UV Sterilizer

[sajihassan]

Hi,

I have a 80 gal reef tank with lot of fishes especially tangs. before the tank was treated for ich. now all the fishes are healthy. But whenever i am adding a new fish especially tangs they get ich. I am planning to buy a good quality uv sterilizer. Here mostly are chinese ones available but i heard of two German brands Aqua medica and JBL Aquacristal. I am looking for 18W or 36W. Please advice me which of this is good one.

 

[nanojg]

I think maybe your tank is overstocked if you have multiple tangs, a uv wont help with that

 

[sajihassan]

I think so. Anyway i am planning for a UV. Can u suggest which one is good out of the two.

 

[snorvich]

Aqua UV is probably the best. However it will not solve your problem with ich.

 

[Wistler]

Snorvich is correct....I have a Aqua UV 57 watt unit that I have been running at a rate of 180 GPH 24/7 for three months. Plenty of wattage and slow enough flow to handle any parasites in the water column. The problem is even after three months I was still loosing new additions to Ich that my current fish are resistant to. Most of the Ich isn't in the water column but in the sustrate so every morning my fish would have spots, but by nightfall they were gone. They always ate like pigs and were very active and not once had cloudy eyes.

The Aqua UV is a great, well made unit, but unless you remove your fish, treat them, and "reboot" the tank after a fallow period I think you are just counting your days to a total loss.

You may be fine with your current group of fish and never have a problem, as many aquarists do. However, I believe your risks of a catastrophe are greater because the least little stressor such as a drop in temp, change in salinity, power failure, etc can allow the parasite to overtake your fish.

I am currently running fallow in my DT and treating five fish with copper. Hopefully in 9 weeks when I add them back it will have been worth the effort and expense of a 50 gallon QT tank. At THAT time I will continue to run the UV unit, but it should hopefully only serve to clarify the water and catch an occasional offender in the water column. Good luck.