UV sterilizer - yay or ney

[rob safron]

I purchased a large one after an outbreak of velvet. Only 3 fish survived, 1 I pulled out and looked dead but made it, and I did not want to pull the entire aquarium apart to go fallow. I run it with fairly slow flow, have since added new fish and so far no deaths or signs after I installed. Also keeps water very clear. I do run vinegar dosing, nutrients remain so low I had to add stump remover to increase.

 

[DarthSimon]

I have had 2 different systems with UV Sterilizer's on them. I think most people get undersized and unpowered units, and don't control the flow rates to achieve results...
I can tell you I just installed a giant 40W Emperor Aquatics sold by BFS (They claim it's the only model they will sell) and the results have been fantastic. My water is crystal clear with it on.
I have seen parasites in my tank once or twice, so I run the UV at the manufacturers suggested flow rate for Protazoa. Also possibly may have had some dino's. They are gone....

 

[larisa Raykh]

It really comes down to what's all happening in your own system.

For example:

If your doing some sort of carbon dosing, it probably wouldn't be wise to be zapping the bacteria your trying to grow and export with the UV sterilizer.

or

If your running in to bacterial blooms at that are agitating your corals constantly, it would be wise to have a UV sterilizer on constantly to manage these bacterial blooms.

Good point. Thank you

 

[mitch91175]

I think UV is an 'older' technology, and folks in the hobby for less than 5 years probably don't use one. It is certainly not a necessity, nor is it likely to be the difference between success and failure. However, it can be a useful tool under certain circumstances. It is an excellent clarifier (though getting underlying problems under control is important first), is useful at reducing parasite pressures and can be useful in isolating tanks on the same system. I have always run one and always will.

Well said @ca1ore. I am on the insanity level of running both ozone and UV. As long as I have a tank I will always run at least UV. Yes you can have a successful tank without UV or ozone, but I doubt that the water clarity of that tank will match another tank that is running a UV or ozone. The beneficial bacteria that it will zap to me is a non-issue. Yes it'll kill some stuff in the tank, but if your worried about the amount of bacteria that it'll kill then I think there are other issues at hand. I have gone through a few restructures of my tank and each time a guy that I know that doesn't run UV or ozone was amazed at how fast my water cleared up after each, but insist that he'll never run UV or ozone.

Everybody has their own spin on doing things in this hobby for sure. I for one suggest running a UV sterilizer for the obvious benefits. I also carbon dose as well. Not trying to run a ultra low nutrient tank either. I feel by having these tools available to me allows me to do some much more with my tank, like overfeed, etc. I like keeping my fish fat and healthy.

 

[HumuhumuFan]

Put me in the useful but not required camp. I think they can be great for dealing with an acute problem. As far as using them for preventative medicine, it's tough to prove a negative. IE, who is to say if someone wouldn't have had problems if they hadn't been using it?

I would probably run one if I ever set up an oscar tank again since they are pretty messy fish that can really strain a system.