Pros and Cons of a UV Sterilizer
- Thread starter pmike25
- Start date
Don Lino
Premium Member
Gimplar
New member
i've had tanks with and without UV sterilizers and all i can say is this.
If you use the UV sterilizer appropriately, with the right size and right flow, it will help keep the numbers of harmful bacteria and other microbes/viruses down, but logically theres no way for it to discriminate against any particular organism so it kills good bacterium as well.
With Ich in particular, i noticed that the parasite count decreased with the use of a 30 watt UV sterilizer on a 125 reef tank with about 500-600GPH flow on it. I made sure to talk to john with the proper set up for it and it seems to be doing its job. Also make sure you replace the bulb every 6 months to make it as efficient as possible.
The key point is that UV sterilizers help, but aren't a remedy to all diseases int he hobby, i would still QT (ever though i dont
), and use other forms of medications when signs and symptoms appear on your fish.
Also, i've noticed that using a UV sterilizer and active carbon helps make the water more clearer.
If you use the UV sterilizer appropriately, with the right size and right flow, it will help keep the numbers of harmful bacteria and other microbes/viruses down, but logically theres no way for it to discriminate against any particular organism so it kills good bacterium as well.
With Ich in particular, i noticed that the parasite count decreased with the use of a 30 watt UV sterilizer on a 125 reef tank with about 500-600GPH flow on it. I made sure to talk to john with the proper set up for it and it seems to be doing its job. Also make sure you replace the bulb every 6 months to make it as efficient as possible.
The key point is that UV sterilizers help, but aren't a remedy to all diseases int he hobby, i would still QT (ever though i dont
), and use other forms of medications when signs and symptoms appear on your fish.Also, i've noticed that using a UV sterilizer and active carbon helps make the water more clearer.
oh and from what i hear, coralife's Turbo Twist has never been proven to work. Also having a UV with a Quartz sleeve makes it much easier to clean and no chances for breakage and to kill everything in your tank from the chemicals int he UV bulb.
triggerfish1976
New member
It really depends on what you are trying to achieve. UV will help control undesirable parasites and microbes but it is just as efficient at killing the denitrifying bacteria. If you have had problems with ich outbreaks in the past then UV is an option. I thought about adding a UV to the new tank but decided to go with Ozone instead. Ozone is not as efficient as UV at killing the good/bad microbes but it does the job for me in this regard and also increases the efficiency of my skimmer by increasing the oxygenation level in my skimmer and the tank.
WillWorkForFish
New member
I ran a turbo twist 18w on my 120 with a maxijet 600 i believe it was..
worked great.. then when my stand flooded and burnt out the turbotwist, my water clearity definitely wasnt as clear..
I orignally purchased it to help with a small ick problem I had in the beginning, helped out a lot!!
worked great.. then when my stand flooded and burnt out the turbotwist, my water clearity definitely wasnt as clear..
I orignally purchased it to help with a small ick problem I had in the beginning, helped out a lot!!
