what it’s supposed to do when used correctly. I’ll be picking up a few more of these to use in my fish room once it’s set up again as a weekly preventative maintenance procedure to reduce free floating algae and various bacteria that can cause infections to fish. It helps guard against infections such as ich, various worms, etc. The use of a UV Sterilizer is a much better option than the use of various chemicals that are available on the market. I’m including two photos, one before UV treatment and one after. It’s obvious which photo is before and after. *edited to correct spelling error*

We are using this light on our swamp cooler. We live in a high desert area where the air is quite dry. We use a swamp cooler instead of refrigerated air to cool our house because refrigerator units dry the air even more than it naturally is, thereby hurting my sinuses. When our city switched from using aquifer water to river water we started having a problem with the swamp cooler pads growing algae. It made our house smell like stinky fish, ewe. While visiting my brother my husband noticed this light in connection with his fish tank. A light bulb went on ( no pun intended) and he thought of the possibility of using it on our swamp cooler. He set it up on a timer to come on automatically 6 times a day. To our delight it works perfectly, problem solved, wahoo!! He even called the swamp cooler manufacturer (Breeze Air) and suggested they incorporate it into their design. He just knew we couldn’t be the only ones having this problem. The unit lasted for one season. We just bought two more to keep on reserve in case one should stop working. I highly recommend it.

Good

Thanks

Currently iradiates my water system for home killing bacteria and other biological contaminants

It didn't want to work from the start and the seller said things rattling/rolling around is normal, and never addressed the power fluctuation video i sent them and told me to talk to Amazon for returns if I don't like it. Yet they stated in their ad to contact them and they will make it right, by make it right - they mean go talk to Amazon - not us. Eventually it came on (maybe a wiring issue?) It turns off after 6 hours every day (my doing, not a feature), it got 240 hours of use over 40 days? Now it's all burnt and doesn't work at all. & I can't even contact the seller about it. 10/10 Do NOT recommend. It asks me to review suction power & the remote control when this does neither thing. Doesn't suck water or suction to your tank + no remote, it's a switch box on the cord. UV was bright when it did work.

Worked well for my DIY Cold plunge, but it died after one month of use