UV Sterilizer.. A pro or a con? :/

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Really?? I thought it's good? I've been adding them to my bio medias once a week, a cap each time... have I been doing the unnecessary? ??? ;/

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No it won't kill ur stress zyme but carbon will soak it up, it does have it benefits, especially if your tank isn't cycled, it will help seed it quicker. It is a little expensive and not needed if you read 0ppm ammonia and nitrite. Do you test your water?

Try scoring an api fw master test kit, that way you know your levels.
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Well.. to be frank I dun do water testing.. :(

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I'll definitely work on testing my waters frm now on..

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ive been thinkign about getting a UV sterilizer fo rmy 130gal just to help clear water up as well and anything harmfull in the water as well... would it be over kill to go with a coralife 12x for my 130g ? or should i just get the 6x one ? and they plumb in line with a fx5 do they not ?
 
No idea about that particular model, but you need to consider the speed of the water flowing past it if you want it to be effective at killing things. As I said earlier you need to have A; enough exposure to a strong enough source of UV to kill the intended target, and B; enough turn over (while maintaining A) to make it worth while. If you just want it to kill water borne algae its pretty simple to set up as-per the instructions, but if you want it for killing other nasties you need to get the strength/flow/turn over ratio right. Start googling, I found this in a few seconds; http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/uv-kill-whitespot
 
The coralife models say there a high flow and work best on canister filters in line I'd have to look em up but think it says some like 200gph or something quite high
 
UV only clears water if you have an algal or bacterial bloom, it does not filter.
It also does not effect beneficial bacteria because they are not free floating, just as it does not effect algae growth on glass or substrate.
As stated above it will only kill parasites, if the parasite is exposed to the UV long enough, ie slow enough flow thru the UV unit.
If you do not regularly clean out the tube that protects the UV bulb, it becomes ineffective due to buildup of minerals and debris.
UV bulbs also lose effectiveness over time, and should be replaced just like fluorescent bulbs.
I would not say 200gal per hour is high, but may only kill very sensitive organisms.
Not trying to be smug, but most of my tanks have pumps that are at least 1200gph, unless they hold very sluggish water fish like bettas.
 
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