Fish Tank UV Sterilizers: When Your Regular Filter Won't Cut It

Supplement Regular Filters with UV Light

Sustaining a pathogen-free aquarium is hard work. Both freshwater or saltwater tanks can experience bacterial growth and development of microorganisms, making it unfit for your aquatic pets' life. 

Many people turn to internal filters that use simple sponges or charcoal, but these can't always neutralize all the pathogens and microalgae from the water. For this reason, aquarium owners install UV sterilizers. 

Adding a UV sterilizer to your aquarium is proven to effectively eliminate fungi, bacteria, algae, viruses, and other water contaminants.

What is a UV Sterilizer?

These sterilizers use a UV light bulb to eradicate microorganisms like bacteria, algae, viruses, and parasites floating in the water. These organisms are eliminated after passing through the light. Some of the larger models use UV disinfection for outgoing water.

UV Sterilizers to Check Out

Coralife Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizers (pictured above)

This Coralife Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer can deal with large aquariums up to 250 gallons. It can be used for both freshwater and saltwater aquariums. This UV sterilizer can be mounted by simply hanging it on the side of the aquarium. It consists of sections for in-line applications with a flow rate of 300-900 gallons per hour. This UV sterilizer uses intense 18 watt UV light that eliminates bacteria, algae, and other microorganisms. This light is protected by a quartz glass sleeve to stop water from entering. The only downfall of this UV sterilizer is that it does not contain a water pump.

AA Aquarium Green Killing Machine Internal UV Sterilizer

The Green Killing Machine UV Aquarium Sterilizer is for fish tanks up to 50 gallons. It functions with a water pump and produces disinfecting radiations at 254nm wavelength. It is a completely submersible UV sterilizer that consists of a powerhead in one unit. It allows water to pass in a zigzag manner for maximum effect. Plus, it does not require external plumbing. Suction containers are included. The only disadvantage is the plastic is fairly low quality.

AquaUltraviolet Advantage 15-Watt Aquarium UV Sterilizer

The AquaUltraviloet Advantage 15-Watt Aquarium UV Sterilizer is an ideal choice when algae discolors the water. It works well in 75-gallon aquariums. However, it is not recommended by the manufacturers to use it for anything larger than this. This sterilizer works effectively in removing bacteria, viruses, and protozoa from the water and aquariums, but you should note that beneficial bacteria may also get killed if the bacteria are introduced recently to the water. The manufacturer claims the water will be cleared in about five days of use, although this depends on how much algae is present.

SunSun JUP-01 9W UV Sterilizer Submersible Filter Pump

This SunSun JUP-01 9-watt UV sterilizer is a good choice for smaller aquariums up to 75 gallons. The best feature of this sterilizer is that it doesn’t require any additional hardware or pumps, as it already includes a water pump that can transfer almost 132 water gallons per hour. It is easy to mount, as it uses suction cups to connect to the interior of the tank either vertically or horizontally. Its only downfall is that it does not work well with fish tanks of larger size.

Aqua Ultraviolet 25-Watt UV Sterilizer

This UV sterilizer is designed to handle large aquariums. It can serve freshwater environments up to 1,200 gallons and saltwater tanks up to 150 gallons. The sterilizer is 3.75 inches wide, 6 inches high and 20 inches long. It comes with a transformer and a quartz lamp sleeve. It is plumbed inline, making it simple to install. Its only disadvantage is that it can take up to a week to notice results.