UV filter or not?

[Mafiaboy]

Hey there,

I'm not exactly sure what constitutes a "new" owner or not but I've had a tank running for about a year now. I still feel new to the hobby because there is so much to know, it's been a wild ride trying to read up and figure everything out.

I've been fighting some cyano and diatom issues in the tank lately, I think i need more flow. I was told a lot of people recommend putting in a UV filter, any long term enthusiasts or experts can chime in here? Is a UV filter good and worth the money? I want to start putting a lot of corals in the tank as well. Any direction would be appreciated, just don't want to waste money on something that isn't necessary.

Tank is 260 Gal / 3 radeon g5's

Cheers

 

[Spare time]

A UV might make things worse since its going to lower the number of bacteria in the water that would otherwise compete with cyano and diatoms. A UV is only helpful in cloudy bacterial blooms. I don't recommend any tank run a UV unless there is a free floating bacterial or phytoplankton bloom.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I always use Chemiclean for cyano. I know there are purists who don't like additives, but it works for me. Diatoms usually occur from higher silicates, either from your source water or new rock additions, etc., in my experience.

 

[Mafiaboy]

Yeah I wasn't going to do the setup specifically for the cyano/diatoms problem i was just reading it adds a lot of clarity in the tank and kills parasites that might target fish. I appreciate the replys

 

[Spare time]

Yeah I wasn't going to do the setup specifically for the cyano/diatoms problem i was just reading it adds a lot of clarity in the tank and kills parasites that might target fish. I appreciate the replys

If clarity is your goal, a carbon reactor might be better. As for parasites, a qt is the only way to stop them.

 

[laxer23]

If you watch the BRS videos on beneficial bacteria almost none are free floating. A UV is a great tool for controlling parasites that are free swimming such as ich. That's what I use it for and really it's best use imo.

 

[Spare time]

If you watch the BRS videos on beneficial bacteria almost none are free floating. A UV is a great tool for controlling parasites that are free floating such as ich. That's what I use it for and really it's best use imo.

That refers to the cycling bacteria. There are normally large numbers of bacteria that thrive in the water column if they aren't removed.

 

[Saltees]

IMHO, I do use UV correctly sized to remove protozoa, but I do recognised the good bacteria in the water column, therefore only run UV during lights out on weekdays. And I dose Dr Tim's Waste Away (Heterotrophic bacteria) over the weekend without UV. Nritrifiers (Autotrophic bacteria) are not affected by UV. Nowadays, I only run the skimmer (very wet) 8 hours a day to remove the excess effluent from my biopellets, and in doing so they do remove the bacteria from the water column. I do get the half bucket (~2 gallons) of skim mate and I replace an equal amount with freshly mixed salt water, effecting a small water change daily.

 

[Koty]

I run a 25W Vecton2 UV with a small pump/flow. With all the respect to bacteria i think we should be carful not to turn our tank to a bacterial culture. Consider that the UV replaces the UV from the sun. Not 100% sure but turning it off was associated with some coral death in my DT. My 0.02

 

[am3gross]

Going against the grain here. I use to think the UV was hogwash, however I have since changed my mind. I had Cyano, diatoms and the worse case of Dinos. Water changes made it worse, no matter what I did, it wasnt going away.. Started adding microbacter7 and it helped, but not completely took it away. Added the UV (20 watt Lifegard) and it is no more. I also got it for the water clarity aspect, so no matter what I was hoping it was not going to be a complete waste of money. Well to my surprise it fixed my tank! I will say that you will need to dial it in, which could be a pain in the butt and take some experimenting, but it helped me for sure.

 

[Saltees]

Going against the grain here. I use to think the UV was hogwash, however I have since changed my mind. I had Cyano, diatoms and the worse case of Dinos. Water changes made it worse, no matter what I did, it wasnt going away.. Started adding microbacter7 and it helped, but not completely took it away. Added the UV (20 watt Lifegard) and it is no more. I also got it for the water clarity aspect, so no matter what I was hoping it was not going to be a complete waste of money. Well to my surprise it fixed my tank! I will say that you will need to dial it in, which could be a pain in the butt and take some experimenting, but it helped me for sure.

I was on UV 24/7 from day 1, survived through bouts of parasites. Of late I’m turning to bacteria to control nutrients holistically, instead of GFO therefore putting them on timer temporary. I’m seeing the merits of UV in keeping clear water for sure.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

We have UVs on both of our tanks. We have battled with both cyano and diatom, but diatom in both of these tanks. To help with diatom, we did not do a water change (when the tanks were new: >6 months). We brushed the rock daily, used 10-micro sock filters in the sump, and when brushing, used a maxi jet with a hose attached to the end and pump the water back into a 10-micro sock filter that was hovering over the tank or slightly in the water to catch the floating diatoms. Also, added Dr. Tim's...

Just my two cents worth.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I like to keep my bacterioplankton population strong to supplement coral nutrition so I'm not a fan of UV unless maybe if you're fighting dinos or parasites

 

[laxer23]

That refers to the cycling bacteria. There are normally large numbers of bacteria that thrive in the water column if they aren't removed.

I'm not sure, when I watched the recent Biome series they used just established tank water to cycle a tank, and that tank performed the poorest when put up against things an established aquarium can handle due to the lack of biodiversity. Watching the whole series, the different families of bacteria almost all but 1 or 2 lived in the water column. This is a older topic we all had some idea about that is being explored in depth to progress the hobby in new ways, but as it looks right now, I would run a UV and not worry about bacteria in the water column because the percentage of total beneficial bacteria is so low. I don't know like I said it's being explored in depth for the first time as hobbyists and things change.

 

[Spare time]

I'm not sure, when I watched the recent Biome series they used just established tank water to cycle a tank, and that tank performed the poorest when put up against things an established aquarium can handle due to the lack of biodiversity. Watching the whole series, the different families of bacteria almost all but 1 or 2 lived in the water column. This is a older topic we all had some idea about that is being explored in depth to progress the hobby in new ways, but as it looks right now, I would run a UV and not worry about bacteria in the water column because the percentage of total beneficial bacteria is so low. I don't know like I said it's being explored in depth for the first time as hobbyists and things change.

Their video is not a great study. Its not scientific and I think people should only see it as anecdotal. I like BRS, but I dislike hobby "experiments." I see more and more people referencing it to the point where I am starting to see BRS as irresponsible with drawing conclusions off of their data. This is what repeated experiments, with statistical analysis, done by people trained many years, and critical review are important. This would be a better reference https://reefs.com/magazine/bacteria...ing-and-granular-activated-carbon-filtration/

They do work well at clearing those heterotrophic blooms, but again I question how beneficial they are in a reef tank given my previous statements.

 

[laxer23]

Their video is not a great study. Its not scientific and I think people should only see it as anecdotal. I like BRS, but I dislike hobby "experiments." I see more and more people referencing it to the point where I am starting to see BRS as irresponsible with drawing conclusions off of their data. This is what repeated experiments, with statistical analysis, done by people trained many years, and critical review are important. This would be a better reference https://reefs.com/magazine/bacteria...ing-and-granular-activated-carbon-filtration/

They do work well at clearing those heterotrophic blooms, but again I question how beneficial they are in a reef tank given my previous statements.

I agree BRS isn't a lab. I did like that research document a lot of good info in it, however, there were questions that weren't answered, that we are talking about. They mention bacteria and they're life cycles. All bacteria or just the strains they are trying to manipulate? What strains are commonly found in an average home tank? Also The researcher said that in the home aquaria water column bacteria don't reproduce effectively due to water changes and protein skimming not used in the experiment. I did find it interesting that the research said Acropora did not thrive in tanks where water column bacteria was high, but soft coral did!?
It's really late so I hope I read that all accurately.
Overall I think there is a lot of information we don't know, and eventually the puzzle will fill in, but right now based on this research and the anecdotal BRS observations helps to shine light on something that could end up being very important to short and long term success.

 

[Saltees]

I thought I had my ICK under control with good feeding and 24/7 UV to a point where there a no signs for 9-12 months on my 5 TANGS. I turned off the UV for a month in favour of nutrient reduction with Dr Tim's NP Active Pearls Biopellets and Waste Away. I am seeing a slow drop in NO3 from 40ppm to 20ppm, but PO4 is holding firm at 0.5ppm.

BUT my TANGS are covered in ICK! I'm never gonna turn off my UV ever!

 

[Dav2996]

Hey there,

I'm not exactly sure what constitutes a "new" owner or not but I've had a tank running for about a year now. I still feel new to the hobby because there is so much to know, it's been a wild ride trying to read up and figure everything out.

I've been fighting some cyano and diatom issues in the tank lately, I think i need more flow. I was told a lot of people recommend putting in a UV filter, any long term enthusiasts or experts can chime in here? Is a UV filter good and worth the money? I want to start putting a lot of corals in the tank as well. Any direction would be appreciated, just don't want to waste money on something that isn't necessary.

Tank is 260 Gal / 3 radeon g5's

Cheers

I love my UV sterilizer it is amazing. It reduces disease in the tank. It wipes out completely my diatoms. It will not cure cyano but it will reduce diseases in the tank.

 

[Dav2996]

Hey there,

I'm not exactly sure what constitutes a "new" owner or not but I've had a tank running for about a year now. I still feel new to the hobby because there is so much to know, it's been a wild ride trying to read up and figure everything out.

I've been fighting some cyano and diatom issues in the tank lately, I think i need more flow. I was told a lot of people recommend putting in a UV filter, any long term enthusiasts or experts can chime in here? Is a UV filter good and worth the money? I want to start putting a lot of corals in the tank as well. Any direction would be appreciated, just don't want to waste money on something that isn't necessary.

Tank is 260 Gal / 3 radeon g5's

Cheers

Downsides to UV sterilizer is you can”t keep coppeopods alive because they will zap all the babies they make in the water column. You could make a pod nest in the sump and have the pump suck them into the return pump to feed your fish but I do not have that option haha

 

[Mafiaboy]

Some really good responses in here, I think I will not put a UV for now. I have never had any of my fish get ICH, I plan to put more corals this year and I'm worried about killing the plankton. Also Montreal isn't the best place for this hobby, I'm not sure I trust anyone to do the right install, GPH from pump etc. I read a lot about the flow going through the UV is important to determine what you're sterilizing.