UV Sterilizers

[DeletedAccount]

I know that Ray uses UV's on his big system, but does anyone else use them? I am thinking about getting one for times (like now) that I have outbreaks that I cannot control.
Anyone know what brands are good and bad?

[Triggerman]

alot of reef people don't like the idea of a uv ster. because the uv light can kill any free floating microorganisms whether good(plankton etc.) or bad(parasites such as ick, unwanted algae spores). you have to weigh your options it's not a piece of equipment that everyone needs to have on their system to become successful, but it does have it usefulness in my opinion. hey look even now there are people arguing over the use of protein skimming, now on that subject i'm in the middle there's alot of pros and cons but we can discuss that later. as far as the uv goes you can still get ick if your running a uv, the key is when the parasite becomes free floating it has to travel through the unit at a proper flow rate or kill rate determined by the tank size and unit wattage. i use mine as mainly a precautionary measure along with regular rountine maint. alot of cases of ick just have to be waited out, and after the system matures and there's no new stresses being added to the system than the immune system of the fish can fight off majority of infectious disease. if you decide to go with a uv the bulb has to be replaced every six months and the units sleeve needs to be cleaned out regularly so the unit can be run efficiently. check out rainbow lifeguard units, i use the old megawatt units by esu. which they don't have anymore they have a new style.

ray

[Chris]

Ray explained it well. In a tank like his I can definitely see how a UV ster. could be good and even necessary. Growth rates/long term health isn't as important in holding tanks because of the high turnover of fish/inverts the system will never be at a constant bio-load.

As Ray stated, adding the UV will kill more good things in the tank than it will bad. Ick is a parasite that your fish can easily fight off if they're 100% healthy. That's not to say that healthy fish can never get ich, but a healthy fish will have an easier time fighting it off.

A lot of the times, some of the reasons our fish get ich is due to our own negligence. Overstocking can be a big problem, or just improper quarantine care. I’d say figure out the source of the problem, and correct it rather than adding a band-aid.

[DeletedAccount]

Well, unfortunately I have been having this problem that for a while. It started as the diatoms and cyano. The only thing that i took in new to the tank that has ich is some plants I picked up from a friend (no, not you, Chris). I never thought to quarantine macro! Dumb me. A few days later he had a MAJOR ich outbreak and my came about a week later. So, I have been looking for the source of the water problems for over 2 months now. My tests come out within normal parameters. I thought that my temp was flucuating too much, so I fixed that. I have been doing weekly water changes, slightly larger than normal (15%) to try to get out the water. After a ton of salt, no change. I know that whatever has my cyano and diatoms going is stressing my fish, making them susceptible to ich. I just cannot find what the cause is.

Misti

[Chris]

Yeah I suppose in a situation like yours it would probably help for a while to clean things up in your tank. I still wouldn't recommend one longterm for anyone keeping a reef tank, but if you're willing to spend the $, give it a shot.

[Texreefer]

i have a small uv sterilizer i would be willing to part with if you have something you are willing to trade

[DeletedAccount]

Would it be anything that would work for my 120? I really do not have much I can trade. Anything living has ich harbored somewhere on it, and I do not have equipment hanging around. (except a few pumps that are horrible and a nightmare to deal with.) Would you be willing to sell it?

Chris,
I know that this UV thing would be very short term, long enough to aid me in getting rid of the problem until I can get things settled in the tank. I took my water into AA on Bandera last week and they tested it and everything they tested was well within parameters. I guess that I just do not know what to do except keep up the water changes and try short term UV. I got rid of the cyano and diatoms finally just because I used chemi-clean. I started a new water source this week. Maybe that will help. I am getting quotes on a RO/DI unit this week. (I was using a girlfriends and we were cutting the costs in half for check-ups and such.) So, if I decide we can afford that maybe it will help. Who knows. The problem is obviously in something that we normally do not check.

[Texreefer]

its probably not big enough for a 120,,,,sorry

[Chris]

I hope it works... i'm interested in finding out what's going on with your tank too.

:shock:

[DeletedAccount]

Thank you for the offer, though.