The Ultima Pond Advantage

We're big fans of ultraviolet sterilization in all our displays, from full blown reef tanks to planted freshwater aquariums, even our holding system here at Aquatropic uses an unbelievable amount of UV sterilization to keep all our holding tanks clean, clear and as safe as they can possibly be. This is all even more important in ponds where the amount of light they get is much less controllable and most pond keepers need some help maintaining the crystal-clear water they're looking for. The TMC Pro Clear Ultima UV Sterilizer is up to the task, and available in two sizes to better fit whatever pond you have (or better yet, are still planning).

The smaller of the two is the 30w and is most often used in ponds, but also frequently gets used for water features, and even really big aquariums. It can handle a flow rate of up to 3500 gallons per hour, and a pond as big as 7000 gallons. If that's not big enough for whatever king-sized water garden you have planned, the 55w will handle up to 4800 gallons per hour and is suitable for ponds, tanks and whatever other mad aquatic plans you have up to 12,000 gallons. (We're gonna need to see your plans, this sounds awesome.) Multiple units can be plumbed into systems that are larger, or you can jump into commercial sized sterilization. Both the 30w and the 55w Pro Clear Ultima have 8000-hour bulbs, so you only need to swap them out once a year, and we suggest that happens with your springtime maintenance. Pro Clear Ultima units are rated for outdoor use, but they shouldn't be buried or submerged. Their glow ends show you that the light is working without you having to risk your retinas by having a look in there (seriously though, never look directly at a UV bulb when they are illuminated, this can seriously damage your eyes.)

We've gone into detail within the last year about how UV works, and if you want a primer on it, you can read up here: https://www.qualitymarine.com/news/for-the-cleanest-clearest-healthiest-pond-go-uv/. The most important aspect of making UV sterilization work for your pond (or whatever glorious backyard aquatics you have planned) is contact time. Water has to travel at a specific flow rate, past a bulb matched to that flow rate in order for it to work. If you're just planning your pond, a general rule of thumb is that a pond pump needs to turn over all the water once every two hours, and double this if you have fish. So, if you have a 12,000-gallon pond, you'll have at least 6000gph worth of pump(s). So, if you have a beast of a pump, you may to need to split that flow to get it slow enough for one of these UV units to work. Frequently, with ponds this big, people will utilize two pumps that are slightly less powerful, which has the benefit of redundancy. If one pump goes out, then there's another one left running, so at least the system stays half functional until the disabled pump is put back in order. It also makes it much easier to find a UV sterilizer that will work with that much flow before jumping into commercial sized units! There's a whole thing here about head pressure too, but that's another article.

And that point gets us into installation of a UV Sterilizer. Almost none of the UV sterilizers on the market come with their own pumps. They are designed to be integrated into the return flow from the filter system or plumbed separately. Envision this, water flows out of your pond, through your skimmer and into whatever type of filtration system you have all the floss and bio-balls, and filter socks, whatever it is you're working with. After this clean up, the water hits your pump and then gets blasted back into the pond, and this is where you want the UV, between the pump and the pond. When the water is at its absolute cleanest, your Pro Clear Ultima will be most effective. You can't really over-sterilize with ultraviolet, so the pump sizes are only listed as maximums. In regard to power draw, it's going to be more efficient to run a smaller unit if you don't have a big enough pond.

Plumbing either of these units is really straightforward. They both come with 45-degree fittings that will work with a variety of hose diameters. We suggest adding a shut off valve on both sides of your Pro Clear Ultima, or any sterilizer you choose. This allows you to cut flow from both directions and makes sleeve cleaning much easier. Once these fittings are set, just insert the correctly sized UV between them. Open both valves and plug the system in! Obviously, you're going to need a GCFI outlet nearby to run this, but we're assuming you already have this in place if you are running a pump nearby! Once your Pro Clear is plugged in, you'll see the endcap glow blueish and that's your indicator that the bulb is working.

Let's say you're the guy with pumps that are too powerful for even the 55w system. You have a 12,000-gallon pond with lots of fish, and so you have 2 pumps that are 6000gph each! (Again, hit up our socials with the pictures of this, we want to see it!) If you want to go full overkill, you can split the return flow from one or both of the pumps and give each return line its own sterilizer. Would this be awesome? Yes. Is it necessary? No. Instead, you could split the return flow off one of the pumps and have half of it go through the UV. The whole amount of return flow from your filter doesn't need to go through the UV Sterilizer on every pass through the system (unless you are plumbing multiple systems together, but that's another can of worms). As long as the gallons per minute line up between pump and UV, and the total gallons of the system are in line with the unit you choose, it will do its job of balancing redox, reducing/eliminating pathogen transfer and clarifying the water.

This is well demonstrated by the other way to add UV: a dedicated loop. Basically, this is just another intake and return flow for the pond. You can add whatever you want to this loop, as long as there is an appropriately size pump and a Pro Clear Ultima it will do its job. It could take the form of a fountain, or a small waterfall, or even just flow generation in the pond. Usually, people will use submersible pumps for this type of application. It doesn't hurt to have another redundant filter (like a canister) as part of this system too, as it will keep the maintenance down on the UV unit.

The TMC Pro Clear Ultima UV unit is one of the easiest and safest ways to maintain spring-pond clear water in your backyard. It's not a panacea, but as part of a well maintained and fed system, it can really take your pond from average to Sparkletown. There's a ton of research that shows that your fish, inverts and even plants will benefit from having a pond with clearer, cleaner water and balanced redox potential. Over-sterilization is basically impossible, plumbing it in couldn't be easier. What are you waiting for? It's time to take your pond to the next level. Ask your local pond supply store or LFS about getting you one of these from Aquatropic today!