What size UV for Ich Management?

[Vinoy Thomas]

Hi,

I have an 80 gallon tank with a 15 gallon sump approx.

I have some fish with ich atm and would like to implement ich management than trying my luck eradicating the parasite.

What size and brand of UV would you suggest I get to help with ich management?

Please let me know what you think.

Thank you!

 

[BestMomEver]

My experience is that you would have to have a really large UV for it to have any effect at all. We had one on our 500 (super large) and we eventually unplugged it. There was no noticeable difference between running it and not running it. IMO, in order for you to get any positive results, you need twice the wattage recommended on the UV box. If the UV you are considering is rated for 100 gallons, get the one rated for 200 gallons. There seems to be a lot of controversy about UV’s. My LFS uses them and still has ich in every tank.

 

[MSB123]

Hi,

I have an 80 gallon tank with a 15 gallon sump approx.

I have some fish with ich atm and would like to implement ich management than trying my luck eradicating the parasite.

What size and brand of UV would you suggest I get to help with ich management?

Please let me know what you think.

Thank you!

I would suggest 1 watt per gallon. Or even more if you can. My only successful UV for ich management was a 160 watt on a 150-gallon tank. It worked wonders.

 

[Vinoy Thomas]

Thanks for the replies! As long as the UV can noticeably help with the ma agement of ich in my tank I'd be happy. Even if that means getting a very large one.

I would suggest 1 watt per gallon. Or even more if you can. My only successful UV for ich management was a 160 watt on a 150-gallon tank. It worked wonders.

What model did you use that proved to be helpful on your tank?

 

[MSB123]

Thanks for the replies! As long as the UV can noticeably help with the ma agement of ich in my tank I'd be happy. Even if that means getting a very large one. What model did you use that proved to be helpful on your tank?

I got mine custom. It was about $2400. I would look at pentair aquatics- I used one on another tank and it worked as well. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/emperor-aquatics-smart-high-output-uv-80-watt.html
I ran this one on my 90 gallon total water volume tank and it worked wonders.

 

[Lasse]

@Lowell Lemon You know what is on the US market. Vecton 400 or Vecton 600 would be my choise

Sincerely Lasse

 

[LAReefer4Life]

3 x tank volume at minimum and water flow rate reduced significantly so there is more contact time with the bulb. Aqua UV and Pentair Aquatics are legit options. For example, I run 57 watt aqua UV which is recommended for up 365 gallons on my 165 gallon aquarium and I also have a 40 watt pentair both running at 125 gallons per hour.

 

[Vinoy Thomas]

So, in that case I'm thinking of getting the 57 watt aqua UV.

Do you think this would be adequate for my system or would the upgrade to the 80 watt version be worth it?

 

[LAReefer4Life]

In the case of UV bigger is better especially if the intent of use is to manage parasites. 80 watt is worth it in my opinion.

 

[ReeferBean]

IME if they are eating and your tank is healthy with good parameters, it will go away on its own (visually). I'd save the money on the UV unless they look really bad and are not improving after a few weeks.

 

[Vinoy Thomas]

IME if they are eating and your tank is healthy with good parameters, it will go away on its own (visually). I'd save the money on the UV unless they look really bad and are not improving after a few weeks.

They are eating and are active, however, there are a number of spots on the fish that don't seem to be improving. They've had ich for about 3 days now.

Here is a picture, I'm hoping the UV will help manage the number of parasites in my tank to allow the fish to fight it off easier.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

IME if they are eating and your tank is healthy with good parameters, it will go away on its own (visually). I'd save the money on the UV unless they look really bad and are not improving after a few weeks.

It may disappears visually but it is all dependent on your aquarium conditions. The slightest bit of stress can cause the parasite to take a foot hold of the fishes immune system. The UV won't eradicate but does help minimize the amount of free swimming parasites. Better safe than sorry in my opinion.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

BTW Achilles Tangs are hard fish to keep in general. I don't think he'll fair well with ICH management. I suggest eradicating if you're trying to keep this species.

I know this isn't what you want to hear but that's my two cents.

 

[ReeferBean]

It may disappears visually but it is all dependent on your aquarium conditions. The slightest bit of stress can cause the parasite to take a foot hold of the fishes immune system. The UV won't eradicate but does help minimize the amount of free swimming parasites. Better safe than sorry in my opinion.

I agree with you. They are just expensive and not totally necessary.

But dang didn’t know there was an Achilles in an 80 gallon? I dont think that it will ever be stress free so a UV may be in the OPs best interest. Or remove all the fish and QT them leaving the display fallow.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

UV wont work, trust me. I did 60 watts of UV on a 55g tank, with 50gph flow.. which was low enough to turn the tank over and kill ich. Didnt work. i eventually gave up and just kept damsels and chromis in that tank as those fish never catch ich

I tried meds like malachite green, herbal BS, and even cupramine.. cupramine just killed fish that never got ich and caused other issues.

I HIGHELY HIGHELY HIGHELY, recomend you get a 20 long from petco.. Put some live rock and little bit of sand from your main tank in it, if they have a coral on it, pry the coral off.. your corals are tiny anyway so itll be fine. Catch your fish and put them in hyposalinity 1.007-1.009 for minimum of 4-6 weeks. Youll notice after 3-7 days the ich will fall off and never show up again. Trust me man. Raise your salinity in the 20g after 4-6 weeks, but leave the main tank empty for 8 weeks at least to starve the parasites.

This is the only real way to get rid of ich without hurting your fish with cupramine. Hyposalinity wont work if you have wrasse, anthias, butterfly fish, or flame angels. Everything else seems to handle it just fine, i did hypo for 2-3 months on some tangs and fish and they did just fine.

This is coming from a guy who lost 600+ in fish from ich in a 135g and 55g and 30g tank. Before i wised up and bit the bullet and did hyposalinity. What i did though was i took my corals put them in the 20 long, and did hyposalinity in my 135 gallon tank. But thats because i had more tangs and fish then you do and a 20g would be too small for them all.


But i mean if you wanna lose a 200-300$ achillies tang, and a $100 yellow tang by taking the risk of a uv and other BS medication to manage ich go for it.. I cannot stress enough the only way to stop this is to eradicate it.

You have two real options.. do cupramine in a QT tank and leave the main tank empty for 2 months. Or do hyposalinity, take the corals out put them ina small tank or take the fish out.

I know this sucks, trust me i didnt want to do it either. i was like god darnit.. i have to wait for months before my beautiful tank is back to normal.. but yea i got tired of losing fish..

I had a yellow tang.. on his death bed.. same size as yours.. i mean riddledddddd with ich.. i tested hypo on him in a 5g tank "5g is all i had man and its enough for a few weeks temp" in 3-7 days ich fell off, never came back. He had ich for 3 weeks prior.. and stopped eating.. he got to skin and bones thats how much weight he lost. Hes still alive 2 months later thanks to hyposalinity, and i can feed him every 5 minutes and he eats like crazy.

 

[TvanB1]

I just recently added a AquaUv 80 watt to my 150 mixed reef. Running about 500gph through it.
It noticeably cleared up the water however it is too early for me to determine its impact on parasites. Eventually I would like to add another 80 watt so I can run higher flow rates through them.

 

[Abhishek]

UV wont work, trust me. I did 60 watts of UV on a 55g tank, with 50gph flow.. which was low enough to turn the tank over and kill ich. Didnt work.

I tried meds like malachite green, herbal crap, and even cupramine.. cupramine just killed fish that never got ich and caused other issues.

I HIGHELY HIGHELY HIGHELY, recomend you get a 20 long from petco.. Put some live rock and little bit of sand from your main tank in it, if they have a coral on it, pry the coral off.. your corals are tiny anyway so itll be fine. Catch your fish and put them in hyposalinity 1.007-1.009 for minimum of 4-6 weeks. Youll notice after 3-7 days the ich will fall off and never show up again. Trust me man. Raise your salinity in the 20g after 4-6 weeks, but leave the main tank empty for 8 weeks at least to starve the parasites.

This is the only real way to get rid of ich without hurting your fish with cupramine. Hyposalinity wont work if you have wrasse, anthias, butterfly fish, or flame angels. Everything else seems to handle it just fine, i did hypo for 2-3 months on some tangs and fish and they did just fine.

This is coming from a guy who lost 600+ in fish from ich. Before i wised up and bit the bullet and did hyposalinity. What i did though was i took my corals put them in the 20 long, and did hyposalinity in my 135 gallon tank. But thats because i had more tangs and fish then you do and a 20g would be too small for them all.


But i mean if you wanna lose a 200-300$ achillies tang, and a $100 yellow tang by taking the risk of a uv and other crap medication to manage ich go for it..

You are right in suggesting hyposalinity treatment . However , there are a few key points that the op should be informed about hypo treatment which are extremely
Important for hypo to work :-

1. Regular calibration of refractometer and maintain the hypo salinity always and always at 1.009 . It cannot deviate and hence you would need an auto top off depending on the op’s humidity level and evaporation rate . If not , the 30 day treatment time of hypo restarts .

2. Hypo will treat ich and some cases of flukes and will suppress but never eradicate velvet , brook or the worst of all - uronema . They will become evident once the salinity goes up .

Hypo is a chemical free treatment that’s gentle on
All tangs but comes with cost that’s mentioned above .


As far as UV goes , it’s just another tool to
Help you in the process of eliminating issues with parasites . The most important thing with UV is dwell time . If using pentair , I would call pentair and ask them about the flow eaten through UV . They have resident marine biologists at site and will help you to dial in flow particular to your case .
I did the same and happy as of now with it .


Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Abhishek]

They are eating and are active, however, there are a number of spots on the fish that don't seem to be improving. They've had ich for about 3 days now.

Here is a picture, I'm hoping the UV will help manage the number of parasites in my tank to allow the fish to fight it off easier.

Lastly , am not a tang police and neither want to hurt you but you sure you want to keep an Achilles in a 80 gallon ? I see a yellow too .

There’s a reason it has been named Achilles my friend .
Ideally you would want at least a 200 gallon for it

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Hi,

I have an 80 gallon tank with a 15 gallon sump approx.

I have some fish with ich atm and would like to implement ich management than trying my luck eradicating the parasite.

What size and brand of UV would you suggest I get to help with ich management?

Please let me know what you think.

Thank you!

Here's interesting link

https://web.archive.org/web/2015070...articles/management/Lawler_Diatomfilters.html

 

[RobW]

UV wont work, trust me. I did 60 watts of UV on a 55g tank, with 50gph flow.. which was low enough to turn the tank over and kill ich. Didnt work. i eventually gave up and just kept damsels and chromis in that tank as those fish never catch ich

I tried meds like malachite green, herbal crap, and even cupramine.. cupramine just killed fish that never got ich and caused other issues.

I HIGHELY HIGHELY HIGHELY, recomend you get a 20 long from petco.. Put some live rock and little bit of sand from your main tank in it, if they have a coral on it, pry the coral off.. your corals are tiny anyway so itll be fine. Catch your fish and put them in hyposalinity 1.007-1.009 for minimum of 4-6 weeks. Youll notice after 3-7 days the ich will fall off and never show up again. Trust me man. Raise your salinity in the 20g after 4-6 weeks, but leave the main tank empty for 8 weeks at least to starve the parasites.

This is the only real way to get rid of ich without hurting your fish with cupramine. Hyposalinity wont work if you have wrasse, anthias, butterfly fish, or flame angels. Everything else seems to handle it just fine, i did hypo for 2-3 months on some tangs and fish and they did just fine.

This is coming from a guy who lost 600+ in fish from ich in a 135g and 55g and 30g tank. Before i wised up and bit the bullet and did hyposalinity. What i did though was i took my corals put them in the 20 long, and did hyposalinity in my 135 gallon tank. But thats because i had more tangs and fish then you do and a 20g would be too small for them all.


But i mean if you wanna lose a 200-300$ achillies tang, and a $100 yellow tang by taking the risk of a uv and other crap medication to manage ich go for it.. I cannot stress enough the only way to stop this is to eradicate it.

You have two real options.. do cupramine in a QT tank and leave the main tank empty for 2 months. Or do hyposalinity, take the corals out put them ina small tank or take the fish out.

I know this sucks, trust me i didnt want to do it either. i was like god darnit.. i have to wait for months before my beautiful tank is back to normal.. but yea i got tired of losing fish..

I had a yellow tang.. on his death bed.. same size as yours.. i mean riddledddddd with ich.. i tested hypo on him in a 5g tank "5g is all i had man and its enough for a few weeks temp" in 3-7 days ich fell off, never came back. He had ich for 3 weeks prior.. and stopped eating.. he got to skin and bones thats how much weight he lost. Hes still alive 2 months later thanks to hyposalinity, and i can feed him every 5 minutes and he eats like crazy.

A uv sterilizer is not going to eradicate it. Uv sterilizers are best when they are up and running when the system is new as you introduce to aid in controlling it. The only way you are going to truly eradicate it is by pulling the fish out an sticking it or them in quarantine and treating them. You have to run the tank for nearly 80 days without fish for the parasite to completely die off and not find another host. The uv sterilizers are good at helping to prevent if implemented first.