UV sterilizer - Yes or No

[bfuqua]

I have read that a UV sterilizer could be bad in a reef tank but they can be very helpful in controlling many problems associated with a fish only tank. I also read a thread on this forum about a UV sterilizer solving problems for a TBS reef tank.

Our tank has cycled and looks great but we can't move our fish into it because we had an ICH attack in our little cube tank. We are trying to solve the issue before we move the fish.

So my question is have any of you had experience with a UV sterilizer and will it help the health of the tank overall? Richard, please chime in.

Thanks, Bill

 

[schmuttis]

I reply since no one else has - I was curious what others have to say. I have a fairly new tank with a UV running from the start and I have had relatively few problems with my two rock shipments.

 

[liverock]

Re: UV sterilizer - Yes or No

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9711077#post9711077 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bfuqua
I have read that a UV sterilizer could be bad in a reef tank but they can be very helpful in controlling many problems associated with a fish only tank. I also read a thread on this forum about a UV sterilizer solving problems for a TBS reef tank.

Our tank has cycled and looks great but we can't move our fish into it because we had an ICH attack in our little cube tank. We are trying to solve the issue before we move the fish.

So my question is have any of you had experience with a UV sterilizer and will it help the health of the tank overall? Richard, please chime in.

Thanks, Bill

They are a two edged sword....kills the good, and the bad.....nobody I know uses one...

Richard TBS

 

[ybenormal]

This is one of those questions that stirs up a lot of debate with folks strongly for or against use of UV units. I know several people who use them on their tanks and they have some of the nicest corals, fish, and crystal clean water.

Part of the argument against them is that they kill 'everything' that goes through them. This might be true if you use a strong enough unit and if the water is flowing slow enough through it. Then again, not every pod is going to be sucked through the unit and most of the beneficial bacteria in your tank is in the substrate and on hard surfaces such as LR and glass. Any bacteria killed by the UV unit would be minimal IMHO and not a major concern.

UV will kill Ich (actually Cryptocaryon or Oodinium in SW tanks) when it is in the free-swimming tomite stage, the only time it is really vulnerable to treatments. Again, not all of the parasites will actually be passed through the unit and be eradicated, but the population will at least be reduced and hopefully give your fish a better chance of recovery. UV is not a cure-all though and it definitely should not be used in lieu of a good QT regimine.

Adding garlic and Selcon to the food appears to help fight off the parasites and helps the fish regain their strength so they can recover quicker. Clean water, quality food and a stress-free environment is a must while the fish are infected (actually this is always a good idea but that's another topic of discussion).

Your best bet is to continue treating and monitoring the fish in the QT tank until they have been parasite free for at least 4 to 6 weeks. Weather you should use UV, copper or any other treatments depends a lot on the overall health of the fish but I wouldn't let the gloom and doom opinions on UV units scare you away from them. They are beneficial to some degree and any drawbacks other than cost are minimal at best. HTH