Uv Sterilizers.......

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Sp00ky

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I have bought myself one and weighed it against the cost of 10 bottles of WS3 at £3.99..... the UV was £40.00.

Anyone else got one and have they noitced a decrease in illness in their tanks?
 
Which one do you have ? I've recently thought of getting one for my 50 gallon.
 
great buy!

we bought one about 18 months ago and have not looked back. since we bought it we have not had one instance of illness or fish death. Everyone who visits comments on how crystal clear the water is and how clean it looks (not all down to the UV of course :p )

The main reason we bought it was a problem we had with our gourami's. They were in and out of quarentine and we sadly lost two. We set up the UV before completing a course of meds (again), re introduced them to the main tank and the problem resolved.

it also creates a very pleasent blue glow in the cabinet!

good luck with yours, hope you find it as usefull as we have
 
I really want one of those. I have not had any problems with my tanks but would love the knowlege that I do not need to worrie so much.
 
Fawke you please let me know what brands you have ? And how does yours operate ?

Thanks Spooky - could you also let me know how yours is set up and if possible brand.
 
How do they work, I would like to get a UV sterilizer, but I only have a HOB filter. Any suggestions on how I can get water flow through a UV sterilizer if I get one?

The best idea I had was to just get a cheap canister filter, and use that, hooking up the UV sterilizer in the return line of the canister filter. I assume that canister filters normally come with a built in pump? The extra filtration of a second filter sure wouldnt hurt.

I read that you need at least 15 watts of UV to get parasites, so I was looking at 25W units. I figured if I am spending the money, I might as well get one that kills parasites too. The 25 watt units are over $100 though. The cheapest canister filter I could find is $50 or so. That would make quite a dent in my wallet :(
 
There are many benefits of UV filters, but I would just like to point out that while UV filters will cut down a very very large percentage of problems like algae, parasites, etc. It cannot remove 100%. This is because the UV filter only affects a small percentage of the tank at a time, not the entire tank.

What will happen is that the population of algae, parasites, etc. will change until the rate of growth (reproduction) will be equal to the rate of death by the UV. Now, the remaining populaiton of algae, parasites, etc. may be extremely small, so that the fish may not be appear to be afflicted with parasites at all, but there will be a very small core population ready to spring up if the fish become stressed out.

That said, a lot of people have had success using them. For example, if you use a UV to kill off 99.9% of the ich in the water, then use medications to kill the last bit (medication affect the entire tank so you can eliminate 100% that way) many have found that the length of medication can be much shorter and hence easier on their fish.
 
I don`t think any one expects fitting a uv filter to the tank to cure everything,
but it`s got to help with alot of problems in the tank and make life that little bit better for both us and the fish....

With uv systems going for 4-60 quid they are well withing most peoples price ranges, and with a bottle of pima fix at almost 15 pounds it dosent take alot of sick fish to make it worth while buying the uv system
 
Ok, so i went and treated my lovely discus to a shiney new sterilizer last night :)

This is the one i bought which does up to 200L an hour and is £19.99 at my LFS
http://www.aa-aquarium.com/showroom4.php?id=156&level=1

and this is the one in my large tank that does up to 430L an hour and was £39.99.

You notice the difference in water clarity over night by the way. My discus tank looks awesome now. Thats probably due to the algae it has already got shut of :)

http://www.aa-aquarium.com/showroom4.php?id=157&level=1
 
We have one on our tank and I think its great....remember it does not stop algae growth as many people assume it will.

I think that this has really helped us keep the tank healthy, we had a problem with White spot arriving on some Rummy Noses and treated them (and the whole tank -snails) to No6 (we needed 1/2 a bottle for each dose) and the Dreaded spot did not spread around the tank to any of my other fish and cleared up completely has not made any return yet.

We have quite a well stocked Very large tank and the thought of getting "something" in the tank and it spreading is a worry that the UV helps keep in check. The new bulbs (needed every 6 months) are not that expensive at around £15 - £20 depending on where you go. I would say when you consider the money you spend out on fish £40 for a UV Steriliser is nothing and the peace of mind is good.

If you need more convincing go read the emergency section and when you see the disasters that befall people and how easily.... :sad:

Oh and how do they work????
You need a power head if your running it seperatly to you filter as we are
A foot long box with sealed unit UV light inside it, another clear tube in box right next to UV bulb....a powerhead sucks water up pumps it trough the clear glass tubbing next to the UV bulb in the box and tubing then puts it back in the tank its a simple as that. we have clear fexable tuubing and our UV unit sits under the hood at the back of the tank (we have loads of room as the tank is so big) a couple of pics here might help
FishPics032.jpg

FishPics034.jpg


We have now replaced the rigid tubing with soft Ehiem tubing as its so much easier to clean.

Hope this helps
 
Wanda, which one do you use and how is it set up ?
 
our model is a vecton

http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/cat...ex.php?cPath=30

this is where we got it from. they were very a great help.

Ours is set up on our canister filter. we cut the hose from the filter outlet back to the tank, and fitted it so the clean water passes through the UV, then continues as it would normally back into the tank.

We have the smallest charterhouse stock. We did buy it some time ago so there are possibly better deals out there now, as always its worth shopping around

HTH
 
Thanks again Fawke. Charterhouse usually has great prices.

Would you say the fitting of the UV had any effect on the flowrate and output from your external filter ?

Thanks Wanda - just saw your setup and it definitely helps me to understand how they work :)
 

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