UV for tank

[dmbedard]

Could someone expound on the value of a UV sterilizer for the tank? I have read that it gets the water very clear and will kill parasites, such as ich. Does it leave the good bacteria in the water? How often do you have to change the light bulb? Where does it attach to the system?

Thanks to all who help :fish2:

Looking forward to tomorrow's meeting :celeb3:
Diane

[AJ69]

Diane,

1-UV will kill "good" and "bad" bacteria.
2-If you have a sump, you can hook it there before or after.
3-How often to replace the bulb, that depends on "time exposure",I had one ran for 12hrs every day and also depends on flow and voltage(bulb watts).

BTW, how's your husband?
My prayers to a fast recovery.
AJ :)

[dmbedard]

Thanks AJ. The feedback is good. Ted also told me that to kill the pathogens I would need about 50 watts. It is a 90 gal tank.

My husband is still in the hospital. He will get a cardiac catheter tomorrow so they can see where the blockage may be. At least he is in the hospital where he can get immediate medical help, should he need it and talk to medical professionals to help allay his fears.

We are very fortunate that his life was spared. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Diane

[guntercb]

Diane,

First my prayers are with your husband. I hope he has a fast recovery.

Second, a UV will kill the "good" and "bad" bacteria as AJ said.

I have never had an UV unit and if you decide to get one, can you let us know why you went that route?

Good luck,
Chris

[dmbedard]

I have a large, fat hippo tang that a friend gave me. She was delivered in a 5 gallon bucket in the open bed of a pickup truck over country roads and when I put her in my display tank, she came down with ich (stressed is my guess). I had just finished leaving the tank fallow for 4 weeks while I treated my other fish for diseases and none of the fish want to be caught.

The rock would have to be removed for me to be able to catch the tang. She hides whenever I pull out the net. She is approximately 6 inches and is breathing fine, eating and swimming. The other 2 fish have not come down with ich and she has been through 2 rounds of it.

I am feeding them medicated food, food soaked in garlic and nori. All fish appear ok, except for receeding white spots on hippo. (It's been approximately 6 weeks that the fish has been in the tank.)

I was hoping that running uv would kill the ich parasites when they are free floating, helping to rid the tank of them permanently.

I have a dsb and lots of live rock, so I expect to have enough good bacteria to continue my biological filtration.

Thanks for the prayers for my hubby. He had a cardiac carth today and it came back fine. He'll be home tomorrow and then it's twigs and sticks for us : )

Diane

I thought that by running the uv ster

[Aquatic Hamster]

Diane, if you would like you can take the UV unit for now to see if it helps with your needs. If so you can pay me then. If not, you could just return it to me and I'll see if somebody else is interested in it.

This unit was with my setup when I bought it (I have replaced the bulb reciently) and it was plumbed right off the main return pump with a ball valve. Using the ball valve you could control the flow into the UV, I don't think you want the flow through the UV to be too fast. Then it was plumbed to go from the UV unit back into the sump. The UV unit has barbed connectors for 3/4" tubing. These connectors can be changed out if you need a smaller barb for the tubing, or if your hard core and hard plumb the whole thing. :)

[AJ69]

Diane,
Glad to hear the "good" news.About the ich on the hippo I did the same thing(UV) had 2 Tangs with same symptoms,used the UV for a month 24/7 and both got cured.After that ran the UV for 4-5 months on a cycle of 12hrs every day until sold the UV.Did you know where the Tang sleeps?:confused:
See'ya
AJ

[dmbedard]

AJ,

What size uv did you use? I think the tang sleeps in the back of all the rock near the bottom (the furthestmost point from me : )

Chad,

What a generous offer! Let me make sure that 25 watts will be enough to do the job and then I would love to buy it from you -- or rent it from you....???

Thanks again for the clove polyps. They are adjusting back to the tank real nice and I expect them to overtake soon : )

Then I can trade frags again... YAY!

Diane

[robthorn]

well first off any uv no matter of watts can kill bateria and help to hurt parasites or I think make them sterile or something like that. anyway I don't think it kills them just keeps them from reproducing. 8 watts is the smallest I have seen and with the proper water flow through it will do what it is intended. size matters only because of water volume in the system. uv also helps with water quality and will help to keep your orp higher much like ozone will do. I have been running a 36 watt on my 125 since I set it up. it appears to work pretty decent since my orp stays near 380. I run it it on my aquacontroller to keep the orp up and it switches off at 385 I think.
uv also helps to keep the free floating algea in check and slows down the diatom growth on your glass. I would say I clean my glass 2-3 times a weekm instead of 3-4 times per week. not alot but with my schedule it really helps.
the amount of free floating bacteria uv lights kill are minimal an amunt to think who cares about. if you have live rock and or sand this is in no way an issue you should worry about. if you have no ammonia or nitrite you have plenty of bacteria doing there job.
unlike some hobbiest believe uv can be very helpful in a reef aquarium environment. only draw back I can think of is it adds some heat to your system. the more watts the more heat.
50 watts is aweful expensive I would check out ebay and get a 36 watt jebo unit for I think $70. don't let them tell you they are cheap because uv doesn't care. the cheaper metal halides are believed to emit more uv so I figure if a cheaper uv light puts off more uv I am good with that.
all uv lights I have seen come with a flow chart for algea and parasite control I would just go a little slower than recommended.

[dmbedard]

Rob,

What is orp? Hope you can make it to one of our anchor meetings soon : )

Thanks for the insight,

Diane

[robthorn]

oxidation reduction potential. it is an indication of general water quality. like the ability to cleans. here is a very indepth article by randy holmes farley that you can read if you wish. it mentions uv making hydrogen peroxide to help kill bacteria. hopefully it does more harm to bad bacteria. I have never really cared about anything free floating in my aquarium except my fish. all else can die or be eaten.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.php
it's pretty explanitory but read the whole thing before making any judgements.
I am going to make it to one of the meetings pretty soon I think I have been working alot the last few years. :)

[AJ69]

D,
I ran a 8 watts spiral type, try to re arrange the rocks a little to see if the tang switch his sleeping area.;)

[gatorolsen]

first, let me say hope your husband is doing well, our thoughts are with you for a speedy recovery and trip home

I am not familiar with your fish (i.e. their appetites) but was wondering if you had tried a cleaner shrimp - we had a tank and yellow tang donated to my husband's school that came down with ich and we moved a shrimp in there that took care of all the visible white spots - couldn't say cured the fish it had some other things going on with it and eventually died but no more visible ich and it didn't spread to any other fish

doesn't mean that ich is gone from our tank and that another stressed out fish wouldn't come down with it but it was a cheap alternative for us.

just my 2 cents

[dmbedard]

That's funny you would suggest that. I thought it was a great idea and went and got a beautiful pair of cleaner shrimp... which my blue headed wrasse promptly ate! Expensive lunch for him... lesson for me. I just love that wrasse though...

The tang seems to be fine and I am going to try the uv sterilizer.

It just amazes me how one fish can be so healthy as to get ich and keep on and another will get it and succomb.

Thanks for the 2 cents. It is a great idea if I could part with Speedy.

My husband is recovering at home. God is good to us.

Thanks again for the good wishes and prayers...

Diane

[robthorn]

it just depends on if the parasites can get into the gills and the eventually do so much damage that the suffocate. death normally doesn't occur from body bites. thats why the rapid breathing comes into play.

[BdaSquid]

Hi Reefers.
A buddy has a +100G tank. Since the addition of a UV unit (25W), he can now keep butterfly fish without them getting sickly. The water is clearer as well. The UV was connected to the system via the canister filter return output. It runs all the time and the bulb has been changed after six months.

In my 30G setup, ich was running rampant during the first two to three months. Fish were dying quickly. I almost lost my prized blue tang. For days, it would have white spots every morning, shake some off through the day and get more the next day! All the fish were getting weaker. A UV would have taken a few days to arrive, so I had to act fast. A bit of the live sand bed was siphoned off daily, the "water change" Atlantic Ocean water was heated to the tank temperature before addition and I resorted to nori (toasted) seaweed for daily feedings. The reef buttefly didn't make it but the tang got better and more active. No more ich now....hope this helps!