JBL ProCristal UV-C Compact Plus 5 W

JBL ProCristal UV-C Compact Plus 5 W is the 5 watt model in JBL's Compact Plus range of UV-C clarifiers, the smallest of the four. Water is pumped past a UV-C lamp, which takes out the free-floating algae and bacteria that make water look green or milky.

Key Features

• 5 watt UV-C lamp: the smallest unit in the Compact Plus range, for small tanks.
• Clears green and white cloudiness: JBL describes it as removing greenish and whitish cloudiness quickly.
• Plumbs into a filter line: it goes into the hose run rather than inside the tank.
• Germicidal UV-C: the same principle as the larger units in the range, scaled down.
• Two glass cylinders: JBL's construction across the Compact Plus range.
• Replacement lamps available: the tube is a consumable and is sold separately.

Using UV-C Safely

• Never run the lamp outside its housing and never look at it lit. UV-C burns eyes and skin, and the damage is not felt at the time.
• Switch the unit off at the mains before you open it, and let it cool. Where a unit has a safety switch that cuts the lamp when the housing is opened, treat it as a backup rather than the plan.
• Fit the unit after the filter, so what reaches it is already mechanically clean, and keep it below the water line only if the instructions allow it.
• Flow rate decides the dose. Pushing water through faster than the unit is rated for means it passes through without getting enough exposure to matter.
• Switch it off while you are dosing medication, a bacterial starter or a liquid treatment. UV-C breaks all three down.
• Clean the quartz sleeve regularly. Limescale and film on the glass cut the output, and in hard tap water that happens quickly.

Good To Know

• A UV-C unit treats the water that flows through it. It does nothing about algae on the glass, on rocks or on plants, and it is not a substitute for filtration or water changes.
• UV-C lamps lose output long before they stop lighting up. Plan on a new tube roughly once a year of continuous running, even if the old one still glows.
• Running UV-C continuously in a reef or heavily planted tank is a choice with trade-offs, since it also removes free-floating plankton. Many people run it only when they need it.
• JBL says the unit does not change the water values and does not affect the bacteria living in the filter.
• JBL publishes less detail for this model than for the 11, 18 and 36 watt units. If you are planning the plumbing around it, ask us to check the installation length, hose size and pump limit on the box first.
• Check the socket type and lamp length against the unit before ordering a replacement tube.