UV or not UV

I've been reading about the UV, and I cannot make up my mind if I should get it or not. What do you think?

 

I added one (JBJ submersible) to my last tank after my Hippo got ick. He seemed to instantly get better after, but I also started feeding him garlic nori and tweaked my filtration...so I really can't say it was the UV to thank. I'm sure it helped though. I think the argument to why people don't add them is b/c it supposedly kills the "good stuff" along with the bad. I will not be adding one to my current build.

 

Waste of electricity IMO.

 

I run a 5w aqua medic on my nano. I noticed a big difference with algae control - it really helps. This was re-affirmed when I broke it down for its first cleaning after 9 months this month. My new bulb that was shipped to me was broken. The UV ended up being offline for nearly 2 weeks until last weekend I think it was. During this time - actually at the end of the 2 weeks offline, I noticed a huge spike in green algae on my live rock.
I am very happy to have it running again now and things are getting back to normal.
I have a refugium in my sump and I see tons of pods. So I am sold on it and will continue to run it.

matt

 

There are many arguments with UV including it kills good along with bad, but it is no different that a skimmer skimming out the bad good and beneficial stuff as well. The other main argument people use is that there is no way it can clear a tank since it will only eradicate things in the water column never touching anything on rockwork or the sandbed. Like everything else in this hobby it all boils down to risk vs reward and is it effective enough to be worth it. I have never used on and have not had any problems but that isnt to say it does not have a good use in another reefers filtration system.

Do you currently have any issues with disease or algae, or are you looking to add it on as a preventative filtration method? Most of the problems you encounter can be avoided with proper livestock selection and good a good QT system. I do not QT, but I also never order offline and observe my purchase at the store for a good 1-2 hours to examine overall health. No matter how bad I want something, if I see anything I dont like in the stores tanks or in the fishes behavior I always avoid it.

 

To me, there just aren't many things it will actually kill, and they are expensive to run. The bacteria stuff, well, maybe if it is big enough, it will kill bacteria, but bacteria reproduces quickly and some recent evidence suggests that the sizes we use in our systems do not kill bacteria quickly enough to even make the slightest dent.

Most of the numbers for killing parasites and such are extrapolated from other data, and there is more evidence than not IMO, that the data provided by manufactures, and regurgitated all over the internet, is very overly optimistic. They may help with certain algae, such as film algae on glass, but they won't do anything against purely surface dwelling algae, such as cyano bacteria, turf algae, green hair algae, bryopsis, and most other nuisance algae.

My current opinion is that they are very expensive to run, you need a lot of electricity to do anything and need to replace the bulbs often, and have little, if any reward. They may do some harm, but that would only be if we assume they actually do any good, which is still an open question, but most evidence says not really, at least not at the levels we use. So, they are probably safe, but I see them as more a new toy for people who like to buy stuff, or something to keep on hand for occasional algae blooms, or suspected ich outbreak They certainly wouldn't be in my top 100 things I need for my reef list....

 

I'm not pro-uv by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't support the notion that it kills anything good. Your beneficial bacteria (bio-filter) is not water-borne, it's colonized on rocks, sand, etc. As for what few pods might get sucked in, the power and exposure to cause harm just isn't there with a properly rated unit.

That said, I've never owned one, nor have I had any reason to even consider it. However, I do stock modestly, keep my pets well-fed with a varied diet, and perform routine maintenance on schedule. As far as I'm concerned uv is a waste of money, but to each their own.

 

I personally swear by my UV... I recently conquered a massive hair algae invasion and I believe much of it can be credited to my UV. I recently added a fuge that feeds into my sump, so I moved the UV to the return line on my canister filter in theory so the pods are less affected. All seems to be well. Water is pristine, algae is not invading, and most importantly fish are HAPPY.

 

Love a properly sized UV on fish only systems but wouldn't have one on a reef since it inactivates the good along with the bad. UV doesn't kill anything, its light sterilizes things so they cannot reproduce and become depleted. Problem is in a reef those little organisms are a necessary part of the food chain so bigger critters and corals suffer from lack of food.

 

Thank you for the input everyone.

I know that in my Freshwater tanks, I am not a UV guy. But I thought SW might have some different type of microorganism that UV might help.