To Uv or not to Uv that is the question?

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

It’s better to have and not need, than to need and not have. If it’s a budget thing then the icecap model wouldn’t be a bad option. It can be annoying to get sealed correctly, but for a 40 watt UV delivered to your door for under $300 it’s a great deal. I run two on my 150 gallon.

I was going to ask if anyone ran two, one on the low side and one on the high side. I am thinking about doing that.

 

[Joe.D]

I was thinking of adding a UV to my 75gallon. Had some discussions with my LFS and was also thinking of adding a reefmat. Their recommendation was if it’s an either/or situation, they’d go reefmat hands down. Curious to everyone’s thoughts on that.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I will quote Randy.

I am not going to sit here and say @Randy Holmes-Farley is wrong about anything, lol. I’ll spin that and say maybe I am confused. I didn’t think UV killed things, I thought it performed vasectomies on bacteria What I mean is, it alters their dna so they cannot reproduce and manages population control. I have one on both my tanks, and I carbon dose. I’m thinking of adding a second to each tank to have them going 24/7 at both flow rates where they are suppose to be effective.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

No UV for me either. I organic carbon dosed to increase bacteria, partly as a food source for filter feeders. I cannot see a reason to grow them on the one hand and kill them right away on the other.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am not going to sit here and say @Randy Holmes-Farley is wrong about anything, lol. I’ll spin that and say maybe I am confused. I didn’t think UV killed things, I thought it performed vasectomies on bacteria What I mean is, it alters their dna so they cannot reproduce and manages population control. I have one on both my tanks, and I carbon dose. I’m thinking of adding a second to each tank to have them going 24/7 at both flow rates where they are suppose to be effective.

That is the principle mode of action, I agree. Some will also die from the DNA damage. But I'm not sure the reason for the end result of fewer bacteria in the water matters, IMO.
'

 

[doubleshot00]

I like to always have it for bacteria blooms. I just upgraded to a 25 watt from a 15 watt for my 90.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, I ran my reef tank for 20 years, and the only time I had a bacterial bloom (without a UV) was when I intentionally pushed vinegar dosing to very high levels to see what would happen, and hazy water was one of the undesirable outcomes.

 

[Doctorgori]

I went decades w/o UV …also went decades w/o ever seeing ich. then one day a ich outbreak zapped about a few years worth of very valuable adult fish, too many to list….
My take: either quarantine properly or run a UV or roll the dice…
They add heat, Plumbing is a pain. the units are bulky, you have to plan and expense for annual servicing and you best have someway to shut them off automatically if flow stops… Also if you plan on adjusting flow using Neptune Flow monitors, look elsewhere as these units are absolute undependable leaky crap….
I recommend Pentair or Lifegard ,,,,stay away from those under $100 Amazon units …Jeboa ? hmm maybe? I had issue finding parts, unit didn’t last long either

 

[doubleshot00]

FWIW, I ran my reef tank for 20 years, and the only time I had a bacterial bloom (without a UV) was when I intentionally pushed vinegar dosing to very high levels to see what would happen, and hazy water was one of the undesirable outcomes.

So why the big push for UV's then? It seems everyone has one including all of my LFS

 

[alton]

As a good friend who ran a great aquarium service told me once you will kill too many beneficial items with a UV. I stopped using one twenty three years ago and never looked back. At the end of the day its every ones choice.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So why the big push for UV's then? It seems everyone has one including all of my LFS

I don't push them. LFS would be very disease prone and that's a likely reason for them to. My suggestion is to look at some of the great tanks, in tanks of the month, etc. And check if they use a UV. It's likely OK to use them in most instances, but it is not a need to have, IMO.

Like this one, the reef of the month for July, which I do not see a UV mentioned:

REEF OF THE MONTH - July 2023: Alex Costa's Amazing Rebirth Reef!

R2R Username: @Alex Costa Build Thread: Rebirth Introduction Hello everybody. My name is Alex. I currently have a 2000-liter tank that was set up in 2015 when my previous 750-liter tank became too small for the fish and corals. Sadly, on a trip to my parent's house, a power outage was...

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