RandyWatson
New member
I was just wanting to see how many people used a uv sterilizer on thier fish only tank, and what advantages if any that they can have.
uv sterilizer on a Fish only
- Thread starter RandyWatson
- Start date
I use UVs on my fish only. The benefits include increase water clarity and killing of parasites.
If you want to kill parasites then you MUST use a low flow pump. If you use a really strong pump on one it wont do any good. Low flow means more contact time with the UV lamp, hence higher kill rates.
If you want to kill parasites then you MUST use a low flow pump. If you use a really strong pump on one it wont do any good. Low flow means more contact time with the UV lamp, hence higher kill rates.
zemuron114
In Memoriam
for your 125 i would suggest only running a max of 400gph through it. This will kill more parasites. However if you dont have any now then keep it at about 1000 ghp this will still kill some parasties and keep it clean 
On my 125 gallon I run a 40 watt UV with a bout 300 gph going through it. That tank is recovered from a really bad case of ich. The only things I did were water changes and add that sterilizer. Remember that our tanks are basically closed environments, so even if you only run 100 gph through the sterilizer it will still work, if not better. this gives it more exposure to the water, thus "killing" more bad things that u dont want in your tank.
This is what Wolverine (RC staff) had to say on a similar question of mine recently regarding Uvs......
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I personally am not a fan of UV sterilizers, for several reasons. One is that they have to be carefully calibrated to have any effect on the bacteria count. And if there are changes in the water clarity (which there will be in a tank), then this changes the effectiveness of the bulbs.
Another is that this isn't proven to save fish, just to reduce the bacterial count.
The bigger problems are things like maintenance with keeping the tubes clean and keeping the bulbs replaced. Most people tend to neglect this, which means you're not really getting the full effect.
Along with this, IME, UV sterilizers give people a false sense of security, so they're more likely to skip out on a few other maintenance issues, feeling that they have the protection of the sterilizer, which may or may not be working properly.
At a conference I went to a few weeks ago, Scott Michael, Eric Borneman, and Steve Pro were all not in favor of UV sterilizers for the above reasons (and others). There's also the potential problem that Eric pointed out that UV light is a mutagen, and you could be created a few difficult to treat strains by increasing the mutation rate of the populations in the tank.
Dave
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I personally am not a fan of UV sterilizers, for several reasons. One is that they have to be carefully calibrated to have any effect on the bacteria count. And if there are changes in the water clarity (which there will be in a tank), then this changes the effectiveness of the bulbs.
Another is that this isn't proven to save fish, just to reduce the bacterial count.
The bigger problems are things like maintenance with keeping the tubes clean and keeping the bulbs replaced. Most people tend to neglect this, which means you're not really getting the full effect.
Along with this, IME, UV sterilizers give people a false sense of security, so they're more likely to skip out on a few other maintenance issues, feeling that they have the protection of the sterilizer, which may or may not be working properly.
At a conference I went to a few weeks ago, Scott Michael, Eric Borneman, and Steve Pro were all not in favor of UV sterilizers for the above reasons (and others). There's also the potential problem that Eric pointed out that UV light is a mutagen, and you could be created a few difficult to treat strains by increasing the mutation rate of the populations in the tank.
Dave
I am aware that plenty that plenty of people bash the use of UVs. However I dont care! Mine works as I want.
I used to have a 9 watt on my 125 and realized that it didnt do squat. Now my 40 works, dont care what anyone says! MY water is crystal clear ( wasnt that way before ) and have no signs of ich......remember I said I had an ich outbreak REALLY BAD befor I installed it.
I agree that MANY people feel that as long as they have a UV they are ok and will not get ich or other parasites for that matter. That way of thinking is wrong. If UVs were perfect you could put a 9 watt on a 500 gallon tank, but theyre not. You have to know how to CORRECTLY run them!
Personally I own 3, and every couple months I take them down to clean them. What I have found is that contrary to what EVERYONE says............the quartz sleeves are NEVER covered with crap. Of course mine are all on Fish Only systems. I think if u dose calcium, magnesium, strontium etc, there will probably some build up. But in FOWLR I think they stay fairly clean
THe problem again is that too many people think that when they install a UV it will cure all theur problems. Thats not the case by any means. Aquarist need to focus on everything in the system and practice good maintenance and husbandry techniques. I didnt beat my ich problem just with the UV. I did lots of water changes and FW dips along with it.
I used to have a 9 watt on my 125 and realized that it didnt do squat. Now my 40 works, dont care what anyone says! MY water is crystal clear ( wasnt that way before ) and have no signs of ich......remember I said I had an ich outbreak REALLY BAD befor I installed it.
I agree that MANY people feel that as long as they have a UV they are ok and will not get ich or other parasites for that matter. That way of thinking is wrong. If UVs were perfect you could put a 9 watt on a 500 gallon tank, but theyre not. You have to know how to CORRECTLY run them!
Personally I own 3, and every couple months I take them down to clean them. What I have found is that contrary to what EVERYONE says............the quartz sleeves are NEVER covered with crap. Of course mine are all on Fish Only systems. I think if u dose calcium, magnesium, strontium etc, there will probably some build up. But in FOWLR I think they stay fairly clean
THe problem again is that too many people think that when they install a UV it will cure all theur problems. Thats not the case by any means. Aquarist need to focus on everything in the system and practice good maintenance and husbandry techniques. I didnt beat my ich problem just with the UV. I did lots of water changes and FW dips along with it.
