UV or no UV?

[livinlifeinBKK]

I started myself a new small FOWLR aquarium and it finished cycling about 2-4 weeks ago. I'm unsure of the origin of the live rock I went through the cycle with (I don't know if it started dry before the shop sold it as live) so I got some fresh live rock right out of the ocean to double the total amount of live rock in the tank...There's some absolutely beautiful coralline algae on the freshly collected rock! Anyway, I put it right in the tank and since it was covered in sediment when collected it's making my water a little murky. Since it's a small tank, I was planning on only doing water changes but now I'm considering adding a canister filter to filter out some of that sediment that's now free in the water and re-settling on the rocks after I brushed them off with a toothbrush. The canister filter I'm considering comes with or without a UV sterilizer light inside...which should I get? I don't want to kill the beneficial bacteria but I've heard UV can be really helpful in managing parasites I may get later or may have picked up on the live rock...What do you guys suggest?

 

[theMeat]

I run a slightly undersized uv on my tank. Change the bulb about once a year for about 12 bucks makes it a very easy prospect. I have plenty of pods and also have ick in my tank. Have not lost a fish to ick in years, since I stopped qt and meds.
YMMV

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I run a slightly undersized uv on my tank. Change the bulb about once a year for about 12 bucks makes it a very easy prospect. I have plenty of pods and also have ick in my tank. Have not lost a fish to ick in years, since I stopped qt and meds.
YMMV

My only concern is that it might decrease my healthy bacterial diversity because that was the reason for the fresh live rock (but I guess most bacteria is living on the rocks and in the sand instead of the water anyway)

 

[o2manyfish]

Your bacteria diversity is on the surfaces in your aquarium. It's not free floating. Once you added your new live rocks the bacteria spread to new surface areas. Running a UV is going to work on free floating things in the water column. Your water column is not filtering your aquarium your biological filtration is - and in your case that is your live rock.

If you add a canister filter, then that is something that collects waste and you throw it away - so that's a mechanical filter. All that crap the canister filter collects is surface area covered in bacteria - but nobody frets about throwing our mechanical filration pads, or filter socks and knocking out their bacteria.

You have no reason to worry about UV working negatively against your aquarium. The only question is, is the UV you are looking at big enough to be effective at maintaining the health of your aquarium.

Dave B

 

[AlgaeBarn]

My only concern is that it might decrease my healthy bacterial diversity because that was the reason for the fresh live rock (but I guess most bacteria is living on the rocks and in the sand instead of the water anyway)

We have a quick read about it in our blog: https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/other/should-i-use-a-uv-sterilizer/

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

We have a quick read about it in our blog: https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/other/should-i-use-a-uv-sterilizer/

Thanks! I'll give it a read!

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Your bacteria diversity is on the surfaces in your aquarium. It's not free floating. Once you added your new live rocks the bacteria spread to new surface areas. Running a UV is going to work on free floating things in the water column. Your water column is not filtering your aquarium your biological filtration is - and in your case that is your live rock.

If you add a canister filter, then that is something that collects waste and you throw it away - so that's a mechanical filter. All that crap the canister filter collects is surface area covered in bacteria - but nobody frets about throwing our mechanical filration pads, or filter socks and knocking out their bacteria.

You have no reason to worry about UV working negatively against your aquarium. The only question is, is the UV you are looking at big enough to be effective at maintaining the health of your aquarium.

Dave B

I see, that makes sense...Thanks for clearing that up for me, I've just never used UV before so before making the investment I wanted to make sure it would be in my best interest. Thanks again!