I had enough, getting a UV, 18W or 36W

So after having a reef tank for about 6 years now, I have decides to get a UV, I just had enough with algae blooms ich and all the other things that UV can help with.
I have a 90G RR mix reef, probably total water volume with sump is 100-110 gallons and I would say that my tank has a heavy bio load I?m thinking of getting Coralife Turbo Twist 18W or 36W, I know some people will tell me to go with a better UV but I?m on the budget with this hobby,
So what will be good for my tank 18W or 36W???

Julian Sprung has one on his tank, I'm getting one!!!

18w is plenty for your tank. make sure the gph going throu is no higher than around 150.
Turbo twist is a good way to go. Replacement bulbs are cheap.
At this price it may seem too good to be true but can tell you i have bought plenty of these. A turbo twist knock off, uses same bulb, and imo a better more durable and effective design.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UV-Pro-18-U...e-Clarifier-/301573064409?hash=item463727c6d9
Hook it up and tge next morning you're gonna think the fish are floating on air. The water gets crystal clear

Just to point out, 2 weeks ago I just upgraded from a 75 to a 90, I have a large sump/refuge , deep sand bed, MP10 and MP40 2 NextReef reactors, one for carbon and phosgrad and one for biopellets, I feed my fish the best of foods, I do one large water change once a month. (I use RO/DI)
I have a powder blue tang nice and fat eats everything he is the boss of the tank and he got ich and my yellow tang as well, one of my clown fish always had if on and off, I feel that I?m constantly fighting problems and trying to solve them but they keep coming back in my tank, I just want to enjoy my tank!!!! I?m thinking of the UV to help keep things under control and help keep the fish healthy.

brand matters more then size, and assumin by the wattage one's you put you are looking at the turbo twist or some other off brand, a 25w uv will be perfect for your tank size and you wont get both things trying to control algea and pest. those require two different flow rates and here is the only brand i would use for uv
Aqua UV

Even if I get the turbo twist 36w?
turbo twist uv's are that bad?

Nyreefnoob, Lol. Brand matters if you want to pay alot for the same thing. Sorry you payed so much. What matters is the wattage and exposure time. With a turbo twist it circles around the bulb, prolonging the exposure time. As such a smaller unit can be used for a given tank when referring to wattage/sizing info. Another thing that matters is how easy and expensive it is to change the bulb which will have to be done every 9 months or so. The chinese knock off i posted has the same twisting design, with added reflective material around the cylinder, better designed fittings, and a couple of mounting holes.

Also, don't need two different sterilizers, one for algae, and one for pests. Algae dies faster, therefore can go through the sterilizer faster is all.

Ariel, if you had no ich and now you do it came from somewhere. A new rock, coral, invert, water, etc. Don't believe the "all tanks have ich" bs. Either the tank has ich or it doesn't. It doesn't lay dormant and then because of poor water quality wake up. Poor water quality will weaken the fish's imunity, that's it.
There's a few things that can help reduce the amount of ich. Like a 100 micron filter sock, a uv, and many corals will eat it. If you have a lot of corals they'll eat a lot. Sometimes that's enough, with a good water quality, that ich isn't so damaging, but it's still there. Only copper, and most times hypo will work. Leaving the tank without any blood/fishless for 2-3 months will also work. No magic wand for ich. A quarantine tank is the silver bullet. The other thing that isn't discussed much is..... if nothing new or untreated goes into the tank, after 10-12 months, ich will die off on it's own due to inbreeding.

Sorry meat, but the most tanks have ich statement is pretty accurate. Unless people are very careful about QT and the initial set up of the tank, then there is likely ich in the tank. And yes when a fish gets stressed out, its immune system is weakened which allows the parasites to take advantage.

Its kind of the same way I can tell you for a fact that your house is full of bacteria, but im sure your not walking around with infections all the time. But the bacteria are there.

In the ocean ich hatches and has a limited amount of time to find a host before it staves. It doesn't always find a host and numbers stay in check. In a tank it doesn't have far to go and ich finds a host. The numbers quickly grow and no matter the stress it will get bad. Have permanently rid tanks of ich by messing with biological filters big time, and copper, and putting a bunch of fish in a much smaller tank. Stress went way up, water quality went down, yet ich went away.

Whatever, many don't agree on this subject. Can only go by what I've seen, experienced and learned. No need to take over someone's thread.

Ich is not the only reason that I want to get a UV, I also want to have it help with water quality ( algae control ) algae control is actually the main reason, ich in my tank comes and goes, my fish are over all good, besides one clown fish that as ich on and off, but in the past 2 day my tangs got some too, but tonight coming back from work my powder blue tang looks better

I have a Emperor Aquatics 25W on a 120g. I got it because of the brand name and with hopes that it will last and offer peace of mind. Its been running for just over a year and I've had no issues with it. So I'm happy with it and happy to recommend this Brand to anyone looking for a reliable UV. No broken seals, faulty wires, exploding lamps, etc. I change lamp after 1yr (this past December).

oh207 said:

I have a Emperor Aquatics 25W on a 120g. I got it because of the brand name and with hopes that it will last and offer peace of mind. Its been running for just over a year and I've had no issues with it. So I'm happy with it and happy to recommend this Brand to anyone looking for a reliable UV. No broken seals, faulty wires, exploding lamps, etc. I change lamp after 1yr (this past December).

Click to expand...

So overall you tank is doing better with UV, water quality, and fish health?

Ariel110G said:

So overall you tank is doing better with UV, water quality, and fish health?

Click to expand...

Yes, but I don't attribute that only to the UV. I have a 30g QT that every fish goes through for a minimum of 2 months. Lets just say I learned the hard way over a year ago after an ich wipe out and decided that I never want to deal with that again.

oh207 said:

Yes, but I don't attribute that only to the UV. I have a 30g QT that every fish goes through for a minimum of 2 months. Lets just say I learned the hard way over a year ago after an ich wipe out and decided that I never want to deal with that again.

Click to expand...

So why do you have a UV sterilizer?

Have had the turbo twist on a tank for 7 years with no issues. Have had the Chinese knock off on other tanks for 2 years with no issues.
While most uvbulbs are rated for 9,000 hours, they start to lose effectiveness in half that time. For $10 and 10 minutes, I change em at 9 months. Unless they're on part of the day/timer.

Ariel110G said:

So why do you have a UV sterilizer?

Click to expand...

For all the same reasons that you mentioned. I only QT fish. I don't QT inverts, corals, etc. So there is the likely chance that I can introduce unwanted parasites, especially ich. It also helps with keeping algae at bay. I remember I used to wipe the glass every other day. After installing it, its a once a week job.

What drives me crazy sometimes is that I see these crazy amazing looking tanks on TOM on reef central and I think most if not all don't run UV.
I can't make up my mind

Depending on what else is going on, some tanks benefit greatly, some not so much. Can tell you that even on tanks that run socks, and carbon, you will see a big improvement on water clarity. Either way, no need to spend 200+ when you can spend 40, your money, you'r welcome

Just so anyone following along doesn't get bad info....
There are many expensive things in this hobby that are totally worth it. Like quality skimmers, lighting, media, and return pumps. There are a few good cheap options as well, and the uv i posted a link for on the 1st page is one of them.