UV Sterilizer

fishoholic · #1 07-25-2008, 02:56 PM

I was thinking about getting a UV sterilizer. I know it will kill anything that goes through it. I was wondering (for those who have experience/knowledge about them) do you find you have enough pods/live mysis in your tank while running a UV sterilizer? I would like to get one to help fight off any bad things (edit when I wrote "bad things" I should of clarified and said possible ich parasite, my water quality and parameters are fine) but I'm concerned about a UV sterilizer severely depleting my pod/mysis population.

Right now I have a `fuge with a pipefish in it that lives on pods and live mysis. I have tons of pods and mysis right now. I know with running UV I will lose some, but I'm worried about losing to many.

Any thoughts? Thanks, Laurie

Skimmerking · #2 07-25-2008, 04:03 PM

Hey there Laurie I ran a 9X 36 W UV on my 170 and honestly i didnt see anything special about the unit. If you are wanting to try some thing get a Ozone unit that worked great for me and i loves it. i ran a 200mg red unit on mine it cleared up the water so much and helped with the algae a bit too. but it will cause Nitrates thou, since it convets Ammonia and Nitites to Nitrates fast thou. i has a hard time getting rid of my nitrates to so.....

HTH

mike

Aquattro · #3 07-25-2008, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishoholic

I would like to get one to help fight off any bad things in the water

I think this comment in itself is reason not to use one. It sounds like maybe you're not quite happy with things and you're looking for anothe rgadget to fix things. While UV can fight off bad things, it also kills good things, things that other things use for food sources. I would recommend trying to stay as natural as possible and finding a balance in your tank, rather than trying to tip the scales with too much technology.
Not saying UV is bad, but tons of tanks are beautiful with out it, and personally I try to strive for this without gadgets. JMO

sphelps · #4 07-25-2008, 04:28 PM

Since micro-organism activity is highest at night you could run a UV on a daylight duty cycle to minimise the effect on your live food. But you may want to consider your goal from using a UV, "killing bad things" makes very little sense.

sharuq1 · #5 07-25-2008, 05:24 PM

Tagging along

fishoholic · #6 07-25-2008, 05:57 PM

Oops, I guess I should of clarified "bad things" as the possible ich I have in my tank, my water quality and parameters are fine/normal. The idea was that the UV would kill the ich parasite when it passes through it, which in turn would hopefully slow down the ich cycle. I know it won't get rid of all of the ich but maybe it would help.

I honestly don't have the space to QT and do hyposalinity to all my fish for 6 weeks and I don't even know if it is ich in my tank or not. Since my fish aren't stressed out, are eating well and behaving normal, I don't really want to take the chance of stressing them out and losing some in the QT process.

I guess I should of just asked for pro's and con's of using UV.

MikeP · #7 07-25-2008, 10:08 PM

I've had a 18watt UV on my tank for about a year now. I have plenty of pods and haven't had any real trouble with algae or disease.

Aquattro · #8 07-25-2008, 10:42 PM

Sometimes I think ich is over rated. It's pretty much in all tanks, and affects fish that are stressed to the point that their immune system doesn't fight hard enough.
I just added a large sailfin tang to my tank last night, by the time I got him home and in the tank, he was covered in ich. My tank is very clean, high oxygen, and lots to eat. Already the ich is all but vanished, and I don't suspect I'll see it again unless I mess something up in the tank.
I don't use QT, I don't treat (we won't get into the garlic thing here

), I just give the fish a healthy, happy home. This approach has worked wonderfully for 10 yrs + now.
If your thought is to use UV to fight ich, IMO, save your money for something else.

fishoholic · #9 07-25-2008, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Sometimes I think ich is over rated. It's pretty much in all tanks, and affects fish that are stressed to the point that their immune system doesn't fight hard enough.
I just added a large sailfin tang to my tank last night, by the time I got him home and in the tank, he was covered in ich. My tank is very clean, high oxygen, and lots to eat. Already the ich is all but vanished, and I don't suspect I'll see it again unless I mess something up in the tank.
I don't use QT, I don't treat (we won't get into the garlic thing here

), I just give the fish a healthy, happy home. This approach has worked wonderfully for 10 yrs + now.
If your thought is to use UV to fight ich, IMO, save your money for something else.

Good points. I have a feeling if the ich is due to stress then maybe the fish (even though they don't act like it, and still have a fair amount of space to swim in) are stressed because they're a bit over crowded. Maybe I should save up and put the money towards a large FOWLR tank for my angels to live in

fishoholic · #10 07-25-2008, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeP

I've had a 18watt UV on my tank for about a year now. I have plenty of pods and haven't had any real trouble with algae or disease.

Good to know thank-you