UV Sterilizer

Would someone please help me understand the function and practicality of runnng a UV sterilizer? I received one with my tank (along with several other gadgets I have no clue how to use) and would like to know exactly what it does.

 

UV steralizers are a controversal topic as far as being beneficial or harmful to the overall health of the tank. they are great for killing micro bacteria and viruses that may possibly harm your fish. so i would say they are useful for a fish only system. however, if you are planning on running it on a reef tank it may actually be detrimental to coral health. UV steralizers do not know the difference from zapping good or bad micro organisms. so they will actually eliminate much of the natural food a reef depends on. just something to think about, hope that helped.

 

I agree with Zissou, We have one running with the 900gal shark tank but i wouldnt be happy if somone ran it with the reef tank ...good for keeping sharks happy.

 

Thanks huys- I would have never picked that up by reading the stuff I found on-line! Glad I asked, since I am going to start introducing coral soon.
Karma is coming to you both-

Bruce... 900Gallons?!? OMFG- where do you house a 900G tank? That is awesome... I wouldn't mind seeing that if you have a couple shots of it.

 

I might have an old shot from a few months ago, let me look.

Our main guy is a 1.5 foot black tip reef shark, we also hava a vlamingi tang, i think 3 tangs...one garabaldi....I HATE THAT FISH...he killed 3 sting rays that were donated to us...and some other misc fish (damsels and such )

 

Im going to try and find another pic lol..this one is bendy! but the tank is i think 10feet long

 

This is an old shot, from 05

 

I'm running a UV and everything has been great. It helps to further purify the water in a reef tank which is essential for corals. Zissou mentioned it kills off possible food for corals, it wont be a detriment if you feed often, that's when they get nurtured well. ;D Dont knock the UV until you try it, my ich parasites dont last.

 

I run UV on a reef tank, And my coral are doing great. Ozone kills a lot more bacteria than UV as UV is very dependent on contact time were Ozone is not, And there are a lot of reefers running both UV and Ozone at the same time. So I guess it is just a matter of opinion rather than of fact. JMO .............. John

 

This is from http://www.adelaideaquariums.com.au/faqs/marine/marine4.html



Ozone and UV: Ozone is a highly reactive form of Oxygen. Ozone generators for aquariums use electricity to produce ozone, which is then fed into the aquarium via silicone airline. Sometimes they are run in-line with an aquarium airpump. The application of ozone in the aquarium is two-fold. Primarily it is used for its ability to quickly and effectively breakdown organic matter and other contaminants to improve water quality and clarity, secondly, it destroys many water-bourn disease causing agents. Where ozone is applied it is usually done so by being injected into protein skimming in place of or as well as air. Ozone provides even greater skimming efficiency in protein skimmers, as well as providing the benefits mentioned above. Even where protein skimming is not used, ozone is always applied in a separate reaction chamber. This is because at too high a concentration ozone is toxic to fish and invertebrates. A common fear when using ozone is this toxicity and so it is often recommended to filter the water through activated carbon to remove excess ozone before it is returned to the aquarium. However, since ozone is highly reactive, it is extremely rare that significant amounts will remain in the water being returned to the tank, and toxicity is therefore hardly ever a real issue. Though if you are unsure, filtering the water through carbon certainly doesn't hurt. Ozone will cause rubber items such as suction caps and O-rings to perish more quickly so it is usually best to keep the Ozone-reactor or ozonised protein skimmer away or down-stream from canister filtration to avoid excessive wear on canister O-rings.

Ultraviolet (UV) sterilisers use UV-C radiation to destroy disease causing agents, suspended algaes and algal spores. UV radiation also accelerates breakdown of organic compounds to further improve water quality. UV sterilisation is particularly effective at killing off disease-causing agents such as bacterias and parasites, including marine whitespot. However, it should be noted that using UV sterilization does not completely eliminate the chance of disease as it cannot kill off organisms that are living on the fish. UV sterilization will also kill off desirable bacteria and micro-organisms, although, it kills only what passes through the unit so beneficial bacterias that are established in the tank and filtration are not affected. However, UV sterilization should be turned off when adding liquid cultures of good bacteria so as not to harm these while they are in suspension. UV radiation also decomposes some medications, so it is best to turn UV sterilisers off if medicating. Inside the UV steriliser, water is passed through a narrow quartz sleeve surrounding a UV-C bulb or tube. These units can be run from some types of filtration (eg canisters) but often a separate pump is used. The percentage of disease organisms killed will be greater the slower the flow-rate through the unit so it is often recommended to use a slow flow rate. However, a greater flowrate means water is circulated through the unit more often, and with each pass more organisms are killed, so overall effectiveness may actually be increased. The most important aspect is to get a suitably powered model for the size aquarium. Where UV sterilisation is run in-line with filtration it should always be on the outlet so that good bacteria have least chance of being affected. This also delivers clean water to the unit which improves its efficiency.