The MicroUV from Cobalt Aquatics is a tiny inline ultraviolet sterilizer which is easily installed inline with existing aquarium plumbing. The Cobalt MicroUV is just big enough to be serviceable with a cord, screw-lock mechanism to hold the three watt halogen UV bulb and inlet and outlets fitted with 5/8th inch barbs and locking rings.
If like us you have some reservations about the real efficacy of ultraviolet LEDs in germicidal applications like in the Cobalt DuoFilter UV, then the tried and tested halogen UV lamp could prove to be a more comforting alternative. The 500mW of UV light emitted by the LEDs of the DuoFilter might be ok for specks like blooming algae species and simple bacteria but if you want some hardcore UV sterilization, the tried and tested UVC of the halogen lamp in the MicroUV is where the microbial killing is at.
Of course there are a lot of factors leading to efficient and thorough ultraviolet sterilization, with contact time being a very important one, so the true and actual effectiveness of any UV sterilizer is going to be highly variable. Nevertheless, the MicroUV’s higher power of UV and inline placement ought to be a good choice for keeping things a little bit cleaner in small 5 to 15 gallon aquariums and especially hospital/quarantine tanks. We should start seeing Cobalt Aquatics MicroUV inline sterilizer in the LFS around summertime where it will carry an estimated price of ~$80.
