UV sterilizer are they worth having...

waste of money...
I'd reconsider If you find some smoking deals...
mine I picked up brand new 11 watt Resun UV Clarifier,picked it up for 40.00
as I will be taking the offer up and will be installing mine from what I've read...
although I will however not power it on 24/7
I will only turn the unit on when I get new livestock and If I need help trying to rid of parasite problems...
I want some info on:
where should the UV be in the filtration I'm going to running 2 reactors on a seprate pump line,so I assume that the sterilizer should be at the end of the 3 units...
My sump is a 3 baffle/compartment sump
the drainage with filterfloss,2nd baffle with swc cone 160,3rd with resun 1000gph pump...
the 3 additional units will all be supended behind the rear of the sump...
in what order should I have the 3...
carbon,biopellets,uv
uv,carbon,biopellets,
biopellets,uv carbon etc etc...:-/

 

i would go carbon, biopellets, uv

 

thanks buddy...
So I'm heading off to the sprayers warehouse this week and will be getting a 3 way splitter for my 1200 quiteone...
do you think this pump is stromng enough to give me the ciculation process for my media and sterilizer?

 

I had a UV sterilizer when I first setup the system, after about 6 months I disconnected it because I read somewhere that they don't really bring much benefit to the tank. After I disconnected it I started seeking more pods in my tank, it could be coincidence that the pod population took off but it could also be the UV was killing them. I've been running my tank without it for over 18 months now and other than the pods I haven't noticed any difference....I'm sure my electric bill probably went down a few pennies too.

 

sorry for being a noob..
but I'm wondering what's a pod got a pic?

 

Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Many species are planktonic, but more are benthic, and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests, bogs, springs, ephemeral ponds and puddles, damp moss, or water-filled recesses (phytotelmata) of plants such as bromeliads and pitcher plants. Many live underground in marine and freshwater caves, sinkholes, or stream beds. Some copepods are parasitic[1] and attach themselves to fish, sharks, marine mammals, and many kinds of invertebrates such as molluscs, tunicates, or corals.

Amphipoda (amphipods) is an order of animals that includes over 7000 described species of small, shrimp-like crustaceans.

Most amphipods are marine; although a small number of species are limnic or terrestrial. Marine amphipods may be pelagic (living in the water column) or benthic (living on the ocean bottom). Pelagic amphipods are eaten by seabirds, fish, and marine mammals. Terrestrial amphipods such as sand fleas can often be seen amongst sand and pebbles or on beaches.

While some Amphipods and Copepods can be parasitic, most are not, and are on the lower end of the chain. A lot of the Gobie's and Blennies feed on pod's as a main part of the food source. If their belly area is not fat/swollen to the naked eye, then they are not eating as much as the should which can lead to their demise

aka Little white moving dots on your glass

 

And i think UV sterilizers are a great thing to have if you want to lower your chances of sick fish.

 

It will definitely kill any pods that go through it. That is the negative of a uv sterilizer. it will kill the good with the bad.

 

I used to think that they were a waste of money.

I watched one of my LFS's display tanks get taken over by algae. He did regular water changes with good RO/DI. Could not get it taken care of for almost a year. He set up a UV on it and less than a month later, no algae... none at all.

Long story short... if set up properly, they can be beneficial.

 

For a fish only system I swear by them, for a reef they are detrimental, they kill the foods lower life forms need to survive and thats a necessary part of the food chain for a sucessful reef.