Is Uv Essential? Or Worth The Money?

[bollands]

I was going to buy a v2 300 for my tank but not everyone opts for them, i currently have one running but i can almost guarentee that its not working. i hear it can kill of beneficial organisms.

bear in mind i will be keeping 1 or two yellow tangs and 1 regal tang.

i have the pump which will run off after my rowaphos reactor powered by an adjustable maxijet pump.

 

[VaegaVic]

I'm not a saltwater buff, but I am at hardware and I would always recommend a UV for the majority of tanks and ponds, obviously if one can actually afford it (not worth it on a 10L tank etc).
Reason I do is simply because of the beneficial traits it offers:

Rather than waffle on at you about it, take a look at this link, it might give you a bit more understanding as to why UV is my favourite piece of kit in fish keeping.

 

[bollands]

thanks man but i i cant click the link?

 

[Morri]

I would not spend money on a UV unless you need it there are some reports of it killing good bacteria it does depend on what you are trying to do the only thing I would use UV for would be an outbreak of whitespot then I would use it in conjunction with an ozone unit.

For clear water you cannot go far wrong with a 100micron sock if you are using a sump and some carbon.

If you intend to keep fish that are prone to whitespot then yes add one but only switch it on when needed.

 

[VaegaVic]

Ha sorry, something went wrong there with the link.

http/www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.ht
Must point out that there is no way it will kill beneficial bacteria, as the bacteria that nitrify aren't water-born, they attach themselves to things. If there is water-born nitrifying bacteria, it's most likely already dead.

 

[ben1987]

i dont think its worth it, unless your keeping white spot prone tangs. then i would only run one when they were showings spots and while introducing new fish. it has actually been said that it lowers your fishes immune system if ran constantly making them weaker.

 

[VaegaVic]

i dont think its worth it, unless your keeping white spot prone tangs. then i would only run one when they were showings spots and while introducing new fish. it has actually been said that it lowers your fishes immune system if ran constantly making them weaker.

Again a myth.

http/aquariumuvsterilizer.blogspot.com/2008/01/fish-immune-and-uv-sterilizers.html

 

[john.o]

I would say run one 24/7 on a quarantine tank when it is in use.


Edit...remove possibly misleading / wrong info that will confuse

sorry peeps me bad

 

[xxBarneyxx]

As you are keeping tangs I personally would get one and run it 24/7

Otherwise I would say have one setup ready for emergences.

As said above it will not take out any beneficial bacteria. I know the theory behind "it will lower the immune system of the fish". I honestly don't believe this though and I see no reason not to run UV if you can afford it.

 

[john.o]

Umm very interesting Barney
I must admit I have never seen it written down any ware in black and white sort a speak the UV can wipe out beneficial bacteria ect. I have just heard it word of mouth, it will be interesting to watch this tread and see what others think.

 

[ben1987]

they dont kill beneficial bacteria as that all lives in pourous material like live rocks. it will kill stuff living in the water collum that could be used as food by either corals or small fish.

also to be a good counter for white spot, they need to be ran fairly often at lower flow rate than manufacturers reccomend. as often it doesnt get the correct contact time with the bulb to kill the parasite. being in the water is only one stage of the parasite aswel. UV wont kill it when it is in the sand or on the fish

best it to QT all fish correctly and not bother with one on the main tank unless you have fish prone to parasites. then ozone & UV is better anyway

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah if you wasn't keeping tangs I would say don't bother (though it is a handy bit of kit to have as a backup).

As Ben said it will only kill parasites in the water born stage, however this is when you want to kill them before they get chance to attach to fish. Killing them at this stage will eventually remove them from the system (same way that flea treatments only kill fleas at one stage of their life cycle but eventually get rid of them completely).

Yes "in theory" they can kill zoa/phytoplankton which again in theory could be a food source for critters and corals. However I would say that the amounts of plankton like food being produced by the average reef tank is negligible anyway so its no real loss.

As Ben said ozone is much more effective for removal of water born parasites. However it is also more expensive to setup and if used incorrectly has the potential to kill everything in the tank (and if really badly done any humans that are in the area too, though this is very unlikely).

so basically yeah, if you have tangs I would highly recommend having a UV unit, if you don't I would still recommend it but wouldn't say it is required.

Also as Ben said it is no replacement for proper quarantine and introduction procedures. And we all put new livestock in quartine first dont we .....

 

[john.o]

I believed that running UV 24/7 on a display tank was not a good thing as they killed good and bad bacteria , then after reading Barney,s post I decided to look a little deeper into this and ....

My conclusion is that UV don’t discriminate against good or bad bacteria{they do kill both}, however the way the UV Sterilizer works is buy keeps ALL the UVC radiation inside the unit {un like the popular belief that it sterilizes the hole tank} there for it only kills off what flows throw it . And as Ben has said the vast majority of the beneficial bacteria are attached to our live rock/ sand ect anyway, so there not going to come into contact with the unit so there is very little to no chance of it wiping out the good bacteria.
I have also read that a UV Sterilizer will IMPROVE a fish’ immune system by creating a better Reducing Redox environment in the aquarium after water has passed through the sterilizer

 

[Morri]

I stick with what I say there is no need for it unless you get an WS infection in your tank I will only add one to my system if I have a WS then only long enough to kill the WS about 16 weeks

I run biopellet and am purpolsy intrudcing good bacteria into my DT for corals to feed of it would have a negative effect on that its the same as running UV with zeovit it kills all the good bacteria you are adding.

 

[john.o]

Umm good point Morri

The thought of the bacteria from a reactor / zeo method never crossed my mind,