Should I get a UV sterilizer?

[yoshiod9]

I think Mike pretty much summed up this thread with not only very good explanation but with proof behind it.

 

not to be a stickler but...uh. how exactly is word of mouth (or hand, in this case) considered 'proof'? i could tell you all about how i set up a uv unit on a customers' tank and the damn thing didn't do a single thing about their 'parasite' problem (low flow rate through it and using ozone). is that 'proof', too?

 

also, ever hear the saying, 'prevention is the best form of medicine?' why not take the time to QUARANTINE your fish before just adding them to your tank like a newb? seems like a quarantine tank would better serve everyone's needs (you can QT fish, corals, snails, etc.)-- rather than spending the money on a UV sterilizer, of course.

 

seeing how this is a nano-reef forum, i highly doubt that many people here actually have the need for a uv sterilizer. unless, of course, they are using natural sea water (unfiltered), don't quarantine, have massive nutrient issues, have an overstocked tank, etc.

 

that being said, i do see the point to having a uv sterilizer if you maintain a mariculture facility or a large system...in large systems there are just too many things that can go wrong and it is always better to be safe (have one around) than be sorry (have a unicellular algae bloom wipe out your stock).

[Ecko]

not to be a stickler but...uh. how exactly is word of mouth (or hand, in this case) considered 'proof'? i could tell you all about how i set up a uv unit on a customers' tank and the damn thing didn't do a single thing about their 'parasite' problem (low flow rate through it and using ozone). is that 'proof', too?

 

also, ever hear the saying, 'prevention is the best form of medicine?' why not take the time to QUARANTINE your fish before just adding them to your tank like a newb? seems like a quarantine tank would better serve everyone's needs (you can QT fish, corals, snails, etc.)-- rather than spending the money on a UV sterilizer, of course.

 

seeing how this is a nano-reef forum, i highly doubt that many people here actually have the need for a uv sterilizer. unless, of course, they are using natural sea water (unfiltered), don't quarantine, have massive nutrient issues, have an overstocked tank, etc.

 

that being said, i do see the point to having a uv sterilizer if you maintain a mariculture facility or a large system...in large systems there are just too many things that can go wrong and it is always better to be safe (have one around) than be sorry (have a unicellular algae bloom wipe out your stock).

 

 

It is true that Mike could have just being typing a small story on this thread explaining in brief how this saved his aquarium, which I would Rw/C as I do everything, but Mike has an entire thread with pictures and pretty much day-by-day journal of his experience and that is why I used the word proof (true, he could just be a Coralife employee bs'ing us all, trying to sell his product, but I doubt it). Plus I wouldn't have backed him on this if it hadn't been for my own ich outbreak similar to Mike's, and I got really lucky to have strong fish and to stupid to have invested in a QT. Since I have connected a UV, added CS, and have a min. 2week sentence in a QT that I have set up specifically for this, as I explained earlier in this thread, which to me is the best prevention.

 

 

Quote "Now I run UV's in both my SW-FO & Reef and also got a 12G NC just for a QT, no sand or ground cover so I can monitor any problems, and all new fish get to stay in the pen a min. of 2 weeks with my jewel damsel (small, used only to keep up bio when no one else is locked up). Did you know that commercial aquariums (ex: Long Beach or Monterey Bay Aquariums) QT for min. of 4 weeks. Makes you wonder why more people don’t QT. So IMO both UV & CS are a YES, but more important QT."

 

BTW, both my aquariums are larger systems (60G SW-FO & 75G SW-Reef).

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Yoshiod9,

 

You mention the installation of a UV for a customer, low flow and the ozone as well with no results...

 

You have peaked my interest beyond belief, can you please respond on this thread a diary of his husbandry on his reef?

 

I'd like to see where you entered into the picture at what stage to fight off his outbreak; a list of his fish and all other factors would be great...

 

I assume you know much about reefkeeping as you installed two rather expensive and controversary pieces of equipment; uv and ozone...

 

You also state you had no luck with them; I'm really with jaw opened in speculation of what happened; what went wrong?

 

Yoshiod9,

I'm not trying to lay down research on UV and Ozone, but rather my experiance which stems from day to day logging of all my activities on this site...

 

I have carefully made inferences that best govern the use of UV and Ozone; as I read up on them thoroughly before I purchased...

 

Yoshiod9, since you postulate that it was not my UV or Ozone what do you govern it could've been?

 

Would you say, covered infested ich fish just got the strength to beat the next set of waves that ich multiplied in?

 

Was it the No-Ich meds that I used 2 weeks prior to the UV unit; remember the half life of the med is 5 days, I went 14 days before I introduced UV.

 

Remember this thread is, "Should I get a UV Sterilizer"? I based a professional opinion based on detailed experience on a single reef tank. I'm not conjuring folklore to promote UV usage.

 

Anyway, I wasn't about to watch more than $300 dollars worth of fish sink to the bottom and become the menu of parasites.

 

I intervened and used, BEST PRACTICES FOR MY REEF....

 

I'm very sorry you failed your customer with the use of UV and Ozone, it did so much for me....

 

MG

[yoshiod9]

the 'customer' situation was hypothetical, mike. it was used to point out the fact that i could say anything i want and the fact remains that the issue is not truly "proof" of anything.

 

for example: "this one time, i was free climbing and slipped my grips. as i started falling, i told gravity to stop doing its thing. it did and i survived. I HAVE PROVEN THAT I CAN MAKE GRAVITY STOP WORKING WHENEVER I WANT IT TO."

 

see what i mean? unless you were there or i have evidence, its just words in the wind. (not saying, of course, that uv and ozone don't help take micro-orgs and unicellular algae out of the water)

 

also, i made no claims that the uv and ozone didn't help clear up your tanks' ich problem. not sure where you got that from, really. i would hope that the use of ozone and a uv sterilizer would get rid of free-floating micro-organisms like it is supposed to, though!

 

the reasoning behind my post was to point out the fact that uv sterilizers are nice...if you want to spend the money on them...but they definitely are not needed in smaller tanks (i.e. anything under 180g)-- unless, of course, you don't quarantine, you overstock your tank, are using unfiltered natural seawater, have nutrient issues, etc. in which case, please, stop reefing.

 

ecko- a "large system", to me, is anything above 180g...not a 60g or 75g tank. i would wager that you probably don't need the uv on your tank. just a thought. i mean, with you QTing and all...it's not necessary-- but it is a nice extra to have around in times of outbreak.

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Yoshiod9,

 

Point taken and point taken very well; you clearly made me understand your point of view. I had taken you seriously, my mistake...

 

I will agree and support your opinion that UV units are not a necessity on nano tanks nor for 60g or 75g; however I made a huge error in QT and it was a line of defense that clearly worked...

 

I say that with conviction because I report good and bad with my experiences and wouldn't want someone to go through what I did...

 

I have a nano tank in my bedroom and you are right, I wouldn't use UV there but if I had to do a 72 gallon all over; I WOULD MOST DEFINITELY USE ONE, I WOULD NEVER HAVE TAKEN MY FISH THROUGH THAT ROLLERCOASTER RIDE, WHERE ICH INVITED ITSELF...

 

Mike G

[Carinya]

I wouldn't put one on a nano reef of my own, but I hardly have any fish. Usually just one. And *knock on wood* I've never in 5 or so years of reefing had trouble with fish disease, ich or otherwise.

 

However, I think if I were really into the fish side of things, I'd definitely get one. If I ever execute the seahorse tank of my dreams, it'll have a UV for sure.

[Ecko]

I agree with you that a UV on a Nano Tank might not be worth the plumbing, but I’m a little confused why you think a UV on a 60G or 75G is not worth the money. I picked up the Coralife UV for $75. I understand to some people this may be alot of $$$ but I cant imagine it would be to anyone in this hobby. I know I spend about $50 or more per Coral and $30 ++ for Fish and after my encounter with ich I had no problem skipping one fish/coral purchase for getting a UV. I don’t know about you but my 75G is 30" deep and I have about 100lbs of LR, I don't want to be diggin' for a dead tang, so if running a UV and spending ~$100 to set it up is not that extreme. I'm sure Mike won't be taking his UV down now after the battle he went through and his is a 72G.

[yoshiod9]

I don’t know about you but my 75G is 30" deep and I have about 100lbs of LR, I don't want to be diggin' for a dead tang, so if running a UV and spending ~$100 to set it up is not that extreme.

 

ahhh...so the uv sterilizer is so you can be a lazy reefer-- i get it! j/k

 

on a more serious note, i just think that the cost of adding a uv sterilizer to a smaller tank is not really worth it if you are already taking the necessary precautions AND if you could just simply do a few waterchanges to help deal with some of the issues a uv is used to 'cure' (obviously, not for parasites).

 

mike- thanks for taking the time to see what i was saying!

I have a nano tank in my bedroom and you are right, I wouldn't use UV there but if I had to do a 72 gallon all over; I WOULD MOST DEFINITELY USE ONE, I WOULD NEVER HAVE TAKEN MY FISH THROUGH THAT ROLLERCOASTER RIDE, WHERE ICH INVITED ITSELF...

as for that quote...you should've just made sure to freaking quarantine everything, man! lol. i betcha that that, alone, would have stopped you from putting ich into your tank. oh well, though...live and learn, right? besides...if something like your experience happens to me, i'll know to go buy a uv sterilizer now.

-danny

[Ecko]

ahhh...so the uv sterilizer is so you can be a lazy reefer-- i get it! j/k

 

 

Is that even possible, a lazy reefer? Unless your referring to another reefer!!!

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquariums]

Lazy reefer in the Advanced Topics forum? I don't think so.... Wrong forum, to talk about lazy reefers....

 

Try again....

[critmin]

Firefishbrain,

 

Are you kidden me, you don't think UV rays run in the ocean??? Where have you been lately??? UV is a natural occurance in everyday life, not man made either, we are talking certain rays of the sun emit deadly rays that are considered ultra violet...

 

You've been to the beach and come back burnt, it's the UV rays that are the deadliest out in the open sand... Our eyes are the most sensistive parts of our bodies that cannot filter out this light, hence UV protective glasses and sun screen...

 

Out in the barrier reefs of Australia, certain currents that pull phytoplankton from thousands of miles are destroyed or can we say controlled by the rays of the sun UV. This is a natural occurance from mother nature; therefore what arrives to the barrier reef is not an over abundance that could cloud the reef and take away light from precious high light demanding corals...

 

I'm not here to push your buttons, but simply lay down a little education on this thread...

 

MG

 

 

 

While UV light is naturally produced by the sun, the intensity of the light that reaches the earth's surface is not the same as the intensity that is produced by UV sterilizers. I use to work in a genetics lab and we used UV sterlizers to destroy unwanted bacteria as well as UV projectors to read gel electrophoresis. Obviously the intensity of UV was different in these two applications.

 

I support the use of UV sterilizers for ich. I don't use mine all the time. An ich outbreak is usually observed as many parasites on the skin of the fishes. However, there are also many free floating ich. As the ich run through there life cycle they will all eventually have to drop off and begin there reproduction stage. The entire cycle is about two weeks depending on temperature as I recall. UV sterilization will prevent the accumulation of ich in the next cycle. So if you happen to see ich on your fish, you can apply UV sterilization to help them combat the parasite.

[Skiploder]

One of the biggest problems with UV sterilizers has to do with the fact that people are often given incorrect information on set-up issues, most notably flow rates.

 

Like Mike, I run sterilizers on all my tanks, both fresh and salt water, but do so at flow rates that ensure maximum dwell time.

 

Recently I saw a lady buy a 9w turbo twist because she was counselled at the LFS that it was the right size for her sixty gallon tank. If memory serves, at 9w, she would need a flow rate of 60 gph or less to have any effect on ich. Since she was running it on the return of her Filstar canister filter, the odds are that she will be sorely disappointed if the sterilizer was bought ot combat parasites.

 

Additionally, these units need to be properly prefiltered and maintained on a regular basis.

 

I started running a coralife 36w on my quarantine tank and successfully combated ich without any meds or raised temps. I then began running them on all my tanks. When combined with proper husbandry and maintenance, they can provide an extra margin of insurance and safety on our tanks.

 

In short, do you need one - no. However if you have the money, I would recommend investigating and purchasing a unit - it definately won't hurt.

[clifford513]

I voted no. Not necessary for a nano. Nice for a larger, heavily populated tank as a way to offset the cost of the unit.

[superparker]

NO

1) you're not going to find one sized for an nano, so it will do overkill

2) there is always a natural and more efficient way of doing things than using man made technology.

-if you're worried about disease, get a cleaner shrimp or goby or both. uv's aren't a way of not having to do as many water changes, it can't be justified as how the same job would be done on a real reef. (i.e. protien skimmers are good because the simulate the EFFECTS of the tides they take away all the bad stuff. there isn't that much UV radiation out on the reefs.)

"there isnt much uv radiation out on the reefs"? what kind of rays do you think the freakin sun omit, little man. u=stoopid

[formerly icyuodd/icyoud2]

i had a huge outbreak of ich in my planted aquarium. my pipefish had it bad! (senitive fish/rated experianced reefers only)

 

i left them to thier own devices and the tank is now free and clear of ick (i dont have a uv sterilizer, did not treat the tank in anyway)

 

im not for or against uvs, however i just wanted to point out, that fish, even the sensitive ones can over come ick all by themselves.

 

mike,your six week sinerio of the fish getting bet after the introduction of the uvs, sounds exactly like my situation (time frame vs fishes health) only difference is, i didnt do anything.

[elklown]

Danskim,

 

A few points I think were touched on but not really made key. There are plenty of nano sized UV sterlizers that don't require plumbing but may be unsightly - but this is good. I agree with the naysayers here that a UV unit is not necessary and may inhibit tank maturing. Of course this is mainly an issue for reef tanks, for a FO I would totally go with a UV considering the money is all tied up in fish. Here are some points I'd like you to consider:

 

1. Cleaner shrimp can be effective, but NOT in nano tanks, this is primarily because the fish we keep are small and skittish of cleaners, whereas large tanks with bigger fish tend to more readily accept the cleaning stations. That said I have had cleaners in my tank work on "iched" fish but that was only when they were near death laying on the bottom - way too late.

 

2. The nano units are cheap, definetly save money compared to running the QT tanks and all the meds that just end up sitting there.

 

3. Benefits also include helping to reduce free floating algae, espeicailly those you scrape off that end up floating and settling elsewhere. So keeping a emergency UV for blooms is a benefit.

 

4. QT tanks are not IMO as necessary for nanos, we don't keep a lot of fish and they tend to be cheaper. Plus, many of us keep nanos for the lower cost and space savings - I have a 30 cube now with a 5.5 QT occasionally used. I used to have a 60 with a 29 QT, that made more sense but these days to keep essentially 2 stable nano QT's is too much work. Forget the QTs but consider freshwater and blue dips certainly.

 

What to do - do some research and either pick up or be ready to pick up a UV unit for emergency situtations only.

[FishTechNH]

Hey, haven't been here in awhile and thought it was odd to see this thread still going. By the way, I have never had a fire in my house, but I still keep a fire extinguisher around. Depending on the situation it may or may not be helpful, but I'll keep it around just incase

[ezcompany]

don't UVs prevent algae outbreaks as well?

[bubblethumper]

I'm running a UV sterilizer. Bought it from nanocustoms (their 9w model). I run it at night only (to keep heat out of the tank).

 

I'm relatively new to SW tanks, but I didn't see a good enough reason not to use one.

[phergus_25]

I have a slightly diffrent opinion from most people on this. I have, from time to time, hadpods of sorts that actually come ot at night IN THE WATER COLUMN. They will make the water look thick sometimes. When this happens my coral go crazy and all feeder tenticles come out and they look VERRY happy the next day. I dont want to get rid of this, so keeping good water quality takes care of parasites as well as algea, for me atleast.

[tamthapluc]

Now i'm convinced that i should have a UV sterilizer but there're two questions remained:

 

1 - Does it help in fighting against cyano bacteria ?

2 - When should i run it? Daytime or night time

 

Thanks

[ezcompany]

if i had one i'd run it 3 times a week for 12 hour periods.

[djchristone]

lol interesting old thread...well i recently purchased a uv sterilizer because i saw my clown scratch itself on the sand and wanted to see first hand how well a uv sterilizer would work. 3rd day running (only run it at night, the first night it was run, i stayed up writing an essay anyway so i was able to make sure nothing was going to snafu on me...) but yeah...i've noticed somewhat improvements in my clown (top fin used to be down until feeding time but now it's more so up) so i'm going to take that as proof that it's working...for now i ofcourse won't be running it all the time since i have 1 inch croceas who need to be fed

[reiple]

Yup. UV works nicely. If you are just introducing a UV unit use a smaller rating one or use a smaller rating UV 24/7. Move on to bigger ones depending on your tank.

 

Again a tank is a small confined space. In the wild (sea) the density of pathogens to water is very very low. Not so in a tank.

 

Run a small UV. Cost very little to run (there are 4watt models).