Bikinibottom
Member
My blue tang and black damsal aemone blue starfish and snails are what I have left.
How long before I can put new fish in the tank?
How long before I can put new fish in the tank?
AQTCJAK,
Be careful about the choice of words. UV doesn't prevent a Marine Ich outbreak. It will reduce the likelihood of a bloom of the free swimming parasite, but it can't/won't prevent the disease.
The UV only affects parasites that pass through the unit and it is not necessary for the parasites to go through the unit before finding a fish to infect.
As discussed above, C. irritans spends very little time in the water column. After dropping off the host fish, Trophonts head straight to the substrate to reproduce. This may take as little as 30 minutes but could extend to 24 hours (Cheung et al., 1979). Burgess and Matthews (1994b) found that significantly more Trophonts left their host during darkness while fish are resting. This would greatly decrease the chances of Trophonts being swept away from the substrate. These two factors combined almost rule out the possibility of Trophonts being collected with natural seawater.
If those reading this post will additionally look up the references given within the above two quotes, you'll find scientific evidence that stipulates that UV does not cure nor prevent protozoan infections in the home aquarium system. Readers may also look in current publications, or speak with professional aquarists.Ultraviolet sterilizers work by damaging most anything in the water column that passes through them. Their effectiveness is dependent on the wattage of the unit, the flow rate through the unit, the age of the lamp, the volume of the water being treated, the cleanliness of the sleeve, the clarity of the water, and the decorations (potential hiding spots for Tomonts) in the aquarium (Moe, 1989). Colorni & Burgess (1997) discuss the use of UV. They extrapolate from a previous study done on freshwater Ich, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, and UV (If you are so interested, the original article is Gratzek, Gilbert, Lohr, Shotts, and Brown's 1983 piece "Ultraviolet light control of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis in a closed fish culture recirculation system." It can be found in the Journal of Fish Diseases volume 6 pages 145-153). In the study, they showed UV could prevent the spread of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis when used on a central system, but could not affect a cure within an individual aquarium. Colorni and Burgess believe the same would hold true with Cryptocaryon irritans. I would concur with them as my own personal/professional experience has demonstrated the same. I have found UV's to be very effective in bare bottom tanks, primarily in retail and wholesale operations. In display aquaria, the volume of the tank, the substrate and rockwork, the flow rate of the UV, and the wattage all work against its effectiveness. In commercial operations, many times, employees wipe down bare bottom tanks daily to maintain a clean appearance for customers. This has the added benefit of knocking loose the cyst stage of the parasite. The bare bottom, minimal decoration, high flow rates, and massive UV units on these systems ensure that most all the cysts and Theronts pass through the sterilizer and are neutralized.