UV sterilization

[Neo Jeo]

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]

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.

 

[Neo Jeo]

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]

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 :)

 

[Neo Jeo]

Has anyone have any success with the lower end UV's? or opinions?

 

[lapin]

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]

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.

 

[Neo Jeo]

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.

 

[Neo Jeo]

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

 

[manuel732]

$5k UV [emoji24]

 

[Kmsutows]

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]

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

 

[liveround69]

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]

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.

 

[FartyParty]

Initially I ran it 24/7 but scaled back when I started on the Triton method to increase my algae growth.

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]

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]

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.

 

[Neo Jeo]

I found a inexpensive UV. It will fit right into my sump. What do you think?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/13W-Aquari...822343&hash=item1ecf027f77:g:IvwAAOSw-7RVCPGs

 

[Neo Jeo]

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.

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]

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?