UV sterilizers who uses them?

Discussion in 'Equipment' started by portereef, Sep 9, 2015.

  1. portereef

    portereef RRMAS Supporter

    I am looking into getting a UV for my 120 after working down in Florida all summer and the saltwater aquaculture facility I worked at had massive tanks with massive UVs. On the same note we also have small experimental tank systems that had little sterilizers on them. They thought it was necessary on every system. The ran a biofilter sump, skimmer and UV, water changes where not regular because of the quantity of water in each of the large systems and the cost of trucking in fresh ocean water or making there own synthetic saltwater mainly because they were 30+ mins away from the ocean. My question is who uses them and what sizes do you use? I mentioned I have a 120 gallon tank and am just wondering if other members have first hand experience and knowledge. The facility I worked with over the summer was MOTE aquarium and research laboratories in Sarasota, Florida.


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  2. Shadow1

    Shadow1 RRMAS Supporter

    I am running an aqua uv 57 watt on my 120 used it on my 375 that is in hibernation. Low flow for parasite control. Can't say it does any good but I feel better running it.
     
  3. portereef

    portereef RRMAS Supporter

    I figure it seems like a smart idea just incase a parasite gets into the tank. We will see how this all works out I'm planing on ordering one soon if I find the right one for the right price.
     
  4. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Never used one. What are you trying to accomplish with them? Isn't it pretty well accepted they are ineffective against Ich due to the low flow and unlikelyhood of getting every trophant through it. Interested to see the experiences of those that used them. I know several on here do use them.
     
  5. sdf_beanhead

    sdf_beanhead Grouper

    Haven't used one. I understand the use on a research tank to eliminate as many variables as possible. Also when using water from the ocean that has the potential of containing all kinds of things in a closed system, I would think it wise to use one.

    I think proper quarantine of new fish and corals is the best for preventing bad things from getting into the tank. In most cases if your fish are healthy, they will hold up well when a fish is introduced that does have parasites. Plus a good cleaner shrimp will cure many pest problems if the fish are willing to let them do their work. In fact that is what my fish quarantine system has in it.

    Not running UV will allow all the micro fauna we want in our tank to flourish too. If you are doing any kind of carbon dosing (think vodka, biopellet, vinegar, sugar), you will just kill off the bacteria you are trying to grow to consume the nitrate and phosphates.

    Just a reminder too... This is my opinion on it. ;)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 10, 2015
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  6. portereef

    portereef RRMAS Supporter

    Very great opinion and many great points. I am leaning towards a reactor for gfo and carbon. The. I should be well covered with these along with a friendly cleaner shrimp.


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  7. jonwright

    jonwright RRMAS Supporter

    Cleaner shrimp won't help with protozoan parasites unless I've totally missed the boat with what Ich/Brook/velvet is.

    With the reading I've done you basically have a couple of different ways of running a tank: one is rather mechanical with filtration and such that may mimic what a water treatment facility does to cleanse water. So here you'd have UV, Ozone (yes!), and other stuff. Heavy presumably on GAC and such. Some variations but in essence the goal here is to use mechanical means to filter/clean the water.

    An emerging method involves using more bacteria to do this. If one were to use a bacteria driven system UV and Ozone would likely be at odd with what you are doing (as SDF noted above).

    I've gone back and forth, and just about pulled the trigger on an Ozone generator. Then I fired up the vinVodka stuff and ... well...the tank is doing better so Imma do that for a while.

    I've QT'd a lot of fish, and many haven't made it. Since I've put health fish in the tank I've had 0 issues with parasites in my DT. None so far. Flukes - nope. Ich - nope.
     
  8. Jake atkinson

    Jake atkinson Wrasse

    One thing I have seen from running uv in the past is increased clarity of the water. It definitely allows for better light penetration from whichever light fixture you are using and that never seems to be a bad thing with a tank full of sps.
     
  9. franklypre

    franklypre Plankton

    They are an easy way to raise ORP, beyond that they don't do much that I've seen.
     

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