Coralife Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizer; Review, Ballast & Dwell Time Problems

Updated 9/24/13

Coralife Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizers (by Oceanic) are considered by many to be the among the two most efficient compact UV Sterilizers for ultraviolet sterilization on the market today.

HOWEVER this is really NOT the case as their design has Poor UVC dwell time and worse, the ballasts in the Turbo Twist have a 100% failure rate within the first 2-3 years, resulting in new UV-C Bulbs not being able to properly light (as per extensive use by a large aquarium/pond maintenance company).
Reference: Dwell Time Test between UVs

The Turbo Twist feature a quartz glass sleeve with a PL compact fluorescent UV lamp surrounded by a unique "Turbo-Twist" flow design to increase contact time, which in turn increases efficiency.
Continuous ultraviolet sterilization of your aquarium or pond water eliminates single-cell algae for crystal-clear aquariums/ponds and also eradicates many harmful microorganisms on the initial pass through the chamber (depending upon flow rate).

The Coralife Turbo Twist is available in 3 models:
*Turbo-Twist 3X which requires a 9 Watt UV Bulb/Lamp.
Product Resource: 9 Watt PLS Replacement Bulb, Lamp for the Coralife Turbo Twist 3X

*Turbo-Twist 6X which requires a 18 Watt UV Bulb/Lamp.
Product Resource: 18 Watt PLL Replacement Bulb, Lamp for the Coralife Turbo Twist 6X

*Turbo-Twist 12X which requires a 36 Watt UV Bulb/Lamp.
Product Resource: 36 Watt PLL Replacement Bulb, Lamp for the Coralife Turbo Twist 12X

From my use and others in the professional Aquarium/Pond maintenance business use of the Coralife Turbo Twist UV Sterilizers, I have found this UV to be among the more popular which utilize PLL/G11 & PLS/G23 UV Bulbs/Lamps.

Beside the very serious ballast issue, my other complaint is the "Twist"/Baffle design (this is more of a gimmick) does not provide any more dwell/exposure time (this based on controlled tests I might add) as the other top Compact UV Sterilizer; the Terminator by SunSun, and the cost of the Turbo Twist is generally about 25% more for slightly lower results due to lower UV-C penetration due to the baffles moving water from optimum UV-C exposure distance.
However as compared to the Tetra and especially the Jebo (as well as others), the results for the Oceanic Coralife Turbo Twist are better.
Product Resource: Terminator 7, 9, 13, 18, 36 Watt UV Sterilizers, Clarifier

This said, your best choice for a UV Sterilizer if you are serious about performance and quality is the TMC Advantage/ Vecton UV Sterilizer line of Sterilizers.
Product Resource: TMC High Dwell Time Professional Quality UV Sterilizers, Clarifiers

Coralife Turbo-Twist UV Sterilizers have been designed for use in all freshwater and saltwater aquatic systems.

For your Aquarium Lighting information needs, please visit this VERY in-depth web site:
Aquarium Lighting; Facts & Information