confusing seeing how you just said you are on a budget..but cool Alan...im not here to argue with you.
whatever you decide to do i will wish you nothing but good luck...
I'm not here to argue either, but rather discuss.
I am on a budget. A budget that doesn't exactly allow me to just run out and buy a $1K UV on nothing but hopes that it makes stuff better. Now, IF everyone here agreed they were necessary it would be one thing but they can't. It's a controversial subject. I personally think they could be usefull IF you were in import/export or some kind of retail store where fish come and go, but I fail to see the use of having one in a tank where you drop a few rays in and keep them. You should be able to kill any problems with meds and as long as you properly QT stuff you shouldn't be introducing anything the UV would kill. The fact that I'd be spending several hundred dollars every year on bulbs doesn't make them any more appealing. Now, IF someone can convince me otherwise PLEASE do. I'm just a firm believer that immune systems can adapt. Just like the germaphobe that was convinced to get a dog then died cause his immune system didn't know WTF to do. I don't wanna put my rays in the same boat. I'm not one to try to pinch pennies or shortcut my rays, I just don't have the loot to be throwing at controversial things that some people swear aren't necessary in keeping rays. Bead filters are another good example.
I said I might be in over my head and you were quick to agree, telling me to sell rays and put the money into my filtration. Are you sure my filtration is inadequate? Ever seen it? I've never seen anyone using similar ratios of K1 to bio load. As far as too many rays, my system allows for 150 gallons of water per ray. Not too bad considering the 3 males are like 10" and the 5 females are like 12-15" They have 40 ft2 of tank footprint.
I'm not saying my setups are ideal, but I'm just failing to see the flaws. This leads me to think it has more to do with the livestock then the systems themselves.
As far as meds like I said it's not an issue of cost, it's an isssue of whether ot not it's necassary. There's 1 KG of Metro, A half gallon of Prazi, and a KG of Bifuran en route. My problem is justification. IF they're all eating and back up to the daily food intake what do you do? Treat as a preventitive? Beef them up first? Not treat at all? Or treat everyone with everything so after a few hundy in meds I feel as though I did my part? Do I try to fix something that may not be broke? IF it is strickly stress related meds could be the straw that breaks the camel's back and sends them all into a downward spiral if they're allready having a hard time just dealing with eachother.
I'm all for advice, don't get me wrong, but please help me understand why.
