Uv sterilizer ?

[R6_boogieman]

Hello everybody i wanted to ask on info on a uv sterilizer, i was given a Current-USA gamma UV sterilizer 25 watt "rated for a 150g" i think. Well whats the pros and cons of having this on a 55g tank ? I got a 40g sump by the way. Just wanted to know what your thoughts were. Does it need a pump ?

[joesfiddy]

If u have it might as well use it

[R6_boogieman]

well i dont know much about it. it was given to me by a guy o bought a overflow box from, he said "here you can have this uv sterilizer" ill take anything thats free lol but once i was in the car im looking at it like "ummmm so what does this thing do" LOL

[dustinkimpel]

UV sterilizer makes the water pass through the unit which contains a UV light. The UV light in theory will kill algea cells in the water as well as diseases your fish can contract such as ick.

[3FordFamily]

Originally Posted by dustinkimpel

UV sterilizer makes the water pass through the unit which contains a UV light. The UV light in theory will kill algea cells in the water as well as diseases your fish can contract such as ick.

Yes, and depending on the amount of waterflow you put through it, you can actually harm your coral or live rock (if too slow) or be ineffective against algae and ich (if too fast).

Find the manual for your particular unit and adjust flow to it's recommendations.

I have a small one (18 watt I think) on my 180. It has slow flow, who knows how effective it is but I got it for free during a tank purchase and figured ah what the hell, I will use it.

There's also much debate as to whether UV even kills parasites at all, or at least if it's effective enough to justify it's use, anyway.

[fishgate]

Replace the bulb. The one in it is most likely dead as far as effectiveness. They are good for 6-8 months. But they are effective.

[R6_boogieman]

awesome thanks alot guys i guess i just have to find what pump to use. but i dont know where to start looking :/

[R6_boogieman]

i found this but im not sure what is safe to use. i would love to hear your opinions guys.

http://www.current-usa.com/files/Gam...izingGuide.pdf

[fishgate]

pump selection is not worth losing sleep over. Get the below and be done with it.

http://www.amazon.com/Taam-Rio-Plus-...arium+pump+rio

[3FordFamily]

I would buy around 400 GPH then, I guess. I am no expert my brand had a different manual guide...

[ca1ore]

UV is a very good clarifier against algae or bacterial blooms, and it probably helps to reduce parasite pressures, though will not 'cure' ich. UV needs to have the bulb replaced annually, and the quartz sleeve cleaned about every six months or it will do nothing but burn electricity. Typically the flow through he unit is determined by the role you wish it to play, and most manufacturers specify a range. Slower flow for parasites; faster for bacteria and algae. UV only affects things that pass through the unit, so it will not have any direct affect on your fish or your coral, no matter the feed rate.

[Timfish]

First of all, a UV should not be used as an excuse to bypass a thorough quarantine process. I use UV sterilizors and from what I have seen in my tanks over the years a properly sized UV sterilizer hooked up properly will eradicate ich from a tank. But if I don't have an ick problem I'm not going to use it. If there is a moderate to heavy infestation it probably will not prevent fish loss. (Part of the problem is there sre different strains with varing degrees of virulance.) One down side is UV's are also heaters so temps might need to be monitored. Because a UV needs a low flow rate to maximise the kill rate it should have it's own pump. This creates an additional issue because if the UV's pump is added to the sump there are two seperate loops and trying to figure how much of the ick is being killed gets problamatic. Best to have the UV's pump in the DT behind the rock at one end of the tank with the return at the other end. Here's a link to a paper on Ick, note the cysts attach to any hard substrate and can be transfered between tanks that way as well as on a fish:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa164

[ChimolaFish]

Originally Posted by 3FordFamily

Yes, and depending on the amount of waterflow you put through it, you can actually harm your coral or live rock (if too slow) or be ineffective against algae and ich (if too fast).

Wait, how would it harm your coral or live rock?

[3FordFamily]

Originally Posted by ChimolaFish

Wait, how would it harm your coral or live rock?

According to the manual on mine it either kills inhabitants or limits their food. It doesn't recommend anything over 45,000 u exposure whatever the hell that means. I won't pretend to know

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by ChimolaFish

Wait, how would it harm your coral or live rock?

I think this stems from the view that any living creature passing though the UV will be killed, thus reducing the natural plankton populations. But since naturally occurring plankton is likely only a very tiny percentage of the food for a reef tank, I'd think a slow flow UV would make very little difference in practical terms. Even for something like a Mandarin, it's largely irrelevant because they prey on benthic, rather than water borne, pods.

[wolfblue]

Originally Posted by 3FordFamily

It doesn't recommend anything over 45,000 u exposure whatever the hell that means.

That would be uW/cm2, micro watts per square centimeter. That was how they used to rate UV dosages but everybody has switched to micro joule per square centimeter, mJ/cm2. But its about the same thing/1000 so 45mJ/cm2 give or take some. That would be good for algae, fungus and some bacteria, but also some ugly zoonotic stuff like vibrio.

Common Aquarium Microorganism UV Dosages

This lists crypto at 280, some people say it might be double or even triple that. So 25 watts would be good for about a 29 gallon aquarium at 29GPH if you think 280 kills crypto. Means you need to rely on quarantine and not use UV for big protozoa bugs.