# UV sterilizer vs Green water



## eddtango (Mar 18, 2005)

I hooked up my new 9 watt UV sterilizer to kill the GW algae in my 50 gal Tank but after 1 1/2 days, I haven't seen any improvement on the clarity of the water. I connected it to a small powerhead and reduced the flow by 30% to make sure that the water passes through the chamber slowly.I also cut short the light duration to 8 hrs from 12.
Is a UV sterilizer really efective against GW? Should I give it a little more time? I'd also like to know if I should also combine the treatment with water changes and addition of ferts.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Here are some good responses to a similar question about green water and UV sterilizers:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=6518&highlight=UV+filters

It should be of great help to you, especially Plantbrain's response on the durations of UV killing Green Water and what a WC can do for Green Water if you don't inject CO2!


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## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Typically takes 3-4 days before you'll start to see a difference.


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## eddtango (Mar 18, 2005)

*still cloudy*

After 2 days of UV,the greenish hue is starting to fade but the cloudy water still persists. I was tempted and added Accu-clear,I still have to see the result. Maybe the reduction of lighting hours from 12 to 8 somewhat helped starve those Algal spores.


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## Anafranil (Mar 15, 2005)

The algae will go away in week or a couple of days more,in fact in the first 3 days the water seems worse than the begining.UV is definately the answear,I've had this pomblem a few days ago and now my water is crystal clear.I don't think the water flow is so important


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