How many people use a UV on a Reef

[RxMike]

Hello
How many of you use a UV on your reef/fowler tank? If you are for or against UV please indicate your reason why. If you are a UV user include the type of UV you are using with wattage and the total volume of water in your system.
Thanks
Mike

[Charley Diesing]

Hello
How many of you use a UV on your reef/fowler tank? If you are for or against UV please indicate your reason why. If you are a UV user include the type of UV you are using with wattage and the total volume of water in your system.
Thanks
Mike

IMO they are outdated junk. If you want one to fight against parasites like Ich it isn't going to really do you any good at all. Research how Ich really works your'll find out that a UV won't do you much good at all.

As for killing/eliminating algae? I think that's also a waste. Your better off just running GFO, or a nice sized fuge.

Look at almost all of the high end SPS tanks today. Alot of them are getting it done with just MAPS(Massive A$$ Protein Skimmer), Cal, Alk, Mag supplementation(Calc Reactor, 2 part, Kalk, etc), and good lights + flow. Alot of the equipment that was once "Needed" in this hobby is starting to be completely unnecessary.

[bwiele]

Funny to read this - I had my UV under my stand for MONTHS taking up precious space but not using it since forever - I finally decided to just pull it out and toss it. Funny how good that made me feel!

[d2mini]

The high end sps tanks are replacing older bacteria eliminating equipment like UV with newer bacteria eliminating equipment like ZEOvit reactors and gobs of money in monthly dosing regimens.

A skimmer ain't gonna do it.

[leveldrummer]

The high end sps tanks are replacing older bacteria eliminating equipment like UV with newer bacteria eliminating equipment like ZEOvit reactors and gobs of money in monthly dosing regimens.

A skimmer ain't gonna do it.

why is anyone trying to eliminate bacteria at all? :hmm1:

[maddmaxx]

why is anyone trying to eliminate bacteria at all? :hmm1:

they look to eliminate bacteria blooms more than anything as apposed to actually removing bacteria...

[ptreef]

No UV here. Ran one yrs ago, not sure they really do anything unless way oversized and slooow flow thru rates

[ggsteve]

I have one that came with a tank I bought off of CL. It's sitting in the basement but I thought about hooking it up as some have said it will act as a water "polisher" leading to chrystal clear water. Right now I have a very faint haze that won't go away.

[RA]

I have one on my pond and it's great for eliminating algae. In a reef tank they are a waste of space & money.

[Mr. Bill]

No UV here. Ran one yrs ago, not sure they really do anything unless way oversized and slooow flow thru rates

Exactly, and the flow rate ensures that not much will actually be pulled into it.

[RxMike]

Before all the UV haters jump all over me. I am gonna say that IMO the UV is actually very helpful if you are keeping a lot of fish. ICH is inevitable I know people claim to have ICH less tanks. I used to believe this was possible. But learned it is not so. I had a good friend take all of his fish out of his tank. He stared at an empty tank for twelve weeks. After waiting the recommended 8 weeks. He decided to give it an additional 4 weeks to make sure no ich was in the display tank. His fish where treated and fully QT'd using copper for this period of time. After 12 weeks and ensuring all fish were ich less. He used copper first and completed the full course. All fish were also super healthy. He excerised incredible patience. Not to many people could do what he did. I could not.

He introduced the fish back into the main display after 12 weeks. A few weeks later ICH reappeared. No new fish were added. Talk about watching a grown man cry. At this point he realized first hand how much we do not really know about this hobby. He followed directions to the T. Even went above and beyond recommendations. He contacted expert fish keepers working at public aquariums and explained his misfortune. Out of all the advice he received, "get a good UV" was a common recommendation.

He now runs a UV on his beautiful tank. He has gone to battle and lived the war first hand. He faced the equivalent of the battle of IWO JIMA and had the resolve to fight again.
I watched this first hand. I now see his amazing tank using a UV over one year no signs of ICH. Fish are super healthy and happy. He believes ICH is in the tank. Fish are well fed and healthy. The UV keeps ICH under control. The tank is loaded with expensive fish. Gem tangs. you name it he has it. Not one spot of ICH visible.

He has been reefing for ten years. He said he used to believe what everyone says on the forums. In his opinion, everyone is entitled to a opinion. In this hobby you learn from expensive mistakes. if you are going to spend money on expensive marine fish. A UV will make you sleep better at night.
By all means believe what you want. I have seen it. I believe in UV and it runs on my tank because what I have seen with my own eyes. ICH is ever present no matter what anyone says. It lives in balance. The UV definitely helps keep it under control. With all do respect to those who have much more experience than me. IMO a UV is not junk. It is totally worth it IMO.

[jschultzbass]

I also run UV. A 40 watt Aqua UV on my 180. I like it. I haven't had an ich outbreak since leaving my tank fallow for 8 weeks. I think if they are used right they can be helpful but most people don't use them correctly.

[SVTour]

I also run UV. A 40 watt Aqua UV on my 180. I like it. I haven't had an ich outbreak since leaving my tank fallow for 8 weeks. I think if they are used right they can be helpful but most people don't use them correctly.

I also run one on my 220, 40W Ultra-V. While underrated for what I have, I just run it on the low flow CL that I have pulling from behind all the LR. I've always had clear water...but it did help cut down on the hair algae I had going on where the overflows are.

[d2mini]

I don't own a UV (undecided as of yet) but here's an interesting article...
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html#uvfacts

[jimmyj7090]

I don't own a UV (undecided as of yet) but here's an interesting article...
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html#uvfacts

^ I don't always take advice from someone trying to sell me something :D


My question is always "why add or not add this particular piece of equipement?"

UV will help with water clarity, and is the ideal way to deal with free floating algae / green water blooms.

UV does little to fight parisites unless the doses are very high, more than most aqauarium units support.



As for the earlier mention of bacteria killing/removal- The trend these days is to encourage extra bacterial growth and then skim it out to remove nutrients. No way to eliminate bacteria in our systems past or present, and it would be very problematic if we did....

[goreef170]

I also run one A aqua 57w on a 170. Helps keep the icH under control. Corals have war fare going on at night and it helps kill off the toxin.Also helps with algae outbreaks and keeps the water polished....

[BassMekanik]

I've been running a UV on my tank since setup. It came with the used tank I bought. I can't attest to what my tank would look like without it, but I can tell you that I've only had one episode of ICH and that was on my Blue Tang when I first added it to the tank. No other fish were effected and all I did to cure it was feed some garlic soaked food for a few days. No problems with ICH since. Not sure if the UV had anything to do with it, so take it for what it's worth. Just sharing my experience. :)

[Reefin' Dude]

i would not run a reef tank without a UV. those that do not like them, probably do not know how to plumb them into the system properly. the point of a UV is not for killing parasites but for nutrient removal. not sure how the thought that UV's would be used for something other than nutrient removal came about, but it is not the best use of a UV.

a UV should be strong enough to be able to kill all algae and bacteria that go through it. all water should go through the UV and all of the water that goes through the UV should then immediately go through the skimmer. if it does not you are defeating the entire purpose of the UV. you want all of the algae, bacteria, and organic compounds that are killed or broken down by the UV to be removed as soon as possible. running it through the skimmer is the best way to accomplish this. if not then you are just dumping this dead/broken down material back into your system for it to rot and provide inorganic nutrients for algae.

G~

[Superpuma]

l do and l havn't looked back since, infact l don't use one, l use three. My 500 litre system has 3 x 20 watt uv's each being fed by their own feed pump running at approx 400 litres / hour. One of the issues with uv's was not being able to expose all the free swimming stage parasites to the uv, gotta stand more of a chance with three :-).

l had terrible brook issues, even after qt'ing and going fallow for 16 weeks, for me it was quit the hobby or a new approach, new approach is going ok so far..... lnstead of qt'ing l now dip with Seachem ParaGuard.

Am considering dropping one uv once a Powder Blue is safely introduced.

[bmullikin1]

I recently had a bacterial bloom in my tank, the only thing that cleared it up was uv.

[Ron Reefman]

I consider UV to be like having a carbon or GFO reactor. I have them and they are even plumbed into the system (at times) but I only use them to correct a problem, not as a regular part of my system. And just to be clear, in 3 years with this tank it's been UV sterilizer 0 weeks, carbon 4 weeks after using Flatworm Exit... I now use Wrasses, and GFO 4 weeks for a small hairy algae outbreak in my frag tank. I like PaulB's approach, let Mother Nature do it her way, it's better.

[rizon25]

In my 100 gallon, I lost all my fishes due to ich on a kole tang I purchased which gave it to every fish in my tank. I did not run a uv sterilizer. With my second group of fishes, I decided to try an aqua uv 25watt plumbed into my return line feeding my gfo reactor. I did not quarantine any of my fishes which includes a purple tang. When I first purchased my purple tang, it had an outbreak of ich which in a couple of days, disappeared. Now I can't say for sure if its due to the sterilizer but you know the saying "if it ain't broke..." Plus it keeps my water looking clear. I also give the quartz sleeve a vinegar bath every 2 weeks to remove the calcium buildup. Anyone else do this?

[ptreef]

Anyone running them have an SPS dominate tank?

[d2mini]

I've been going back and forth between high quality UV and a complete ozone setup with reactor/generator/dryer. Setup cost is about the same. Leaning towards the ozone but still researching. Water clarity is my main concern. And from what I've read, ozone levels can be raised temporarily to help correct any parasite problems.

[darimont]

I also run one on my 220, 40W Ultra-V. While underrated for what I have, I just run it on the low flow CL that I have pulling from behind all the LR. I've always had clear water...but it did help cut down on the hair algae I had going on where the overflows are.

Who is Ultra-V made buy, is it maybe UltraLife?

[jimmyj7090]

How would UV fight hair algae?

Also, to those who say it's helping fight ick or other parisites, how do you know it is making a difference?

[BassMekanik]

all water should go through the UV and all of the water that goes through the UV should then immediately go through the skimmer. if it does not you are defeating the entire purpose of the UV. you want all of the algae, bacteria, and organic compounds that are killed or broken down by the UV to be removed as soon as possible. running it through the skimmer is the best way to accomplish this. if not then you are just dumping this dead/broken down material back into your system for it to rot and provide inorganic nutrients for algae.

G~

Interesting. I never thought of this. My UV is plumbed into my return line and is the last thing the water goes through before being dumped into the tank. I have an algae problem that I haven't been able to shake since day 1 and my tank has been set up for almost 2 years now. I've driven myself nuts testing phosphates, nitrates and running GFO. I wonder if this could be my problem?

[indyjaco]

Check out Copps RTOM. He uses them on his setups.

I won't erradicate parasites but it will help control them.

[flipsideleo]

I've been going back and forth between high quality UV and a complete ozone setup with reactor/generator/dryer. Setup cost is about the same. Leaning towards the ozone but still researching. Water clarity is my main concern. And from what I've read, ozone levels can be raised temporarily to help correct any parasite problems.

I'm about to plumb in a 40w UV that I got from coolname1 on our home board, bro. I'll post how it goes, but I've run them in the past with great success. As long as it's a quality unit, and not one of those cheapies you can get at the big department pet stores. They're junk unless you own a nano/pico and can adjust the flow slow enough.

With the UV, I plan on running at the recommend flow rate of 290ish gph for 3 months, then increasing the flow to 600gph. My first months are to seek and destroy! After that, maintain.

Ozone is natural and you are right in stating that it can be set to "deadly." There's never a reason to run both UV and O3, IMO, but there are those that do. You have to be careful with O3, and contact time through a reactor is important (some have ports on their skimmers, as I'm sure your skimmer does). :) I think that running Ozone or UV is just another "good husbandry" practice that more should try before passing judgement on.

Just look at PaulB. :) He's been running Ozone since the beginning, I believe. To have a reef tank setup for over 40 years speaks tons.

For everyone else that sees no use in either method, so be it. It's your money...

[sanababit]

Never used one and really not interested in putting another piece of equipment that is not really proven to work efficiently plus uses electricity

Sana

[Reefin' Dude]

Interesting. I never thought of this. My UV is plumbed into my return line and is the last thing the water goes through before being dumped into the tank. I have an algae problem that I haven't been able to shake since day 1 and my tank has been set up for almost 2 years now. I've driven myself nuts testing phosphates, nitrates and running GFO. I wonder if this could be my problem?

depending on your setup it could be an easy thing to try, and it could only be better. you are not dumping dead organisms directly back into your display.

G~

[Paul B]

why is anyone trying to eliminate bacteria at all?
I don't know, I collect mud in a bay and put it in my reef for the bacteria, no complaints so far

[Edzo]

My reefing experience is limited but I have a 1500 gallon Koi pond. You can literally see the difference from day to day in the clarity of the water. It is used primarily to control free floating alge blooms and its quite effective. It does not eliminate the cause of the blooms though. If I turn it on within a day the difference is striking in clarity. The bulbs are only effective for a season though, they need to be replaced often to be truly effective. It's a pain and like everything else, expensive. I do not have a sterilizer running on either of my reef tanks though, I'm tight on space.

[Tenshoa]

I gotta be honest. I had a cloudy tank recently for about 4 weeks. Looked like a bacteria bloom but couldn't tell for sure. I have a 65g tank and after trying everything under the sun, I ran to Petco and bought their $50 cheapo Green Killing Machine. It was rated for a 50 gallon tank so clearly underrated for my 65g. I threw it in my sump at 8pm, woke up next morning and tank was crystal clear. I can't believe it actually worked.

And no. I don't work for Petco or GKM. Just giving my honest .02.

[ActorMike]

Agree, no UV on a reef. The key to a reef is the flow rate, the number of times per hour you turn over the water. I have a 1000 GPH actual flow rate on my 46 Bowfront. No issues with Hair algae, red slime etc. Had the same pump sump on a 120 and had all sorts of issues.

Sent from my EVO3d using tapatalk

[ricwilli]

I have a uv that as of now it is not plumbed. I'm thinking of running it with its own pump instead of connecting it to my manifold. Since I have two manderines in my tank, I would like to keep as many pods alive as possible. What I plan on doing is putting a sponge on the pump inlet side so no pods get sucked into the uv and die. Does anyone running a uv do this? Will the sponge prevent the free floating alge from entering the uv? I know I would have to clean the sponge every few days, but I would not mind. I just don't want the pods entering the uv. I have a 57w uv and a 300 gallon tank.

[Tenshoa]

Agree, no UV on a reef. The key to a reef is the flow rate, the number of times per hour you turn over the water. I have a 1000 GPH actual flow rate on my 46 Bowfront. No issues with Hair algae, red slime etc. Had the same pump sump on a 120 and had all sorts of issues.

Sent from my EVO3d using tapatalk

I have to respectfully disagree. I have a 65 gallon with a Mag 9.5, a 1150gph Koralia powerhead, and a 425gph Koralia powerhead. All the flow rate in the world won't help without filtration.

With that said, I am also running a Bubble Magus NAC6 rated for up to 150g with an upgraded pump, needle wheel, and bubble plate, 2 reactors, and Chemi-pure running in a 200 micron sock.

None of this cleared the water. A bacteria bloom is simply too fine for the filtration as is some suspended algae particles. The UV was the only method that cleared my tank.

All params were perfect, both before and after. a 50 gallon rated UV cleared my water in 12 hours.

[PubFiction]

The way I see it is, if you have UV you are are just going to push the bacteria or algae somewhere else. But they are going to use the nutrients no matter what. If your UV is doing a good job killing because it is powerful enough then the microbes that form biofilms will be left untouched and the ones in the water column will be harmed. You could view that as a good thing, or a bad thing. But I think in general you could probably achieve the same thing by running an algae scrubber. Eventually though you could also imagine bacteria which can become more resistant to UV will build up. Might take a while to become a problem and maybe the high attrition rate in the hobby covers that up.

[Reefin' Dude]

a UV is an active filter. an ATS is an after the fact nutrient export method. completely different. i would not run an ATS on any reef system. i would prefer to actually go after the source of a nutrient problem instead of creating the problem in order to try and remove the nutrients later.

if the UV is plumbed before the skimmer, than the skimmer will remove the dead or broken down organics before they can be put back into the display to rot. after they have rotted, all of those after the fact nutrient export methods would have access to the nutrients.

G~

[PubFiction]

I don't think they are that different. you are just moving the job that was once taken over by bacteria and doing it mechanically. Turns out its also more expensive too. Also a UV is not a filter IMO in any way its a killer it does not remove anything from the environment, arguably it might change some compounds, but that would be case by case, it could take an inert compound and form something more toxic, or the reverse. The skimmer does all the filtering and removing of the bacteria in other parts of the live rock etc..

Coming from a microbiology background I think that indiscriminate killing of all bacteria is not really a healthy thing for living systems. It should be a last resort in a system that has gone bad and cannot be fixed otherwise.

[bsilvest]

Before all the UV haters jump all over me. I am gonna say that IMO the UV is actually very helpful if you are keeping a lot of fish. ICH is inevitable I know people claim to have ICH less tanks. I used to believe this was possible. But learned it is not so. I had a good friend take all of his fish out of his tank. He stared at an empty tank for twelve weeks. After waiting the recommended 8 weeks. He decided to give it an additional 4 weeks to make sure no ich was in the display tank. His fish where treated and fully QT'd using copper for this period of time. After 12 weeks and ensuring all fish were ich less. He used copper first and completed the full course. All fish were also super healthy. He excerised incredible patience. Not to many people could do what he did. I could not.

He introduced the fish back into the main display after 12 weeks. A few weeks later ICH reappeared. No new fish were added. Talk about watching a grown man cry. At this point he realized first hand how much we do not really know about this hobby. He followed directions to the T. Even went above and beyond recommendations. He contacted expert fish keepers working at public aquariums and explained his misfortune. Out of all the advice he received, "get a good UV" was a common recommendation.

He now runs a UV on his beautiful tank. He has gone to battle and lived the war first hand. He faced the equivalent of the battle of IWO JIMA and had the resolve to fight again.
I watched this first hand. I now see his amazing tank using a UV over one year no signs of ICH. Fish are super healthy and happy. He believes ICH is in the tank. Fish are well fed and healthy. The UV keeps ICH under control. The tank is loaded with expensive fish. Gem tangs. you name it he has it. Not one spot of ICH visible.

He has been reefing for ten years. He said he used to believe what everyone says on the forums. In his opinion, everyone is entitled to a opinion. In this hobby you learn from expensive mistakes. if you are going to spend money on expensive marine fish. A UV will make you sleep better at night.
By all means believe what you want. I have seen it. I believe in UV and it runs on my tank because what I have seen with my own eyes. ICH is ever present no matter what anyone says. It lives in balance. The UV definitely helps keep it under control. With all do respect to those who have much more experience than me. IMO a UV is not junk. It is totally worth it IMO.
+1 I was constantly having issues with ICH and went through it all just like your friend I now run a UV and keep my water quality high and feed really well an weekly water changes I know ICH exist in the tank every once and a while I will see a spot or two on a fish but I do not have anymore outbreaks or loss of fish do to ICH! It doesent solve it but yes IMO it does keep a handle on it I no longer QT or Hospital my fish havent lost any since!

[mikeoif08]

I just bought a UV filter to try it out hoping that it would help with ich outbreaks when it's in the free floating form. It may not get a lot of it, but it should prevent a high concentration. I had a ICH out break 2 years ago in my reef and treated it with a "reef safe" additive which killed my corals. I also started feeding New Life Spectrum Thera-A. The ich went way....for 2 years of no signs.

Well a month ago I ran out of Thera-A and used another NLS food and a algae grazing block for my tangs. Then ICH came back??? For 2 years I didn't add fish either. Well I lost my favorite fish, a 6 inch Powder Blue Tang :-(. He was sooooo beautiful. I started feeding exclusively NLS Thera-A again and the rest of my tangs are recovering with just 2 of them showing slight signs of ICH but very minimal.

I just ordered a SunSun 13 watt UV sterilizer and I will give it a try. My buddy recently got out of the hobby because of ICH. He tried every method except a UV sterilizer and could never get rid of it. He believes fish just have it as a chronic condition. Maybe he is right. I'll see what results I get.

[gt1009]

The important thing about a UV sterilizer that many people do not understand is that each organism requires a different dosage of radiation to sterilize. While many algae only require 20-30,000 microwatt-seconds per square centimeter, bacteria only requires about 15,000. Some organisms, such as ich, require over 300,000! Since every UV is constructed differently, you have to first look at the radiation dose at a certain flow rate stated by the manufacturer, then adjust your flow or wattage to meet the demands of your reef. I think a UV is a great addition to any setup, and when used properly can prevent many disease outbreaks. Although they are much more popular in the koi pond industry, many successful tank owners use UV's also. Also, many organisms are not killed by the UV, but are just sterilized, meaning they lose the ability to reproduce.