Pond UV for DT?

[NeuroticAquatics]

I believe I have an unintentional case of Ich management going on in my 240g FOWLR. I QT fish for observation and add them later if they did not show signs of anything. I use Prazipro regardless but only treat with symptoms. Recently, whenever I add a new fish, my Powder Blue, Regal Tang and Magnificent Foxface will have spots (looks like Ich) for 3-5 days and then they disappear. I'm assuming that the stress of the new addition causes this. I'm not 100% sure it's Ich, but that is the closest thing I can describe it as. Now to my question...

I plan to build a koi pond in our backyard. It's probably going to be in the ballpark of 1000-1500 gallons. I figure I will add a decent sized UV to help with algae control, but was thinking that I might hook it up to my 240g FOWLR first in an attempt to kill off the possible Ich mentioned above. I know pulling all the fish and treating in QT with Copper would be best, but that is not workable. I know it would not be 100% foolproof, but is it this UV idea even worth trying?

This is the unit I'm thinking of getting...

 

[Gweeds1980]

I believe I have an unintentional case of Ich management going on in my 240g FOWLR. I QT fish for observation and add them later if they did not show signs of anything. I use Prazipro regardless but only treat with symptoms. Recently, whenever I add a new fish, my Powder Blue, Regal Tang and Magnificent Foxface will have spots (looks like Ich) for 3-5 days and then they disappear. I'm assuming that the stress of the new addition causes this. I'm not 100% sure it's Ich, but that is the closest thing I can describe it as. Now to my question...

I plan to build a koi pond in our backyard. It's probably going to be in the ballpark of 1000-1500 gallons. I figure I will add a decent sized UV to help with algae control, but was thinking that I might hook it up to my 240g FOWLR first in an attempt to kill off the possible Ich mentioned above. I know pulling all the fish and treating in QT with Copper would be best, but that is not workable. I know it would not be 100% foolproof, but is it this UV idea even worth trying?

This is the unit I'm thinking of getting...

That'll work wonders for managing ich, just make sure you get a good slow flow through I, otherwise the UV may not kill it. As you know, UV won't knock out ich completely, only copper / ttm and fallow period will do that.

As soon as you take the UV offline however, those parasites will have the opportunity to multiply again. If you're going to stick with ich management, then plenty of omega 3 in the diet, live foods with guts and all and a UV which you can at least have the option of switching on any time would be ideal. This is how I run my tank and I get the odd spot here or there but no infestation and no other symptoms... that includes a powder blue btw, it can be done! Having said that, I would still have rather not had ich in the first place so if there is an opportunity, then treat fish and run fallow has to be recommended.

In terms of flow I go for 1 x system volume per hour and my UV is similar to yours.

 

[Brew12]

As soon as you take the UV offline however, those parasites will have the opportunity to multiply again. If you're going to stick with ich management, then plenty of omega 3 in the diet, live foods with guts and all and a UV which you can at least have the option of switching on any time would be ideal.

Agree with this. If you want to use it, you should leave it in your system.

You also need to make sure it is marine aquarium safe. Not all stainless steel is the same.

 

[Humblefish]

^^ Agree with above; a UV needs to be run continuously to help keep free swimmers down to a manageable level. Once the UV is taken offline, you will be right back to where you are right now.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I am using a pond UV on my system to manage ich. Just make sure to adjust the flow rate - in ponds, these units are used as "clarifiers", not "sterilizers", so you can't actually run anywhere close to 7500 gph through that unit and expect to kill ich. I would look at some other aquarium units of similar size and their recommended flow rates to get a ballpark of how much you should run through that unit.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

I'm still looking at that unit for the pond, but am now considering something like this (see below) to keep the nasties at bay. Would this work if permanently running in my DT (or maybe running only certain days/hours to prolong the bulb life)? I'm thinking the other might be overkill?

 

[4FordFamily]

^^ Agree with above; a UV needs to be run continuously to help keep free swimmers down to a manageable level. Once the UV is taken offline, you will be right back to where you are right now.

Replace the light bulbs too as instructed

 

[4FordFamily]

I'm still looking at that unit for the pond, but am now considering something like this (see below) to keep the nasties at bay. Would this work if permanently running in my DT (or maybe running only certain days/hours to prolong the bulb life)? I'm thinking the other might be overkill?

That's not going to do a lot, is my gut reaction that's low wattage. But I'm not an expert by any means. For that price, I worry about rust, effectiveness, and reliability.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

Kinda worries me too.

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

We may redo our flooring later this year and if that happens, I can set up a large enough QT to treat the fish and just leave the 240g fallow after it's moved.

I'm going to see if this latest round of bumps goes away and just not add more fish until that option gets figured out. If it does not go away, I will have to figure a treatment out sooner, I guess.