Ray Keepers--- DO YOU RUN A UV on your tank--and why?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Very informative thread here. It reminds me of the guy on the cichla forum that said something about the high price of cichla. If you cant afford the fish you cant afford the equipment to properly take care of the fish. When i purchased my first big ray 4ish months ago i went and dumped about 600 into more filtration for him and my pressurized filters have uv sterilizers built in(granted they are only 9watt but the system is designed for 1200 gallon ponds). That being said I am not satisfied with this system even though it keeps my water crystal clear. I am going to get another 1250gph pump and 2 more pressurized filters each with the 9watt sterilizers so i will have 54watts of uv on the system and i am also building a 6' sump to polish the water even more. After reading this thread i am half tempted to buy a 4 light unit still. And i do 100 gallon a day water change i dont have a drip setup(not sure how to go about setting one up). I'll probably step up to a 150-200gallon a day water change just for more peace of mind.

There is no such thing as too much when it comes to peace of mind. If im going to invest thousands into rays i need to invest thousands into their equipment. Its like these people that spend 13k on surgery for their stupid dogs. Doesnt seem so stupid when im dumping thousands into fish upkeep. Im a firm believer you get what you pay for and i always buy high end even if i have to work overtime for a month to buy a $600 filtration setup.

If you have to question your setup you should probably sell your high end fish to someone that will properly maintain them.
 
jhutch said:
Very informative thread here. It reminds me of the guy on the cichla forum that said something about the high price of cichla. If you cant afford the fish you cant afford the equipment to properly take care of the fish. When i purchased my first big ray 4ish months ago i went and dumped about 600 into more filtration for him and my pressurized filters have uv sterilizers built in(granted they are only 9watt but the system is designed for 1200 gallon ponds). That being said I am not satisfied with this system even though it keeps my water crystal clear. I am going to get another 1250gph pump and 2 more pressurized filters each with the 9watt sterilizers so i will have 54watts of uv on the system and i am also building a 6' sump to polish the water even more. After reading this thread i am half tempted to buy a 4 light unit still. And i do 100 gallon a day water change i dont have a drip setup(not sure how to go about setting one up). I'll probably step up to a 150-200gallon a day water change just for more peace of mind.

There is no such thing as too much when it comes to peace of mind. If im going to invest thousands into rays i need to invest thousands into their equipment. Its like these people that spend 13k on surgery for their stupid dogs. Doesnt seem so stupid when im dumping thousands into fish upkeep. Im a firm believer you get what you pay for and i always buy high end even if i have to work overtime for a month to buy a $600 filtration setup.

If you have to question your setup you should probably sell your high end fish to someone that will properly maintain them.
Click to expand...

9W for 1200 g pond is for water clarity only nothing more.
 
Yeah i didnt buy it for anything more, hence my saying im tempted to get the big unit because i dont like to leave anything to chance. I wouldnt even have any type of uv in the system if it wasnt already on the filter.
 
jhutch said:
Yeah i didnt buy it for anything more, hence my saying im tempted to get the big unit because i dont like to leave anything to chance. I wouldnt even have any type of uv in the system if it wasnt already on the filter.
Click to expand...

I see. From what I'm seeing lately is ray keepers are getting UVs for more than clarity so several more 9W UV might not give you what you think you're going to get. Without a target (pathogen) identified or flow rate established you may be working a lot of OT for nothing.
 
No i was talking about getting one of those big 4 unit setups, like 4 54w units. Im not sure what page it was discussed but it sounds like what i need for my 1000 gallon pool. I buy the pressurized pond filters for filtration and they just happen to have that 9w built in. Its only $132 for that 9watt uv sterilizer as a separate unit. But that seems pricey for a 9watt so it seems like its semi decent. I have no clue why we are focusing on mine anyway. My whole point was after reading this thread that i plan to get a good unit.
 
jhutch said:
Very informative thread here. It reminds me of the guy on the cichla forum that said something about the high price of cichla. If you cant afford the fish you cant afford the equipment to properly take care of the fish. When i purchased my first big ray 4ish months ago i went and dumped about 600 into more filtration for him and my pressurized filters have uv sterilizers built in(granted they are only 9watt but the system is designed for 1200 gallon ponds). That being said I am not satisfied with this system even though it keeps my water crystal clear. I am going to get another 1250gph pump and 2 more pressurized filters each with the 9watt sterilizers so i will have 54watts of uv on the system and i am also building a 6' sump to polish the water even more. After reading this thread i am half tempted to buy a 4 light unit still. And i do 100 gallon a day water change i dont have a drip setup(not sure how to go about setting one up). I'll probably step up to a 150-200gallon a day water change just for more peace of mind.

There is no such thing as too much when it comes to peace of mind. If im going to invest thousands into rays i need to invest thousands into their equipment. Its like these people that spend 13k on surgery for their stupid dogs. Doesnt seem so stupid when im dumping thousands into fish upkeep. Im a firm believer you get what you pay for and i always buy high end even if i have to work overtime for a month to buy a $600 filtration setup.

If you have to question your setup you should probably sell your high end fish to someone that will properly maintain them.
Click to expand...

Great advice....

Makes it so much easier to justify that $900-$1300 UV you need for that 1K gallon system doesn't it? Just another drop in the bucket right? If not, then sell the fish huh?

:ROFL:

I'm a firm believer of the fight in the raykeeper, not the money in his wallet or system.

There's plenty of people with enough money, but no drive or ability to comprehend and apply the right information. Just as bad probobly worse then the guy keeping nice rays on a budget. Just cause someone has a fancy high end bead filter doesn't mean they even know it needs to be backflushed. Just cause they can afford doesn't mean they can maintain any better. Should they sell their fish too?

It's a 2 way street. ;)
 
I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I was only trying to help the guys looking into UVs to size them properly so we don't dump money. Sorry for the derail.
 
kendragon said:
I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I was only trying to help the guys looking into UVs to size them properly so we don't dump money. Sorry for the derail.
Click to expand...

Ken, we all know you're the man when it comes to this stuff......

I may not have any of the products you work with but your knowledge and ability to help and advise us sold me a long time ago..... You don't derail, you give us good advice. I know you're a very busy person and taking the time to explain stuff to us does nothing but make us all better hobbyists. Thank you for making time for this.

We all know the good stuff isn't cheap. It's a fact of life. I just don't agree with selling off fish to someone with more money cause I think it takes more then just money to properly care for fish. :D
 
DB junkie said:
Bio media seems to also be pretty similar across the board......

So can you elaborate on the breathing? Maybe the UV helps with oxygen content so much that maybe there's no longer as big of a ammonia spike after feeding????? what do you think might be going on?
Click to expand...


i have not gotten that far as to compare what media all the "big" guys are using yet.... lol

I do believe it must be something to do with O2, but i have heard that gill flukes are common in p14, maybe it helps them battle them easier?

Ken, thanks for chiming in, you are not DE-railing at all!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom