Is a UV Sterilizer a good add on, on any tank?

[Rockblast]

Hi,

Yeah it's me again hehe. I have so many questions and so much to learn. And I always like to know as much as I can of any product/creature etc before I buy them. I like you guys,you're always nice and so helpful and experienced Thanks again for all the help.

Ok back to my question. LOL Is a UV Sterilizer a good add on to any tank? What are the Pros and cons? How do they work(I mean do I have to buy a pump seperately for it to work)?

Those are some of my questions for now.

Thanks again

[Avian]

The purpose is for the water to tavel though the chamber and the UV light to kill off microorganisms, such as parasites in the water column.

In my opinion they are not worth it. I feel they kill off much of the planktonic food in your water column that corals and clams would eat, especially if you run a refugium.

Some people sware by them to prevent diseases such as Ich and Brook, but in order for it to kill these parasites, they must be suspended in the water column and happen to be sucked up into the UV chamber. Much of these parasites' lifetimes are spend on either the fish or sandbed and very little within the water cloumn. In addition, the water would have to move through the chamber rather slow in order for any parasites to die from the light.

I honestly would forget the UV and put the money towards a better skimmer or a Quarantine Tank to put new fish in for a couple weeks for observation. Trust me, the last think you want is to introduce a diseased fish to an established reef.

HTH.

[Rockblast]

Oh ok thanks forget the uv sterilizer

[KING OF THE REEF]

i run a sterilizer (a coralife turbo twist) and i found it does help to reduce the number of problems my fish have (ich and other infectious things) but for the money, i would rather upgrade my skimmer. it is a good tool to have on any tank, however adding one to a new tank isnt really going to help it much. hth as well

[Bret61081]

I put one on my tank back in June when I had a ich outbreak and IMO it helped clear it up rather fast. since I added it, I have only once seen a spot of ich on one of my fish and it was gone within a day. Not sure if it is helping with it or it just went away on its own, but if you get a good deal on it like Idid(10$ for an 8W) go for it...

[KING OF THE REEF]

fo a reasonable price like 10 bux why not. thats what i did with my sterilizer. i paid about $70 for it and it came with 4 replacement bulbs valued at 30bux a shot. good deals are always out there.

[Rockblast]

but does it need a pump to work?

[KING OF THE REEF]

yes it should have a pump, my turbotwist runs off a rio pump (a 600 i think) but ill ahve to double check that. easily fitted onto your existing system.

[PRC]

Don't forget that you have to change the bulbs rather often for them to be effective and they can be pretty expensive. IMO your money could be better spent on other items, like a QT tank.

[bawla47]

it doesnt have to have a dedicated pump though, it can be run inline with your return pump if you have one. many people opt to go with a larger wattage uv, and lower gph flow through because you can get alot more life out of the bulb, 12-16 months.apposed to maybe 6-8 months with a smaller wattage uv.

I will be using either a 40 watt or 57 on my new tank.(should finally be done in a couple weeks)

[redboxer13]

For the right price why not? I have one in my 72 gallon. My Tang had less itch outbreaks and the fish always seem to be healthy. My caoral SPS and LPS are doing great. Against popular veiws, I do not run a skimmer, thus I'm not worried about "they kill off much of the planktonic food". None the less, in my veiw, if the price is right it wouldn't hurt. As for the bulbs being so expensive, well it comes with the hobby and we all know that this is not a cheap hobby...lol