Uv sterilizer good or bad?

[csfiremouth]

I have a 125 gal freshwater tank with 2 canister filters. Didn't know if I should get a uv sterilizer or not. Any help would be great. Thanks

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[dogofwar]

Not necessary but definitely a good thing. I have one and run it on quarantine tanks and/or tanks that I suspect could develop ich...

Matt

 

[Avatar]

Not seeing it

A UV unit could sterilize a high percentage of the water volume but never an entire tank, its inhabitants or any internal surfaces, and cannot discriminate between good vs. bad bacteria/micro-organisms. Hard for me to see the net value unless it's used in a bare-bottom hospital or egg hatching set-up where reducing/minimizing fungal/bacterial/algal indices is a greater priority than maintaining a more robust tank ecology.

Is there some conventional wisdom or evidence that UV use provides any actual/significant benefit or is it just mostly a hi-tech feel-good toy? If nothing else seems antithetical to reinforcing a natural system dynamic unless there's a sense that it provides a small but slightly elevated stream of available nutrients in the form of dead and decomposing micro-organisms which ironically would support proliferation of a type that UV use seems designed to suppress. Seems like a null sum at best but sure I have no idea - please enlighten.

 

[Andrewtfw]

I use a uv sterilizer when treating for ick. I purchased it to stop a problem I was having with green water.

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[Avatar]

Did it work?

Sounds like a way to treat symptoms as opposed to causes.

 

[chriscoli]

I've always thought of them as a temporarily-used, additional layer of treatment for a freshwater tank to quickly reduce overwhelmingly high numbers of organisms (disease or algae) suspended in the water column.

It won't necessarily be the cure-all, but would help short-circuit a runaway vicious cycle to allow other treatments to do their work.

In a healthy tank, though, where there should be no big problem with organisms in the water column so it's not doing much for the tank on a daily basis, I'd imagine. In fact, in a healthy tank, you'd be killing off a small number of beneficial bacteria that are traveling around in the water column looking for new places to colonize.

That said, I don't own one and have never used one so I'm really just speculating.

 

[Andrewtfw]

Sounds like a way to treat symptoms as opposed to causes.

You are likely correct. I was unable to determine the cause of the algae bloom. Once the sterilizer cleared the bloom, I disconnected it. The problem never repeated.

 

[Andrewtfw]

They seem to have crossed over into freshwater keeping from saltwater as well as pond use. With saltwater, it is my understanding, that sterilizers were/are commonly used to treat parasites, when meds would otherwise harm coral and inverts.

In ponds, they are used to treat and prevent green water, which often results from a combination of issues including placement of pond, sunlight and organic build-up.

 

[dogofwar]

UV doesn't impact nitrifying bacteria (not in the water column), so there're really no downside to using it (other than using electricity / expensive bulbs), as far as I know.

Lot's of stores and wholesalers use it all of the time to reduce the risk of ich (and lots of folks who have ponds use it all of the time for clearing green water).

I use it when I'm quarantining and when there's an ich outbreak.

Matt

 

[csfiremouth]

Thanks for all of your help. Dont think I will be needing one.

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[Hawkman2000]

I use one when I see the sign of an impending green algae bloom. works well for that.

If you are using canister filters, you can get the inline ones for a lower cost due to the fact that they don't need a pump. Hook them up on the return lines and you're done.

I haven't read any negatives for using UV sterilizers. If a had canisters on a tank that size I would probably get them (inline), and only turn them on when needed.