ICH and UV treatment time

[juanmanuelsanchez]

Hello all! Well I have ICH and my UV just arrived.

I want to know how long do u need to keep my flow low for the uv to work out . Im controlling the uv using an apex flow meter.

So far the outbreak seems to be better but I'm worried that the low flow is increasing my phosphates and nitrates.

How long would you recommend to keep the low flow? Since that's mandatory for the UV to kill protozoans

Thanks for the help!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello all! Well I have ICH and my UV just arrived.

I want to know how long do u need to keep my flow low for the uv to work out . Im controlling the uv using an apex flow meter.

So far the outbreak seems to be better but I'm worried that the low flow is increasing my phosphates and nitrates.

How long would you recommend to keep the low flow? Since that's mandatory for the UV to kill protozoans

Thanks for the help!

Can you tell us the wattage of the UV, the tank volume, and the flow rate? How advanced is the case of ich? UV may not work if the disease is too far along....this is called propagule pressure.

Lowering the flow rate increases the dwell time, and thus the kill rate, but it ALSO reduces the turnover rate, so the ich tomites may never pass through the unit before they are able to attach to the fish. Here is an excerpt from my fish disease text:

UV sterilizers
Ultraviolet (UV) sterilizers are also sold as a “cure” for Cryptocaryon. The problem is that most hobbyist-sized UV sterilizers do not have the power to make an effective kill on the relatively large Cryptocaryon parasite. Additionally, UV sterilizers are effective only on the tomite/theront stage, as this is the only point where the parasite is even present in the water column.

The fallacy here is that tomites/theronts must leave the fish. Actually, some of them get caught up in the fish’s mucus and stay attached until they become infective trophonts again. This means that UV sterilization will not eliminate active Cryptocaryon infections from a single aquarium. Where it does have benefit is in eliminating tomites as they pass through a filtration system from one discrete tank to another (like in a public aquarium or fisheries lab).


Jay

 

[juanmanuelsanchez]

First of all. Thanks for the reply!

The aquarium is 180 gallons total volume (tank and sump). The uv is a pentair 40 watts unit. The flow as the neptune is reading is 220 GPH so its quite low.

I know the uv won't eliminate the infection. It will control the population long enough to give the fish a fighting chance. The infection its not that bad. I had worse in my past tank. It's been on since 3 days now and there are less marks or whitespot on the fish.... I know that doesn't mean much because the ich will now go to its reproductive stage.

But so far seems good.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

First of all. Thanks for the reply!

The aquarium is 180 gallons total volume (tank and sump). The uv is a pentair 40 watts unit. The flow as the neptune is reading is 220 GPH so its quite low.

I know the uv won't eliminate the infection. It will control the population long enough to give the fish a fighting chance. The infection its not that bad. I had worse in my past tank. It's been on since 3 days now and there are less marks or whitespot on the fish.... I know that doesn't mean much because the ich will now go to its reproductive stage.

But so far seems good.

The total wattage seems just a bit low/fast to me for that tank volume. Spotte lists a range for marine ich of 100,000 to 300,000 uw/sec cm-2. This is a difficult value to calculate. This chart may help:

https://pentairaes.com/media/docs/SMARTUV-manual.pdf

They suggest a flow rate of 98 to 164 gph for a 40 watt unit on a 160 gallon tank. Your tank is just a bit larger, but as I mentioned, lowering the flow rate may not give you the needed "boost" to eradicate ich.

Jay

 

[juanmanuelsanchez]

Looking at the chart (the one I used as reference is the same) it says that for a 260 gallon tank. You should use 157 minimum and 263 maximum GPH and my tank is smaller and I'm already at 200... So I don't know if that's good enough.

Also for how long should I use the uv in that low flow? A month to be sure to kill the most during the reproduction cycle?

Thanks

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Looking at the chart (the one I used as reference is the same) it says that for a 260 gallon tank. You should use 157 minimum and 263 maximum GPH and my tank is smaller and I'm already at 200... So I don't know if that's good enough.

Also for how long should I use the uv in that low flow? A month to be sure to kill the most during the reproduction cycle?

Thanks

Oh - I went with the "lite" Pentair version, you have one step up from that.

Many people find they just end up running their UV 24/7. The old "fallow tank period" would imply that theronts could still be released up to 76 days later (I think that is very rare). I would go for a minimum of 45 days though.

UV sterilizers are more in the realm of "ich management" as opposed to "ich eradication". Other than the bulb and electrical costs, IMO there is little downside to just running them all of the time.

Jay

 

[juanmanuelsanchez]

Yes... But that means running it at very low flow about a month with the possible downsides I already say. I will probably use the pump at full speed during the afternoons and the rest of the day at low speed. That way I can manage waste and keep ich at bay for a long time. Or at least I hope so...

What do you think?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes... But that means running it at very low flow about a month with the possible downsides I already say. I will probably use the pump at full speed during the afternoons and the rest of the day at low speed. That way I can manage waste and keep ich at bay for a long time. Or at least I hope so...

What do you think?

Thanks for the help.

The trouble with flow rate is of course, the lower the flow, the longer the dwell time and then larger organisms are killed. The downside is that at low flow rates, a lot of water never goes through the unit. That said, if you lower the flow in the mornings, when the theronts are being released, it might be helpful….
Jay