UV steriliser kills good bacterias?

[SiD]

My tank is 5 months old. I dose NP pro and Bio S Pro everyday since my No3 is hovering between 20 to 40 and Phosphate is between .25 to .1. Other parameters are within limits. I am planning to install an UV 14 watts to my tank of 320 litres including sump.
Will this kill the good bacteria? Should I run the UV for 24 hours?

Thanks in advance.
Sid

 

[Saltees]

UV kills all that is in the water column, bacteria on the surfaces is safe. IMO if you run UV, gotta be 24/7.

 

[reefz]

beneficial bacteria grows on every surface, and rarely detaches from it. I doubt that uv can kill enough bacteria to cause a problem.

 

[don_chuwish]

The good bacteria lives on surfaces - rock, sand, glass, plumbing, etc. Not water column.

 

[SPR1968]

As already said, a UV will potentially kill anything that goes through it which is its purpose, but most of the ‘good’ bacteria are not in the water column so unless your using some additional bottled bacteria just run it 24/7 365

 

[brandon429]

Connecting Established Reef To New Tank

EDIT: In conclusion, if using the method I did - connecting an established reef to a new system with dry rock (clean), I recommend the following: 1. Dose your new tank prior to connecting to your old tank with NO3 and PO4 enough to raise to your established tank levels. 2. Take your skimmer...

www.reef2reef.com

reef water has massive amounts of cycling bacteria, Dr Tim got that wrong in the YouTube video. I have nothing better to do at 5 am than begin cycle sleuthing lol forgive

the thread above ends the notion that tank water has no bacteria for filtration, it has lots, but they aren’t the important set. Rocks will retain their bacteria just fine. Nano reefers who do 100% water changes are far meaner to bacteria than uv.

*the good Dr may have been referring to certain clades of bacteria that filter and are not found in water* but the reality is other clades that do perform filtration obviously exist in the water (above) and nobody cares which type is handling their bioload, they just want ammonia controlled.

typical reef water will cycle an entirely new dry reef tank in 20 days anywhere on the planet, cycle charts also agree. No extra food, added bacteria are needed, merely contact with tank water from another tank (all shown above)

 

[piranhaman00]

Connecting Established Reef To New Tank

EDIT: In conclusion, if using the method I did - connecting an established reef to a new system with dry rock (clean), I recommend the following: 1. Dose your new tank prior to connecting to your old tank with NO3 and PO4 enough to raise to your established tank levels. 2. Take your skimmer...

www.reef2reef.com

reef water has massive amounts of cycling bacteria, Dr Tim got that wrong in the YouTube video. I have nothing better to do at 5 am than begin cycle sleuthing lol forgive

the thread above ends the notion that tank water has no bacteria for filtration, it has lots, but they aren’t the important set. Rocks will retain their bacteria just fine. Nano reefers who do 100% water changes are far meaner to bacteria than uv.

*the good Dr may have been referring to certain clades of bacteria that filter and are not found in water* but the reality is other clades that do perform filtration obviously exist in the water (above) and nobody cares which type is handling their bioload, they just want ammonia controlled.

typical reef water will cycle an entirely new dry reef tank in 20 days anywhere on the planet, cycle charts also agree. No extra food, added bacteria are needed, merely contact with tank water from another tank (all shown above)

Sure, but rocks will cycle the same tank overnight.
BB in water column is negligible , keep the UV going 24/7.

 

[brandon429]

its not a negligible amount if we cycled a completely dry reef using only another tanks water in 20 days


that's how long a paid bottle of brightwell would take to cycle, we got it free by actually testing groupthink

its not that the bacteria are insignificant, it’s that they’re expendable just like sandbed bacteria. Only rock bacteria are needed, they hold more bacteria due to surface area. Water itself is no surface area comparatively, so the massive amounts of suspended bacteria are significant, just not as effective as rocks which provide attachment points for millions of cells.

reef water has lots and lots of cycling bacteria


sandbeds have lots and lots of cycling bacteria. But those are expendable (sand rinse thread) and above shows reef water has more bacteria than anyone would have allowed, were it not for a work thread. You can still burn them out with UV or you can 100% water change them out, and nobodys reef will mind.

i recommend UV for all large tanks, am pro UV. I had nothing to do better at five am than nit pick bacteria again lol

 

[piranhaman00]

its not a negligible amount if we cycled a completely dry reef using only another tanks water in 20 days


that's how long a paid bottle of brightwell would take to cycle, we got it free by actually testing groupthink

its not that the bacteria are insignificant, it’s that they’re expendable just like sandbed bacteria. Only rock bacteria are needed, they hold more bacteria due to surface area. Water itself is no surface area comparatively, so the massive amounts of suspended bacteria are significant, just not as effective as rocks which provide attachment points for millions of cells.

reef water has lots and lots of cycling bacteria


sandbeds have lots and lots of cycling bacteria. But those are expendable (sand rinse thread) and above shows reef water has more bacteria than anyone would have allowed, were it not for a work thread. You can still burn them out with UV or you can 100% water change them out, and nobodys reef will mind.

i recommend UV for all large tanks, am pro UV. I had nothing to do better at five am than nit pick bacteria again lol

Sure "lots" but its negligible compared to what's on rocks. UV will not affect BB.

 

[brandon429]

Agreed

Id never own any reef too big for a full water change without uv

 

[SiD]

So we can run UV 24/7 with negligible effect on good bacterias and thus no effect on nitrification cycle in reef tank.
I hope my understanding is correct.

 

[Superlightman]

Be careful I just experienced the contrary in my new tank, I had algua outbreak so I run ozon and UV, result were not satisfying so I had a new UV and rum them both on the tank instead if the sump. Very efficient in one day now more algua! But also this morning no polyp extension on all corals, all were close and some acropora loose completely their colors! So be aware it can really crash your tank if too strong! Orp was just a 230-250 so even not high.
Also a study shows it kills the good biome :

How does a UV sterilizer affect the microbiome?

DNA testing for aquariums and aquaculture

aquabiomics.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Since this question presupposes there are good bacteria and, presumably, not good bacteria, I have in the past suggested the topic of whether any bacteria are actually beneficial in a typical operating reef tank.

If some are useful, which ones and why?

IMO, the answer is not obvious, and may vary tank to tank.

Writing Prompt: Nitrifying bacteria are undesirable in a reef tank

OK, so the world of reefing is loaded with folks talking about nitrifying bacteria as good bacteria, and some other bacteria are bad. I think it's a perfectly valid hypothesis that cannot be easily dismissed that nitrifying bacteria are bad for a fully stocked reef aquarium. Here's the step by...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[jda]

Not only does UV kill indiscriminately, the dead organics from what it kills could also feed and fuel other things in your tank that could also be good, or not good. There is no easy answer for if UV is beneficial - this is very complex and I doubt that any good answers exist out there.

 

[Mwatts12]

This is my first tank I have used UV, I began to think possibly my UV was stripping the water of bacteria. So I conducted this search and found this thread. My acros are not as healthy as they once were. I also have had some rtn. I have experience with Acropora and confidently say they only die if a fish knock them off the rocks.

I have been scratching my head like crazy to what could be the issue. I cannot prove it. I have no testing. But I believe my UV is stripping my water too much and affecting coral health.

Tank is 225 gallon with 120 pounds KP rocks / UV is the aqua 57 watt.

Just my .2

 

[Lowell Lemon]

This is my first tank I have used UV, I began to think possibly my UV was stripping the water of bacteria. So I conducted this search and found this thread. My acros are not as healthy as they once were. I also have had some rtn. I have experience with Acropora and confidently say they only die if a fish knock them off the rocks.

I have been scratching my head like crazy to what could be the issue. I cannot prove it. I have no testing. But I believe my UV is stripping my water too much and affecting coral health.

Tank is 225 gallon with 120 pounds KP rocks / UV is the aqua 57 watt.

Just my .2

Probably not your U.V. but maybe another factor. There are lots of pictures of thriving reef tanks with stronger U.V. than yours.
Just my .02 cents lol!

 

[Mwatts12]

Thanks for the input @Lowell Lemon Great advice. lol!

 

[Spare time]

IMO if the UV is effective, it just destroys possible filter feeder food and competition for algae.