I have read a lot about uv, some good some bad, some state they work but have very specific requirements.
Can anyone break this down for me?
Can anyone break this down for me?
UV Sterilizers - Yes or No
- Thread starter 4D3
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Slower gph to kill pathogens higher will mostly do algea control. Others will chime in witha better explanation
I use one for algae I very rarely add new fish to the system so I don't really worry about disease control
That's what I thought... So essentially they don't do much for a single fish in a 300l tank?
I've never read anything bad about them. Having said that, their purpose is to reduce / eliminate biological organisms that one does not want in the tank. If one can be certain that there aren't and will never be such organisms like that in the tank, they aren't needed.
With algae, that is ubiquitous, that is a stretch. But if one had an uninfected single specimen in a tank where no live food or other fish will be added, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to forego the tool.
The caveat is that if one has other tanks in the same area, it's nearly impossible to avoid cross contamination via water, nets, tubes, buckets, hands, etc.
With algae, that is ubiquitous, that is a stretch. But if one had an uninfected single specimen in a tank where no live food or other fish will be added, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to forego the tool.
The caveat is that if one has other tanks in the same area, it's nearly impossible to avoid cross contamination via water, nets, tubes, buckets, hands, etc.
I agree with Drstrangelove, UV lights only kill the bacteria/protozoa that passes thru them, and then only if the flow is slow enough that those bacteria/etc remain long enough under the UV to be damaged (sufficient detention time). Bacteria such as columnaris can build up in detritus in an un-vacuumed tank, and if the pathogens are surrounded by detritus when going thru the UV, those columnarus cells will not be neutralized. So UV is not a panacea unless all other factors are perfect, and if a quarantine tank is not used, and an epidemic occurs UV might make a dent, but....
I use one on all my tanks just because. I do buy a lot of fish and didn't have a QT tank but do now and will continue to run them, it can't hurt. I use a low flow jebo filter, I keep it empty but I think the flow is around 200 gph. My water stays crystal clear and I never have to worry about algae blooms, not that I can really have one again since I sold the only plant light I had but it's there just in case. It's a 55 watt UV. To me it's cheap insurance, it's not a cure all for viruses, etc. but it does help, etc.
I have run a 36W turbotwist inline with an FX5. Way too much flow for effective killing of anything bad but great for killing free floating algae