Anyone using UV sterilizers?

neuro

neuro

the cat did it
In the last few months, I've had whole colonies wither away and die. I thought it was zoa pox, but looking back, it's hard to say since I didn't really see any 100% confirmed "pox" on the zoas. Can't tell if Furan2 helped, since I may not have dipped the colonies in time.

I thought the entire episode was over, until I picked up some high-quality mini-colonies only to have them wither away within weeks. :facepalm: That really hurt my feelings. These were pieces I really enjoyed having.

My tank parameters are perfect, and mainly setup for SPS. I have occasional cyano issues but that's because I overfeed. Everything is stable. This leads me to think that there could possibly be some fungus or bacteria in the tank that some zoas are strong enough to withstand and others cannot.

I was thinking maybe having a UV sterilizer may help with anything that's floating in the water column.

Tank specs:

Heavily stocked 60 gallon + 15 gallon Barebottom.
Salinity: 1.025
Phosphates < .01
Calc @ 450
Alk @ ~8.5
Temps ranges are 79 on average, 84 during hot spells.
10 gallon water changes every week (sometimes 20): Any cyano is sucked out. Rocks are lightly scrubbed with a toothbrush during these times.
Only 3 fish

All other equipment info is in my sig line.
 
Last edited:
DavidinGA said:
NO3?

Your tank hits 94f?!?
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LOL! Sorry. I just corrected it. 84 degrees.

I haven't tested NO3, but I assume it's really low since I'm doing constant water changes, using a filter sock, and skimming wet.

I'll retest NO3 tonight.
 
Sorry, I did not see the correction of the temp. :)


I am running a UV sterilizer which is properly rated for the flow through it and the tanks volume. However, I to am experiencing zoas withering away. For me it seems that the nicer zoas are hit harder whilst the uglier zoas seem unaffected. It also seems to pass palys by. If both our Zoas are being affected by the same issue, I doubt a UV will have any noticeable affect. Yet, we cannot be sure that we do have the same problem, so UV may be beneficial.
 
Josh40996 said:
Sorry, I did not see the correction of the temp. :)


I am running a UV sterilizer which is properly rated for the flow through it and the tanks volume. However, I to am experiencing zoas withering away. For me it seems that the nicer zoas are hit harder whilst the uglier zoas seem unaffected. It also seems to pass palys by. If both our Zoas are being affected by the same issue, I doubt a UV will have any noticeable affect. Yet, we cannot be sure that we do have the same problem, so UV may be beneficial.
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Thanks for the anecdote, since my tank has similar symptoms. The more common zoas affected too, but they seem to survive the bout much better than others. I would say they survive with about 70%-80% of their original colony without issue and are recovering without further symptoms.

BTW, what are the specs on your UV and your tank size?
 
Outside of white cheese, nudibranchs can do this as well. Do you see any small black masses around the polyps? UV won't help with pests if that is the case.
 
Eric Boerner said:
Outside of white cheese, nudibranchs can do this as well. Do you see any small black masses around the polyps? UV won't help with pests if that is the case.
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I do not. i've started at my guys for a really long time. Nothing black or dark-gray anywhere. No cheese fungus or algae covering besides diatoms that land on dying polyps.
 
If you have 2 little fishies veggie clip those are leaking rust into tanks and possibly causing crashes. Also cobalt northern heaters have been cracking causing crashes. Just a heads up for anyone reading this.
 
650-IS350 said:
what's your Mag?
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haven't tested that in a while. i'll do that tonight. thanks for chiming in charles. what's the effect of mag on zoas though?

theoregonian said:
If you have 2 little fishies veggie clip those are leaking rust into tanks and possibly causing crashes. Also cobalt northern heaters have been cracking causing crashes. Just a heads up for anyone reading this.
Click to expand...

i do not have vegie clips, or anything metal in the my tank besides tunze magnets and pumps
 
Ive just noticed that when mines low, Z's and P's not happy... When I test and most of specs good, I do a MG and find out its really low.

Plus when I run GFO for a long time, Z's and P's extremely not happy and have melted on me too.
 
650-IS350 said:
Ive just noticed that when mines low, Z's and P's not happy... When I test and most of specs good, I do a MG and find out its really low.

Plus when I run GFO for a long time, Z's and P's extremely not happy and have melted on me too.
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hmmm ok. my GFO has been running for a really long time. This issue has happened only recently. maybe my GFO has always been a problem and i didn't notice. i'll check my mag tonight.
 
I only run my GFO for a short time when I notice that phos is starting to be detectable. Run it for a couple weeks, then offline. I don't also use carbon 24/7. I only do it for a couple weeks at a time then offline as well. I think its the rapid absorption of nutrients by these media that ****ing off the Z's and P's. and something about GFO that I notice when turned on a couple days after z's and p's show stress. then after recover.
 
650-IS350 said:
I only run my GFO for a short time when I notice that phos is starting to be detectable. Run it for a couple weeks, then offline. I don't also use carbon 24/7. I only do it for a couple weeks at a time then offline as well. I think its the rapid absorption of nutrients by these media that ****ing off the Z's and P's. and something about GFO that I notice when turned on a couple days after z's and p's show stress. then after recover.
Click to expand...

hmm in that case i might try turning off GFO for a while then
 
that's in my case some might be different. you can do test checks like offline for a week or 2 and see if any difference in your Z's and P's if none they you can turn if back on.
 
650-IS350 said:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/10/chemistry

read some where around maintain levels between 1250 ppm and 1350 ppm. so your good.

Has there been fluctuations with your Alk and pH? as I do and know my Z's and P's hate that. Also depending on your rate of evap and by the time you top off can also cause issues.
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thanks for the link!

only recently there was a slight fluctuation with my alk. it went from 8.5 to 7.5, because i forgot to refill my alk reservoir. That took one week to occur. However, the melting issues happened well before the alk fluctuations.

Ph fluctuations average from 7.95 to 8.15 max, readings taken over a week. Is this too much of a swing?

My top offs happen automatically. As soon as it evaps something like a two or three cups of water, it will top off.
 
Z's and P's very temperamental. They can melt for various reasons, some to be honest, with no rational explanation.
 
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