UV Sterilizer for RSM 130D

[turbiville]

As I have mentioned in the past, when went on aquaria hiatus 10+ years ago, I had never even heard the word refugium. It was Berlin method or the up & coming Jaubert method.

So what is the current thinking surrounding the use of UV Sterilizers?

I found this:

Vivid Aquariums - Buy Online - Fish Store in Los Angeles - Buy JBJ Submariner UV Sterilizer (5 watt)

It would fit very nicely on the back next to the overflow, you could probably use it as a surface agitator too and then point both of the RSM pumps down into the tank.

My RSM is only about 6 weeks old, I only have a Royal Gramma and a few shrimp, I'll probably add a pair of Perculas in another month or two. I don't really need it now, but I think it was either Elvis or Shakespeare that said "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." :square:

Thank in advance...

 

[Reefmack]

Strange - I can't get the link to work. In fact, I can't even get vividaquariums main site to open. They must be having website problems, or been hit by the financial crunch that has so many places going out of business. No experience here with UV sterilizers, but I've heard pros & cons. While I've read nothing negative on them, the cons usually say that all of the tank water doesn't get sterilized as fast as some things can multiply, and that they kill good bacteria as well as bad. Hopefully someone with experience and positive (or negative) results will jump in with some first hand information.

 

[DaveK]

I've tried UV and, after using it for a couple of years, felt I was better off without it.

First off, you can just about forget about using it to control diseases. Unless you use massive amounts of UV, it's just not powerful enough to kill the most common parasitic diseases.

UV can kill algae spores, and this can help keeping some nuisance algae in check, but it will not solve the underlying problem.

UV can also kill bacteria that goes through it. For example, if you have slightly cloudy water from a bacteria bloom, UV can make the water clear. However, if you have this problem, you should be looking for the cause, rather than UV. In addition, UV will kill the good bacteria you want if it's in the water itself.

Some people have claimed that UV altered their water for the worse, by breaking down various trace elements, and nutrients. I find this rater hard to believe.

Lastly, I'd consider a 5w UV unit to be too small for most systems. The thing that increases the kill rate is contact time with the UV. To kill anything the flow rate through a 5w UV unit would need to be very slow.

Keep that flow rate in mind when you use UV. Usually you want to feed the unit from it's own small pump, or divert part of the return water through the UV unit. Remember you want that contact time up.

 

[steveh]

Dave K has made some really good points. Especially the issue that most people miss the fact that they put a uv on an aquarium and then throw high water flow through it, rendering it almost useless. To have any real effect you would need a very slow flow. Personally I would not bother.