UV Sterilizer on a Reef

Answers on a previous post had me thinking twice about using a UV Sterilizer on my reef. My plan was to get a UV Sterilizer and attach it to my system, my thoughts were, it would help me get rid of any possible ICH, plus stop some of the cynao algae as well as other algaes. What are the pros and cons to using a UV Sterilizer? I thoght it would help my system.

 

Anything it kills has got to be in the water column to be effected by the UV.

Marine Ich does not stay in the water column and therefore UV is not an effective treatment for it.

UV is of assistance during bacterial and algae blooms, but it will not treat cynobacteria either.

Instead of investing in a UV I would invest in a QT.

 

+1 for the most part. If you have a fuge and cyano in the fuge, it will prevent the cyano from being able to spread throughout the DT.

I would invest in better filtration or more powerheads to increase flow. A sterilizer does not fix problems.

 

ok we'll I've been running my uv for a month now...
what i've learned from my experiance is it did clear up my cyano bloom and it's been greatly reduced...
it's still there but maybe little dabs on my sand bed...
as for helping my fishes with parasites,I did notice it give my yellow tang a boost in health wise...he had pimple type bloges that were scattering throughout his body...I knew I had to do somthing so I had know choice but to run the uv for back up help...
a few days passed and i noticed my tang swimming and gazing in a better affect plus the parasites were disappering...
now It's been a month and my yellow tang is looking way better then ever!
I also was informed about running a uv while I have a dragonet...we'll his survivng...what I 've done to supplement the less population of copepods,I've got the the madarin to eat DT's live plankton,also i seem him nibbling on freeze dried cyclopeeze...
so i'm very happy with his eating even me knowing I'm killing off a good source of copepods...
as for my glass in the tank I notice i only clean the from glass 1 time a week now whe ni was running the seachem phosgaurd I was cleaning it 3 times a week...so I'd say my phos issues has been looking really good...
this should give you a good idea what it's been doing for other reefs...

I noticed a few things being here on 3reef,not to hate on a few other reply's but don't believe whaqt others say...
your experiance and experiments with methods come along way...

 

Thanks for this detailed feedback.

 

I was running a UV on my 120 reef for over a year now. Removed it when I added a sump the last few months. Never had an algae issue. However The moment I removed it I had a huge issue with disease and algae. Lost quite a bit of fish. Due to the mass of the disease (Velvet) Been doing water changes and However I may have brown hair algae in the tank now. Got the fish back to top health. The only bonus I've seen so far was the Coral growth. Within that time period Everything is spreading and massively growing. I was having issues keeping corals up till the UV removal. The tank has adjusted and everything Looks alot better (minus the algae)


However It may control disease. I feel that it truely is detrimental to corals.

 

My experience is based on using UV systems on large marine systems that held marine mammals that carry many parasites and infections.
I also used them on large cold water marine systems in a public aquarium in Ca. These systems housed large temperate fish and eels as well as native pacific coast invertabrates. All these animals also carry many parasites. They are not prophylatically treated for disease and parasites as is the case in some of the major fish distributors such as Liveaquaria.

It is important to remember that Marine Ich spends part of it's life cycle in the substrate and is not available to the UV filter, while some do go through the UV filter others still attach to fish and complete their life cycle. While the numbers may be reduced it is not erradicated.

Each individual's experience with equipment is going to be different and I am glad you are seeing some benefits with the UV.

 

thx Coraline:thumb_up:

 

I threw my hat in the ring today. I've always been curious about UV but have no experience with it. I was ordering an IceCap electronic ballast today from Aqua Cave and noted a 5w AquaMedic UV for pretty cheap + black friday code. I went for it.

My tank is very shallow (<12 inches) with halide - algae of various sorts has always been an off and on issue, so I will use this for a month and file a detailed report on the site of my observations, good and bad. Then remove if need be.

matt

 

any update...