Uv steralizers, thoughts, suggestions, experiances?

[gleach]

Just wondering if anyone has gone this rout and experienced any negative affects?

I just installed one in my sump and although my water is always fairly pristine in clarity, I noticed that it made it even better within 24hrs. Makes me wonder if I need to run it 24/7 or if putting it on a timer is a good idea?

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[Brookster123]

Curious for experienced members to weigh in here. I recently purchased a sunsun canister with built in uv. My tank had gone seriously green, it cleared up within a day of hooking up the sunsun? It has a separate switch but I'm apprehensive to shut it off..

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[Sniperhank]

To be effective, most if not all of your water column needs to pass through the UV sterilizer to make it effective. This is almost impossible without the UV being right in the plumbing, like you would find in your drinking water. And that isn't really realistic for us since you have to replace the bulb like, yearly.

 

[gleach]

My tank is 60gal and the powerhead is rated a 120gph do I have it placed in the sump near the inlet in my skimmer chamber do you think it will suffice?

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[Sniperhank]

I would put it there...but in all honesty these things are not effective, period the end. Not enough water passes through them to make them worth the investment. So I don't think it will suffice for whatever you using it for.

 

[Mebbid]

I would put it there...but in all honesty these things are not effective, period the end. Not enough water passes through them to make them worth the investment. So I don't think it will suffice for whatever you using it for.

They can be useful in certain circumstances. Green water is the most obvious use for it as it works excellently for it.

Its commonly known that it won't cure anything, but it can be used for helping to decrease the effects of infections. Its better than nothing in those cases.

 

[Brookster123]

So in my case withe green water clearing? Just a coincidence? I'm not saying it us ultimately a result of the uv but... the evidence points to success..

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[Mebbid]

So in my case withe green water clearing? Just a coincidence? I'm not saying it us ultimately a result of the uv but... the evidence points to success..

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I'm saying in my case the uv sterilizer is 100% the cause of my green water going away

 

[gleach]

I am pretty sure it is doing something because as I said my water was already clear I use a reactor with carbon and gfo and now it is crystal clear with the addition of the Uv steralizer.

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[gleach]

My question was General but could there be any negative affects? What is the downside?

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[Mebbid]

My question was General but could there be any negative affects? What is the downside?

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Electricity, global warming, pollution from spent bulbs.

Presumably it could kill the phytoplankton and zooplankton making it harder for filter feeders.

 

[gleach]

Yeah I knew there had to be something. If we were all trying to be conscious of polution we wouldn't be in the hobby. [Moderator edit] near everything that is made on this planet has in one way or another a negative effect on nature in reality. Global warming is a myth anyway the world goes through phases it is scientifically proven although our negligents may be aiding it we are not the primary cause in my opinion. Unless you live in a cave and hunt for your own food and forege for survival you contribute to it everyday although that is another subject. We are talking about Uv steralizers today. Please don't take my opinion as rudeness that's not my agenda.

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[Mebbid]

As for specific effects on your tank, as I mentioned earlier it can cause destruction of some of the microbiata of your tank. Other than that it's fine to use.

 

[Sniperhank]

The downside of a uv sterilizer is that it doesn't pick if it'll kill off good guys or bad.


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[carey]

A UV is not meant to be run 24/7. Most users have it on a timer to run just a few hours a day to prevent green water/algae/cloudy water.

When I bought mine a few years ago I was instructed NOT to run it 24/7 as that would kill off the good stuff in the water, waste the bulb and the electricity. As a side note, after using the uv for a while I never noticed anything positive, or negative for that matter. It was like just a waste of money in my mind.

And for those who say it can cure ich or prevent it, like mentioned above, the amount of water that would have to flow through it to be worthwhile is just not gonna happen.

Just my two cents.....

 

[Mebbid]

A UV is not meant to be run 24/7. Most users have it on a timer to run just a few hours a day to prevent green water/algae/cloudy water.

When I bought mine a few years ago I was instructed NOT to run it 24/7 as that would kill off the good stuff in the water, waste the bulb and the electricity. As a side note, after using the uv for a while I never noticed anything positive, or negative for that matter. It was like just a waste of money in my mind.

And for those who say it can cure ich or prevent it, like mentioned above, the amount of water that would have to flow through it to be worthwhile is just not gonna happen.

Just my two cents.....

Before and after UV sterilizer

I never said it would "cure" any disease in the tank, but instead help keep it under control. Many aquarists here (Gregcoyote and Mr. X are on that list I believe) have low levels of ich in their tank and they rely on the immune system of their fish to take care of it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that; however, the proper UV sterilizer could add an extra level of protection in case the ich finds a hold and starts to spread for some reason reducing the severity of it. Just one example, but the reasoning there is sound.

 

[carey]

ehh well we will agree to disagree on the effectiveness of UV regarding ich.

It will catch some of the ich if its there but it just, in my opinion, wouldnt be enough. Granted, I have never used the UV for ich and have never had ich so I only go by research and reading what others have gone through. Some swear by em, and thats cool and all, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and thoughts on stuff.

And I will agree, the before and after are quite shocking. Thats what it's for in my mind.

 

[Mebbid]

ehh well we will agree to disagree on the effectiveness of UV regarding ich.

It will catch some of the ich if its there but it just, in my opinion, wouldnt be enough. Granted, I have never used the UV for ich and have never had ich so I only go by research and reading what others have gone through. Some swear by em, and thats cool and all, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and thoughts on stuff.

And I will agree, the before and after are quite shocking. Thats what it's for in my mind.

Agreed, I wouldn't rely on it for control of anything but green water, but even if they do work to kill a small percentage of parasites or bacteria, then it's a winner in my book. We are a group of people that regularly spend hundreds of dollars to drop our nitrates by a few ppm after all

 

[Sniperhank]

Using uv to treat an algae bloom and go after parasites like ich are two different animals. They are effective for a green water bloom as it doesn't need so much of the water column in a short period of time. Ich it would never come close to getting it unless it was plumbed into the drainage.


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[Mebbid]

Plumbing a uv sterilizer into the plumbing wouldn't necessarily work for parasites because the flow would be too high.

But on say a 100g tank a uv sterilizer pumping 150 gallons per hour wouldn't have any effect on ich?