To UV or not to UV!, that is the question

Sorry about the pun, but I had to do it. I am getting stuff ready to start setting up my new tank in the next month or so. I was thinking about getting a UV sterilizer to keep the water clear and algae out. I would like your opinions on UV’s if they are worth the money and what if any negatives there are. A buddy of mine said that they weren’t good to have in a reef aquarium b/c it makes the water too clean for corals. Is this true or no? Thanks as always, Rob.

 

I have found absolutely no benefit to running a UV in a reef tank so I'd skip it altogether.

 

I have never run one and have always been split down the middle on the pros and cons.

It will remove lots of bad stuff from the water column as you know, but will also kill any beneficial bacterias and such as well.

It will kill ich, but ich does not flow freely through the water column.

I would say that if you run RO/DI and quarantine your new additions, skip the UV.

JMO

 

I UV, and i personally have noticed a difference with thte health of my fish - but then again, thats jmo too

 

if you have LPS or SPS corals I wouldnt UV, if you have clams I would not even say UV

if it's a FOWLR it's fine alot of the times

Personally I dont like them but thats just me

 

Well I had planned on all of the above so I guess, no UV then.

 

Good decision.

Not needed if water clarity is your primary concern.

Crystal clear water can be had by,

Use of carbon.

Efficient skimmer.

Filter socks.

Regular water changes.

Using airstone in either sump or tank.

Oh, and not over-populating tank.

Doing the above my ORP probe shows 375 mV. --- which is close to what you can get even using ozone.

Adding a refugium will also increase clarity.

Others may add additional actions you can take.

 

UV on refugium outlet for quarantine?

I've been contemplating something recently which piggybacks right along with this question.

I plan on having a seperate refugium and sump. The refugium would be at a lower flowrate than the sump. I would also like to have a quarantine tank. I don't have any way of assessing the quality of fish from the lfs here aside from visually. Not to be offensive or anything, but I only trust the lfs to say what is needed to sell a fish (remember, I am in Indonesia).

I was thinking of using my refugium as a quarantine tank with a UV sterilizer on the outlet. I was hoping this would give me the benefit of a QT all while using my established tank water without risking introducing anything bad to my tank.

Does this sound like a possibility? Has anyone done something similar? Good idea? Bad Idea? Thoughts please.

Thanks,

 

Can't use it to put in copper treatments or other medications that you wouldn't put in your display tank.. and don't count that the UV is gonna kill 100% of parasites leaving the fuge/QT/hospital tank, bc some parasites/bacteria/fungus may possibly survive once through the UV tube to infect you main tank. Not worth a chance if you ask me.

 

UV lights have really benifit in a reef set up.
If it's a fish only ' then why not .

It will kill off parasites and keep algae spores killed off but, if used in a reef system where other important little life is needed it will only help delay what you have worked for in a reef any way. (imo)

Of course if you "only" want to keep fish , that's the only usefullness UV lights have.
But if you maintain water quality in the fist place and not over feed , what would you need one for any way ?