no water to uv filter

[Alvarero]

Oops. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have this happen to their pond. An old pump of mine seized up and stopped pumping water. The pump fed a uv light on the side of my pond. The light went without water for about 18 hours. The light still works but I am wondering if the effectiveness of the bulb will be decreased due to the lack of water running through it. I have a new pump feeding water to it now and the water is starting to clear up again. Should I buy a new bulb? Do you think the bulb is fine as long as it hasn't burned itself out? Thanks for the feedback.

Rob

 

[koidaddy]

How long has your pond been set up Rob? If its established you shouldn't need a UV light at all. My water is very clear and get full sun all day.

 

[fishin4cars]

This time of year you shouldn't need one at all. It shouldn't have hurt the bulb as the tube would still contain some water in it the way most are designed. Also has it been running all summer? if so that may have done more damage to the bulb than running it with no water. A UV bulb only has a short effective time of use and then it needs to be replaced. One year of full time running and it's pretty much shot, It will still glow as it appears to work but the bands of light that emit the UV rays will have been used up. If you'll just run the light when there is green water then unhook or turn off a UV light can last for four or five years, running in constantly 1 year is tops. As koidaddy stated, Usually in most cases once a pond is balanced and not overfeed or overstocked once the green water is killed or cleared you usually don't need a UV much after that except for maybe spring or early summer blooms.

 

[Waterbug]

I think, but aren't sure, that it would depend on the type of UV bulb. I think at high temp a thermionic emission mode bulb would use up its coating while a cold cathode mode bulb would be unaffected because they don't have a thermionic emission coating.

 

[Alvarero]

Thanks for all the feedback. I might need to give away some goldfish this winter. Sad but true. I feed once a day, about three small handfuls. My water still went to real cloudy when the bulb was out for just a day so I may have an imbalance. Sure like cheating if a uv is all it takes. But I do understand that a healthy balanced system would be clear without the bulb. I'm willing to swing it if it is a bulb a year for full time use.

Koidaddy the pond has been set up for a year and a half.


Thanks again, Rob

 

[fishin4cars]

Yea, if your clouding up that quick this time of year ther is deffinely a bigger issue that needs addressing. Sounds like it could be build of of waste in the bottom of the pond,( Rocks in the bottom that could trap waste?)( exsessive clogging of waste in the filter/) overload of fish, or overfeeding. This time of year most ponds should be through the biggest algae bloom problems, clouding that fast this time of year is a tell tell sign that some attention of some type is needed in the pond.

 

[koidaddy]

Look into adding a fines filter also. Any container that water will flow through with some quilt batting will work. I will have some suspended algae due to the rains and warm days here(85 deg) but the fines filter clears it up in a few hours. I am pumping @1000 gallons an hour through mine. I used a uv my first season but the cost of replacement bulbs turned me away from them. Hope this help some.

 

[Alvarero]

My skippy type filter is in its second to third month and I believe all the elements are working together, two bio filters and the uv light. Since I have some extra water flow from a hose I might try to swirl up some of the bottom waste and get it into my filters. I'll share more as I move along.

Thanks, Rob