Uv steralizers?

[Jekyl]

Say you run a uv sterilizer for fish diseases and it saves one 500$ fish. Well probably worth it. In alot of cases a disease or bacterial bloom nearly wipes out a tank. That could be many thousands of dollars for some of us. Worth it in my opinion. It is one more thing but can be a life saver quite literally. You can Run it to help with algea and stop bacterial blooms from ever happening. Then boom your fish have ich from reason xyz turn down the pump on the uv and you either solved the problem or bought yourself time to treat it. Its one more thing and I get that but crises diverted, its not if its when.

Again couldn't all of your reasons be avoided? This makes them seem to be a last ditch effort to fix a mistake or poor practice?

 

[Spare time]

Me 2 lol that’s why I don’t use it, I’d rather nature do it’s thing so to speak. My feather worms would probly go away if I added a UV

I keep a few of the big feather dusters and a flame scallop that is something like 2 years old lol

 

[Spare time]

It’s up to people who want to have a clean tank without having to deal with more maintenance

for example if you have a uv in your tank. You won’t be stocking your tank with clean up crew, due to barely any algae which pretty much cuts down maintenance if you don’t want clean up crew in your tank.

I find that it doesn't eliminate algae, but just seems to promote some more than others (creates selection)

 

[Pico bam]

Again couldn't all of your reasons be avoided? This makes them seem to be a last ditch effort to fix a mistake or poor practice?

What about a bacterial bloom? I believe that little is known about them. Ive had a tuff time finding information about them myself. At the end of the day an appropriately sized uv sterilizer keeps them from happening. I learned it the hard way lost thousands to save hundreds.

Also I have 20+ fish I am not an expert at quarantine and I don't pretend to be. One fish gets threw with a disease im dead in the water without something on hand. And who wants to change carbon every two weeks for clear water? I believe a uv is good for coral warfair to some extent aswell. I think the pros outway the cons and mistakes on the way. I am a believer in the kiss method but there so helpfull I gotta use one. There price I firmly disagree on they were expense last year and now there 20%+ that price. Though I can still find a deal on one.

In short they'll save you... eventually, One thing or another is bound to happen you can count your lucky sevens or collect four leaf clovers, But a part of good husbandry is often adding a uv sterilizer to the mix.

Btw I think alot of people get easily offended on here but im typing this respectively. Also not saying there the answer to creation lol but they help.

 

[Jekyl]

What about a bacterial bloom? I believe that little is known about them. Ive had a tuff time finding information about them myself. At the end of the day an appropriately sized uv sterilizer keeps them from happening. I learned it the hard way lost thousands to save hundreds.

Also I have 20+ fish I am not an expert at quarantine and I don't pretend to be. One fish gets threw with a disease im dead in the water without something on hand. And who wants to change carbon every two weeks for clear water? I believe a uv is good for coral warfair to some extent aswell. I think the pros outway the cons and mistakes on the way. I am a believer in the kiss method but there so helpfull I gotta use one. There price I firmly disagree on they were expense last year and now there 20%+ that price. Though I can still find a deal on one.

In short they'll save you... eventually, One thing or another is bound to happen you can count your lucky sevens or collect four leaf clovers, But a part of good husbandry is often adding a uv sterilizer to the mix.

Btw I think alot of people get easily offended on here but im typing this respectively. Also not saying there the answer to creation lol but they help.

Bacterial blooms usually fade as fast as they showed up. Can be managed with increased surface agitation and such. Might see one post a month about it. Usually in newer tanks and seldom with any losses

 

[Pico bam]

Bacterial blooms usually fade as fast as they showed up. Can be managed with increased surface agitation and such. Might see one post a month about it. Usually in newer tanks and seldom with any losses

Maybe beneficial bacteria blooms, Ive had two that I shut down tanks over. Alot don't just go away.

 

[Jekyl]

Maybe beneficial bacteria blooms, Ive had two that I shut down tanks over. Alot don't just go away.

Was there something that caused it that could have been avoided?

 

[damsels are not mean]

Do they do the things they are claimed to do? I am not sure. It seems they help with reducing the viability of certain free swimming parasites which makes sense in a context where you cannot control what's coming into the tank easily (like a fish store). Do they have any meaningful impact on a tank that doesn't have biosecurity issues? I don't know but I have yet to see anything supporting the idea that they are beneficial when not used in that capacity specifically.

Some say "bacteria" but what does that mean? What bacteria is in the water column? Is it bad? Does the UV actually have a meaningful effect on whatever bad that bacteria does? Does it hurt good bacteria?

Algae spores? Are they an issue? I don't know. Does having a UV make algae not grow? Maybe it slows it down, but is it better than an urchin? Urchins are prettier and cheaper.

Clear water? Maybe. My water seems pretty clear though. If I can't see an issue why spend the money?

A few of the tanks I am heavily inspired by don't run UV. Not to knock anyone, but I don't really know of any tanks that run UV that I have saved in my "reefs that will always humble me" playlist. I need to look at more reefs maybe.

Anecdotes are great but has anyone actually done controlled A/B studies on UV sterilization?

 

[Pico bam]

Was there something that caused it that could have been avoided?

The only thing I can possibly attribute it to is dirty sand. But even then I'm not certain. And actually its happened to me three times not twice when I think about it. But the third was a fairly new tank not established and had alot of micro bubbles from the skimmer it was a coral qt and the skimmer was just getting broken in.

 

[Spare time]

Do they do the things they are claimed to do? I am not sure. It seems they help with reducing the viability of certain free swimming parasites which makes sense in a context where you cannot control what's coming into the tank easily (like a fish store). Do they have any meaningful impact on a tank that doesn't have biosecurity issues? I don't know but I have yet to see anything supporting the idea that they are beneficial when not used in that capacity specifically.

Some say "bacteria" but what does that mean? What bacteria is in the water column? Is it bad? Does the UV actually have a meaningful effect on whatever bad that bacteria does? Does it hurt good bacteria?

Algae spores? Are they an issue? I don't know. Does having a UV make algae not grow? Maybe it slows it down, but is it better than an urchin? Urchins are prettier and cheaper.

Clear water? Maybe. My water seems pretty clear though. If I can't see an issue why spend the money?

A few of the tanks I am heavily inspired by don't run UV. Not to knock anyone, but I don't really know of any tanks that run UV that I have saved in my "reefs that will always humble me" playlist. I need to look at more reefs maybe.

Anecdotes are great but has anyone actually done controlled A/B studies on UV sterilization?

https://reefs.com/magazine/bacteria...ing-and-granular-activated-carbon-filtration/
You might enjoy this read. The UV sterilizer did not have a significant effect on water column bacteria.

 

[Pico bam]

Brs did an investigates on uv sterilizers.
Here's a good short one

 

[Jekyl]

Brs did an investigates on uv sterilizers.
Here's a good short one

It's BRS job to sell everything they can. While they help reefers, at the end of the day they're a retailer.

 

[damsels are not mean]

https://reefs.com/magazine/bacteria...ing-and-granular-activated-carbon-filtration/
You might enjoy this read. The UV sterilizer did not have a significant effect on water column bacteria.

Not shocking to me. I remember reading/hearing somewhere that the speed one would typically run water through them is too fast to really do much to bacteria. I have heard of people using them to create continuous phytoplankton cultures where you run the water very slowly through the UV (like drip speed) to feed the culture with fresh nutrient rich water. In that case it makes sense.

 

[CanuckReefer]

Seriously asking, why are these a thing? I've seen the uses but have no idea why I would ever pay for one. Green water? Other ways to clear up and won't be seen again most likely. Algae? Much cheaper means to deal with. Disease? If it shows up most will go fallow and a quarantine process anyway. Are these the biggest gimmick in the hobby or am I missing something?

I run one , however I don't have anything to justify other than anecdotal... I run very minimal filtration, big cleanup crew, no skimmer, carbon or anything...mine busted one day I delayed in purchasing a new one. Cyano (first time ever) came with a vengeance, cleaned that up over a long period and bought another. Smooth sailing again. FWIW, I do cycle mine, off for a day when dosing live phyto ( every 3-4 days), back on for 12 hours a day, rinse repeat. It works for me over the years so not messing with removing it lol....

 

[t5Nitro]

I use a big UV to make it look my fish float in air. Despite carbon, the UV addition is amaze.