Poll: Do You Use UV Sterilization?

[GoVols]

Installed a Lifeguard unit on my custom build that I had in the mid 90's.
Really didn't see any benefit and have not ran one since.

But... (lol) JMO

 

[Erwan E]

Never used one in seven years with my 50 gallon. Now that I upgraded to 200 gallons.... hell yeah I use one, I am not going to take any chances

 

[chowchow10]

Wondering if anyone has one in a nuvo 20? Interested in putting one in but don't know of one thats going to fit or work

 

[George Lopez]

i can not use uv until they invent a thumb sized device, then I will. I personally would never own any aquarium larger than a nano reef without having a triple large UV due to the countless tanks we've saved with it. id use it to cheat my way free of many invaders that should otherwise be legitimately controlled.

I habe a green killing machine in my wife's 8 gallon biocube lol

 

[Chris Villalobos]

When I first started this hobby I read “Reef Keeping for Dummies” and the authors swore by UV sterilizers so I have run one ever since. The one time I did turn it off I had a bacteria bloom in the tank that went away when I turned the UV back on.

I have been reefing for 4 years now and have never had any fish diseases and my tank is always crystal clear without carbon filters.

I use a coralife turbo twist 6x UV sterilizer running at 60 gph off my main return. According to coralife that should kill parasites in the water column. My tank holds 50 gallons including sump.

Uh.... Just got home and picked up the book. It was actually: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Saltwater Aquariums". Written by Mark Martin and Ret Taibot. Idiot me! While some of the material is dated, it did help me understand many of the basics of Saltwater Tanks.

 

[brandon429]

George

Do you have cyano probs or any diatom issues, better not!

 

[ShinerMaginer]

Never used one in seven years with my 50 gallon. Now that I upgraded to 200 gallons.... hell yeah I use one, I am not going to take any chances

What are you using? I have a 200g too.

 

[George Lopez]

George

Do you have cyano probs or any diatom issues, better not!

Nope no issues even running high nitrates and phosphates... don't even have algea I my DT only the fuge but i also have a massive CUC

 

[trmiv]

Yes all the time! After a UV sterilizer defeated my dinoflagellates I'd been fighting for 8 months I decided I’d never be without one again. Plus I love how clear the water is with it. Looking to upgrade to a better unit I can plumb under the tank soon.

 

[Rick Strauss]

Is there a recommendation for wattage vs water volume? I have 200g, and have been considering a 40w Lifeguard UV. That feels undersized based on what I’m reading in this thread. 80-100w more reasonable?

I’m setting up a 300 and in the process of installing a 120 watt and a 150 watt high output pentair running 1500 gpm through them. All the water will pass them all the time.

 

[brandon429]

Wow to these results and that's just what I was meaning about uv

Fads do come and go

But UV stays in the hobby, in zoo exhibits, in microbiology labs the world over yep.

 

[Hemlawk]

I just started using the Green killing machine. My blue tang has been flashing. Just to be safe, lets kill the bugs in the water.
Good side effect is clearer water.

 

[Sylvain turcotte]

2X25 w. 75gàl display 30 g sump 250 gal hrs 24/7 clear. Watter and no
Algae and happy fish

 

[Ashish Patel]

Essential for me especially during initial setup when im constantly adding new fish and corals. It gives your tank a fighting chance against aiptasia spreading, ich, and things like dinos, and whatever else you blow off your rock into the water colum. I run it pretty constant only I adjust the flow going into it. If its aiptasia killing day, dino blasting day, after stiring up the tank or waterchange I like to crank the flow.. The people who have never used it and claim that "its bad" are probably the same people dumping chemi clean and doing 3 day blackouts to deal with such bacteria and algae blooms. UV to me is still more natural as long as your not overdoing it and our tanks a small enclosed environment and we are trying to recreate the ocean, nothing should be allowed to takeover and spread in our little glass boxes.. My advice add one before you need it and your results will be clearly the benefits are greater then the negative. When you stop stocking your tank for a year or so then only would I consider removing the UV or using as needed.

 

[Waters]

I just started using the Green killing machine. My blue tang has been flashing. Just to be safe, lets kill the bugs in the water.
Good side effect is clearer water.

The problem with that unit is the size. The water moves through so quick that it doesn't have time to kill anything except algae spores. I actually use one on my piranha tank, just for that reason. It works well for what it was designed for.

 

[Newb73]

I ran ozone for 2 years. Just added this 50 watt high output model to my 265g system.

According to the manufacturer it can clear 1800gph or sterilizer 330gph for a tank size of around 450 gallons.

My flow rate is currently much lower....125 gallons per hour. Nothing is coming out of that thing alive.

Don't see any difference in clarity...was already running ozone.

I plumbed it so the intake pump is just behind my filter socks...i have seen no decrease in pods...pods don't survive the filter sock section anyway but yet, my tank is full of pods and has been for quite a while. The return is in my return section. I move 700 to 1200 gph through sump so no UV water ever gets recirculated back into the UV a second time within the sump.

I had little to no nuissance algae pre-insyall either, but i have since moved my ozone generator to another tank and suspect i wont have much need for it on my 225 going forward.

The combination of ozone and GAC was not suprisingly starting to irritate my Regal tangs skin....so i have gotten rid of both ozone and gac to prevent hlle from developing.

UV hasn't ever been associated with lateral line.

I would like to increase the volume to the recommended 330gph but it leaks at the top seal with anything over 250gph and i am not sure i want that much water bypassing my refugium anyway.

Problem could be fixed if i plumbed directly to display but that would be unsightly.

Seems like the tank needs a hole drilled in the display about 6 inches from bottom on each side as a closed loop through a large UV would be pretty nice....

 

[Mick1of10]

I have a 40 watt on the DT 137 gallon total volume), run from a separate pump, going from the skimmer section back to the return section. I am running a 25 watt UV on the QT system (60 gallon total volume). Have run UV since the early 90's and wouldn't run a system without one. (kind of like seatbelts to me - nice to have if you need it)

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I am in no way an expert, but I have done a lot, and I mean a lot, of research on UV's as of lately after an unknown parasite slowly wiped out my entire tank, but that is a different thread. So I am now in the process of setting up a UV Sterilizer on my 180 gal before I start restocking. This is what I have learned after my research:
Purposes for using uv

• water clarity (higher flow)
• kill parasites (low flow)

First, Uv will kill (or damage them enough so they can not reproduce) only the things that go through the unit. Beneficial copepods and amphipods pods, which are benthic, (bottom-dwelling organisms often attached to hard surfaces such as rock, sand bed and glass), will not go through the unit and will not be harmed. However a few may get sucking in the uv. Only the free swimming ones will go through the uv. So no worries about killing off all your entire pod population. No, it will not completely eliminate all ich and other parasites from your tank but you shouldn't notice anything on your fish or have a major outbreaks that can wipe out your tank if using a properly sized uv.

Second is size of the unit. Most UV's are grossly understating the correct size you need to actually kill things. In this case going bigger is better! After my research and talking to local hobbyist that use uv, I am going with a 120 watt unit from Aqua-UV (formerly Pentair) for my 180 gal fowlr tank. If you are looking for water clarity then that is a different story and the smaller units will be fine.

Third is the flow. For water clarity faster flow is fine, but for killing parasites you will need slower flow, use the manufactures suggested flow rate for the size of the unit.

Last is placement. To be effective, 100% of the water needs to move through the uv unit. If you have it plumbed going only through your sump this will not be effeictive. Therefore placement is important. The chart @scardall linked in post #35 is a good example how to properly install a UV.

As for me, I will now run a uv 24/7.

 

[RichReef]

Does anyone run one with bio pellets?

 

[gary henkel]

not quite sure how to register a vote, but yes, 13w full time. one caveat. i raise seahorses, and it is a constant battle because of their messy eating habits to control algae and cyanobacter, so we run everything we can.