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

[DavidW]

Didnt mean to get you worked up Keepin. I just dont believe in sterile environments unless in labs or surgical rooms. I believe that for an organism to build up an immunity that it must be exposed to the bad. Just as in the wild, a ray may live with a parasite its whole life but never show any ill effects, put it in a stressed environment and then it takes hold and the ray become ill.

I would go on with how I believe but then I would be moving into natural selection, genetic mutation and such and that never ends up well for a thread.

acquired immunity ( has to be acquired )

 

[ShadowStryder]

Acquired Immunity= generated by prior exposure/infection, immunization or OTHER nonimmunilogical factors.
Would never even try to compete educationally with you DW.

And just for the record, my resistance to getting one has Nothing to do with money/cost.

Keepin I am well aware of you location.

 

[STINGRAYED]

acquired immunity ( has to be acquired )

Exactly something might get into our Boxes and a UV allows our fish the the time to (Aquire this immunity instead of being attacked to death!!! )A UV does not Kill or even disturb anything IN the tank That is Key!!!!

 

[ShadowStryder]

Exactly something might get into our Boxes and a UV allows our fish the the time to (Aquire this immunity instead of being attacked to death!!! )A UV does not Kill or even disturb anything IN the tank That is Key!!!!

It will never acquire the immunity if it (pathogen) is killed before the organism (rays in this case) have a chance to build up the immunity from exposure to pathogen. If the ray is healthy in a well kept environment it then has a chance to acquire the immunity.
Maybe my thinking is flawed......

 

[DavidW]

it is true, obviously, that a UV will only zap what passes through it.
There are formulae to work out exactly what wattage with what flow rates and turnover times for what size tank to guarantee that it is 99% sterile in the main water column.
The point is that UV will greatly reduce most pathogens in a closed environment where they could otherwise go nuts in hours ( some of the bad bacteria, if unchecked, can double their populations every 20 minutes for example)...giving your fish's immune system to work without being as overwhelmed, or giving the aquarist longer to figure it out and treat the problem or allowing a treatment to be more effective ( tho you turn UV off for meds). A fish cannot really develop resistance to parasites so it is important to suppress their reproduction ( they are occasionally inevitable)
I don't regard it as 'optional' on a big tank with big fish, more like 'essential' insurance.
Your mileage may vary

 

[DB junkie]

Still no mention of ozone.....



Everyone seems to agree that added "insurance" UV gives us is a must. Why not Ozone? Possible human error? How many people REALLY have the right flowrates going through thier UV?

 

[DIDYSIS]

I have a 175 Watt UV unit here you can use. It needs 5800 gph of flow to keep it from over heating. I will keep it around for a mega tank build one day, maybe then it will be used. As for now it is super big I think its 2inch piping through it.

I was mearly trying to find a UV light RATED for a tank the size of mine. Not many on the market claiming to do 1K gallons.

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[DIDYSIS]

Why can we just place a bulb in the sump so as the water flows by in the sump it takes care of it?

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[STINGRAYED]

It will never acquire the immunity if it (pathogen) is killed before the organism (rays in this case) have a chance to build up the immunity from exposure to pathogen. If the ray is healthy in a well kept environment it then has a chance to acquire the immunity.
Maybe my thinking is flawed......

Don pathogen bad bacteria parasites are always present in the water you just want to keep them in check so to speak not get out of control because the rays have no were to go they can't get away being in a tank!!!!

Still no mention of ozone.....



Everyone seems to agree that added "insurance" UV gives us is a must. Why not Ozone? Possible human error? How many people REALLY have the right flowrates going through thier UV?

Why not Ozone Al i haven't gotten to that point to check it out but Why not

 

[Just Toby]

Some people talking about Redox, this is the potential for a chemical to take on electrons, therefore when we talk about redox in a fish tank we normally read the orp (oxygen reduction potential) measured in millivolts. The higher the mv the more saturated in oxygen the water will be.

My orp probe has wandered a little and needs a recalibration but it hovers from 200-300 mv. My nitrate reactor (anaerobic and fed on vodka) used to get below 100mv when I was running it.


Not sure what any of this has to do with the uv unless we are referring to the redox of the fish immunity?...

I would also counter that the tank with uv will be far from sterile, it will just have lower level bacteria count etc than without.

I have looked at ozone and I am considering it for my swimming pool but the potential for an accident with ozone on my tank is too high for me to consider.