UV Sterilizer. Good or Bad?

[abcha0s]

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

I can't really select a voting option.

UV can be beneficial, but in saying that it can also hurt a system.

Beneficial could be if you have ICH, or if you have alot of algae in your water column. Then UV can help to remove this

BUT....

Detrimental is when you are using Zeovit, or any other bacteria based system to create a ULNS (Ultra Low Nutrient System), then you cannot use UV, as it will kill this system.

So it will all depend on what you are going to do with your tank.

I don't have any information on UV when running Zeo, so I won't comment on that.

I am interested in UV/Ozone when running bio-pellets. It does seem that the majority recommend against it, but I'm not convinced that it is bad. The idea with bio-pellets is that the bacteria live on the pellets and are then sloughed off and skimmed out of your system. Other than the initial startup of the bio-pellets, I'm not sure what the benefit would be with having live bacteria throughout your system. As I understand it, the beneficial bacteria that we need for the nitrogen cycle don't generally colonize the water column. I believe there are examples of people using both UV/Ozone and bio-pellets successfully, but don't have any quick referrences.

Thoughts?

- Brad