Thinking about getting UV Sterilizer

Marc11

Marc11

New member
Not sure what ones are good, please help me with finding a good one. I have a 105 gallon tank with a 40 breeder sump, so about 120-130 total gallons.

Also if anyone has a used one laying around i would be interested.
 
I'm curious as to why your interested in adding one? They are minimally helpful at best, more in fish only systems, and not for reefs, but that's jus my opinion...
 
My reason for getting one is that i had an ich outbreak even though i quarantined my fish. I have an sps dominant tank but would like to add more fish and having one to use would only help with that. Obviously QTing any new fish will be done as well.
 
I always had a lot of trouble with fish and I still don't know why. A experienced reefer told me adding a UV would make all the difference as long as I got a 57 watt or larger. The 57 watt part doesn't make any sense to me and should be dependant on tank size. I had lost enough fish that the Uv was starting to look cheap . I went with a aqua uv 57 watt and have only lost one fish since and he was bullied. I see a significant difference in the health of all my fish. I don't think it has much do with killing ich and more to do with making the water cleaner and somehow better for the fish. Think about it the surface of the ocean is zapped with UV all day so it's not unnatural. And the water clarity improvement is excellent not as good as ozone but enough that I don't run carbon anymore. I've read that the UV rays breakdown organic compounds as well. I've read a UV that big on a system will kill pods but I've seen a increase in the last few weeks since I've stopped with filter socks again. And Copps uses UV and he's got a sweet tank. A large enough unit to be effective is costly and most people seem to do fine without one but I'll always run it.
 
UV does essentially nothing for ich since the parasite is difficult to get to actually pass through the sterilizer and requires large amounts of UV to kill it.

That being said if you are still interested in getting a unit I have an Aqua ultraviolet 57 watt used I could sell you for $150.
 
Useful_Idiot said:
A experienced reefer told me adding a UV would make all the difference as long as I got a 57 watt or larger. The 57 watt part doesn't make any sense to me and should be dependant on tank size.
Click to expand...

The wattage affects the pass through rate for your water. A lower watt system means the water must go through the UV slower to get enough UV to kill what you are trying to. This obviously poses a problem if you have a big tank and a low watt UV since you are unable to turn the water over in a timely manner. I believe you want 3 times turnover rate for your tank through your UV per hour at 75,000 - 90,000 µw/cm2.
 
I have three tangs, 2 cleaner shrimp, and that uv. I have rescued and regimes several fish that were pretty beat up. Not a pro but something is definately doing the trick. For 100 to 200 it's a small investment IMO, to possibly keep the environment cleaner.
 
Well, it's anecdotal at best, but in the almost 15 years since I have run my tanks with UV, I have had far fewer disease problems (actually, none) than before I used one. Now, I am also more experienced now and do use QT for the majority of my fish purchases (though, not all), so draw your own conclusions. Bottom line, for me, is that it appears to do nothing detrimental, so why not.
 
Thanks Zalman, I read up on that when getting mine but went with a 57 anyways. I have a 200 gallon system with about 4x turnover. The 57 watt is plumbed in the return to the display and at 600 gph I'm probably around 160,000. I called aqua uv to make sure the bulb wouldn't get to hot at a low flow and they said it wouldn't but I really should increase to 1066gph. My overflow can't handle that rate. Also Marc they do add heat to the system. I googled reef and uv all day at the time and could find very little positive info. As I said though it has made a clear improvement for me.
 
As with most things reef tank related, the benefits of UV are speculative at best. There have been no statistically significant studies conducted that I know of, or could find, so one is left with anecdotal views of hobbyists. UV sterilizes do eliminate problematic algae, bacteria, and at a low enough flow, parasites; but it is foolish to think that they can eradicate these things from your system without removing all substrate, rocks, corals, etc., and having high levels of flow through the unit. And none of us are going to do that, short of a QT tank (which may actually be the most useful application).

I use one because I can see no detrimental effects, and if it enables slightly clearer water and potentially lowers disease organism 'pressure' then why not.
 
Im not looking for it to eradicate anything. I'm going fallow for 8 weeks, treated fish with copper for 2 weeks and qt'ing everything that goes in my tank. I figured it couldn't hurt, but now i need to do more research. Thats what i love about this club, different view and ideas that get you thinking and researching.
 
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