The Reef Tank banner

Anyone running UV Sterilizer on your reef? Opinions?

1K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Kent E. 
#1 ·
My 125 will house sps, cleanup crew and a few fish. Anyone have experience with UV sterilization to maintain/improve water quality? I've read many mixed opinions and would like to hear from those with experience.

Thanks.

Jon
 
#3 ·
I run a 40 watt UV sterilizer on my 140.
I had issues with ich when I first set-up my tank. ( I did not have a quarantine tank at the time)
I installed my UV sterilizer and even though I still see a speck of ich from time to time, it does not get out of control.

The UV has worked well for me and I will contine to use one.
I do add DT's and other additives to compensate for the kill of of beneficial organisms.
I can add the beneficial organisms back to my tank, I can't remove the bad things that we all eventually get.

The one thing I would recommend to anyone setting up a reef tank,
GET A QUARATINE TANK!!!

This IMHO is one of the most important things to buy when setting up a reef.
It pays for itself many times over and saves the agony of trying to get rid of unwanted pests in your tank.

Cheers
Mike
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the info guys. I'll check out the Think Tank.

While the disease prevention is a nice benefit, I'm more interested in UV destroying single cell (micro) algae and increasing redox potential, both benefits ultimately improving water quality.

I saw an interesting statistic - Increasing redox potential from 200mV to 400mV in 100 ml of water will reduce the concentration of coliform bacteria from 300ppm to 3ppm - a 99% decrease. Additionally, high redox potentials supress the growth of brown and red algaes.

Also, placing your UV upstream of your skimmer adds to the efficiency of your skimmer by adding small amounts of ozone and metabolizing and the oxidation of metabolites.

Time to do more research . . .
 
#6 ·
I've got two UVs. One on my 180 (FOWLR) and one on the Q-tank. UVs and Ozone seem to get people going - either pro or con.

Yes, it's fairly expensive. Can I 100% say mine make a difference? In clear water - definitely. Anything else is more of a guess, but I do think it's a good safety measure. When you loose a lot (of livestock), you'll learn quick that most anything that helps is a good thing to do. IMO.

Also, I agree with getting a quarantine tank - very good idea.

-Chris
 
#7 ·
I started this thread last December - ended up getting a UV unit in January. So far the benefits have been worth it IMO. If I were to do it again, I would get a unit with a quartz wiping feature. I noticed that my quartz sleeve is covered with calcium in a months time, so monthly maintenance is necessary to maintain full effectiveness.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top