UV sterilization

To UV or not to UV, that is the question.

  • Yes, crank up the light!

  • No, put your shades on!


Results are only viewable after voting.

Neo Jeo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
2,469
Reaction score
2,859
Location
East Michigan
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hope all is well my fellow reefers!

Well I lost my first fish, it was a leopard wrasse only lasted three days . I guess those are hard fish to keep in the beginning, also it was a smaller one . I’m worried about internal parasites, now I’m looking into UV sterilizer what are your thoughts on those ?

In the past I read there bad “kills good and bad” but both of my suppliers are saying I should use them . Also I think BRS 52 week tank they took the UV off.

Should I get one if I do what’s an affordable one ?
You run them constantly ?

Thanks!
 

EmdeReef

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 2, 2017
Messages
3,133
Reaction score
5,035
Location
New York, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would suggest identifying what killed your fish and trying to treat to prevent further losses. A UV will not replace quarantine and treatment.

I’m sure you’ll get different opinions but I would say UVs are good for killing algae and clearing water. Their efficient greatly reduces in tanks with rocks and substrate.

There’s not all that much research into effectiveness beyond industry numbers. Re. ich - most research was done on the fresh water variant which is quite different. Colorni and Burgess study on UVs indicates the required dose of radiation of 800k µW/cm2 to kill Marine Ich. If you look at the hobby units they deliver much less.

I’m sure you will get good opinions and experiences with UV on R2R.

If you do decide to go ahead, get one that’s proven to work and by a manufacturer that has done rating/testing - which unfortunately eliminates almost all affordable units.
 
OP
OP
Neo Jeo

Neo Jeo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
2,469
Reaction score
2,859
Location
East Michigan
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would suggest identifying what killed your fish and trying to treat to prevent further losses. A UV will not replace quarantine and treatment.

I’m sure you’ll get different opinions but I would say UVs are good for killing algae and clearing water. Their efficient greatly reduces in tanks with rocks and substrate.

There’s not all that much research into effectiveness beyond industry numbers. Re. ich - most research was done on the fresh water variant which is quite different. Colorni and Burgess study on UVs indicates the required dose of radiation of 800k µW/cm2 to kill Marine Ich. If you look at the hobby units they deliver much less.

I’m sure you will get good opinions and experiences with UV on R2R.

If you do decide to go ahead, get one that’s proven to work and by a manufacturer that has done rating/testing - which unfortunately eliminates almost all affordable units.
Thanks for the info. I see your point with the power of them for killing ich. I just don’t want to QT but it seems I just might have to .
 

EmdeReef

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 2, 2017
Messages
3,133
Reaction score
5,035
Location
New York, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I hear you! I live in an apartment and keeping QTs and HTs is a major hassle and then treatment which is why most of my fish are at least ~2yo...unfortunately no good alternative to QT.

That’s why we need @Humblefish to get his business up and running soon :)
 
OP
OP
Neo Jeo

Neo Jeo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
2,469
Reaction score
2,859
Location
East Michigan
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Has anyone have any success with the lower end UV's? or opinions?
 

lapin

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Messages
10,570
Reaction score
17,707
Location
Austin
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My Opinion
Save the money for more fish. Or do a QT set up. A cheap UV is a waste. Its not going to kill anything. They work by sterilization. If you have 100% of your water going thru a strong UV you can reduce the free floating living stuff quite a bit. Reduce is the key word here. The same for passing your water thru an absolute 1 micron or smaller filter. You wont get it all. There is water in your rock and sand . The rate the water needs to pass thru most UV units (contact time) to be effective, is very slow. Get something like this that will do 3000 gallons an hour and you have a chance at filtering most of your water.
http://www.servapure.com/Viqua-UVMax-Pro50-UV-System-50-GPM_p_2115.html
As EmdeReef says "Find out what killed the fish" "try to set up a QT system" . It can be a pain when you first start doing it. But 2ea 10 gallon tanks with an air pump is about the cost of 1 fish. The added bonus of a QT set up is you learn what fish will eat and how much with out over feeding your DT. My cardinals in QT really didnt like the frozen mysis or brine shrimp. Once I started up my brine shrimp hatching cone they decided it was feeding frenzy time and now eat the frozen foods as well as the live baby brine.
I have a 125 watt UV on my 600g . I figure it will help with my maintenance, but I will still have to work.
 

Kershaw

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 11, 2015
Messages
2,435
Reaction score
1,473
Location
sacramento, ca
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If it’s a wrasse. Chances are it’s flukes or an internal parasite. Uv won’t do anything for those. I have ran Uv on and off for years. Only thing I notice is the water seems to have better clarity. Like others have said UV will not replace any type of treatment or qt. However if I remember correctly. Brs did a video on it. And they said that running one could help reduce the chance of certain bacterial infections.
 
OP
OP
Neo Jeo

Neo Jeo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
2,469
Reaction score
2,859
Location
East Michigan
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just watched the BRS one. They are just large and will help with some parasites and reducing algae plus it seems like you have to really guess the flow rate.
 
OP
OP
Neo Jeo

Neo Jeo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
2,469
Reaction score
2,859
Location
East Michigan
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My Opinion
Save the money for more fish. Or do a QT set up. A cheap UV is a waste. Its not going to kill anything. They work by sterilization. If you have 100% of your water going thru a strong UV you can reduce the free floating living stuff quite a bit. Reduce is the key word here. The same for passing your water thru an absolute 1 micron or smaller filter. You wont get it all. There is water in your rock and sand . The rate the water needs to pass thru most UV units (contact time) to be effective, is very slow. Get something like this that will do 3000 gallons an hour and you have a chance at filtering most of your water.
http://www.servapure.com/Viqua-UVMax-Pro50-UV-System-50-GPM_p_2115.html
As EmdeReef says "Find out what killed the fish" "try to set up a QT system" . It can be a pain when you first start doing it. But 2ea 10 gallon tanks with an air pump is about the cost of 1 fish. The added bonus of a QT set up is you learn what fish will eat and how much with out over feeding your DT. My cardinals in QT really didnt like the frozen mysis or brine shrimp. Once I started up my brine shrimp hatching cone they decided it was feeding frenzy time and now eat the frozen foods as well as the live baby brine.
I have a 125 watt UV on my 600g . I figure it will help with my maintenance, but I will still have to work.

Ill get that 5k one lol
 

Kmsutows

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 26, 2016
Messages
845
Reaction score
860
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Go way over sized or don't bother. If sized properly, with the proper low flow, they help with parasite outbreaks that are free floating in the water. I run one just for a few days to a week when I add fish or if one looks like it may be sick
 

Fish4udog

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 4, 2016
Messages
232
Reaction score
317
Location
Cleveland
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Leopard wrasse are hard to keep i have had them for years your tank should be well established with live rock they eat pods they will adapt to frozen . I wouldn't recommend a leopard wrasse unless your reef tank has been running min a year to build up a pod population also have to watch other fish that eat pods
9086cc8d58b8745ccd0441da92b11dbd.jpg
 

liveround69

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 15, 2017
Messages
78
Reaction score
70
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I agree with FISH4DOG about waiting till the tank matures or the wrasses will have problems. I have a six line and a melanurus wrasse and both devastate my pods constantly. My tank is about 5 years old. Investigate before chancing another fishes life. Lastly remember that some....i repeat some...LFS will talk you into a fish you cant keep alive no matter what ...just to get a sale. It happened to me 15 years back over a mandarin goby. I slowly watched him starve. Made me feel like utter crap!! Never again. Research Research Research before you buy. Saves you money and a few fishes lives.

Good luck
 

mdrobc13

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 9, 2017
Messages
113
Reaction score
58
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have one and added a nice sized 50W to my 210 g tank to 1) clear water and 2) control free floating parasite/organisms 3) prevent outbreaks as much as possible. Initially I ran it 24/7 but scaled back when I started on the Triton method to increase my algae growth. Then I restarted it on a reverse cycle from my refugium LEDs for about 4 hrs a day...now have moved it to about 12hrs a day after adding a Powder Blue Tang last week. He initially looked good after move to DT [ordered from Live Aquaria] but then looked to have a few spots...these cleared up after he had 1) been in the tank a bit longer, 2) started feeding vita-chem and Zoe with his food 3) increased my UV from 6hrs a day to about 10-12 hrs a day on to kill more free flowing stuff in the water. Working good so far...we'll see.

54156114117__B5191C2E-8A2D-4554-89F2-19ADAB369831.JPG
 

FartyParty

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
156
Reaction score
92
Location
SoCal
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Initially I ran it 24/7 but scaled back when I started on the Triton method to increase my algae growth.

54156114117__B5191C2E-8A2D-4554-89F2-19ADAB369831.JPG
Doesnt triton work via the use of macro algae as primary nutrient export? And if so, how would UV affect local macro algae growth in the refugium?
 

cgdcinc

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 17, 2016
Messages
383
Reaction score
670
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I run a 36watt jebao on a 50 Cube with a sump. About 150gph running through it. My fish look like they are floating on air in the tank. Haven’t had any algae-cyano-ich outbreaks since starting. Love the water clarity. Can’t say if it really helps with ich or not.
 

mdrobc13

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 9, 2017
Messages
113
Reaction score
58
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Doesnt triton work via the use of macro algae as primary nutrient export? And if so, how would UV affect local macro algae growth in the refugium?
Since I do run it on schedule I probably don't get the full amount of macroalgae growth that I would get without UV however I do have it set to cycle on now with my Apex for about 12 hrs a day especially since I recently added a few tangs to include a Powder Blue Tang about 2.5 weeks ago. My fuge lights run on a reverse cycle to the UV and mostly at night for about 8.5 hrs. So far no issues.
 
OP
OP
Neo Jeo

Neo Jeo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
2,469
Reaction score
2,859
Location
East Michigan
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have one and added a nice sized 50W to my 210 g tank to 1) clear water and 2) control free floating parasite/organisms 3) prevent outbreaks as much as possible. Initially I ran it 24/7 but scaled back when I started on the Triton method to increase my algae growth. Then I restarted it on a reverse cycle from my refugium LEDs for about 4 hrs a day...now have moved it to about 12hrs a day after adding a Powder Blue Tang last week. He initially looked good after move to DT [ordered from Live Aquaria] but then looked to have a few spots...these cleared up after he had 1) been in the tank a bit longer, 2) started feeding vita-chem and Zoe with his food 3) increased my UV from 6hrs a day to about 10-12 hrs a day on to kill more free flowing stuff in the water. Working good so far...we'll see.

54156114117__B5191C2E-8A2D-4554-89F2-19ADAB369831.JPG

Amazing fish! I really want one but most people say they are hard to keep alive. Let me know how it works out and congrats on it ;)
 

dealseer

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
May 12, 2017
Messages
377
Reaction score
280
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I run a 36watt jebao on a 50 Cube with a sump. About 150gph running through it. My fish look like they are floating on air in the tank. Haven’t had any algae-cyano-ich outbreaks since starting. Love the water clarity. Can’t say if it really helps with ich or not.
About the ich...is that because you don’t know the flow through the UV?
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top