# UV steralizers



## thunderbolt (Nov 14, 2008)

Are UV steralizers a good add on to a 90 gallon with wet/dry system. I do not mind getting one if it will help for the expense. I have heard so much pro and con I would like others to weigh in on this UV subject. Or is this a waste of money and effort for fresh water tanks. Give me all the input everyone has. Thanks


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

If used properly... they are not in any way a 'waste of money'... and do add value to freshwater filtration...

But when used improperly, they can be rendered inefficient and therefore the user may believe it is useless... but I would suggest this is 100% due to user error and not the failure of the UV light 

If the water is mechanically filtered to get even the smallest particles out of the water... then running a UV light can make otherwise perfectly clean water... truly crystal clear... I admit I never knew what "crystal clear" meant until I started using UV lights...

If ran properly they do kill any & all parasites that move through them. Most if not all parasites have a free swimming stage and this is how even internal parasites are eradicated by UV lights.

UV lights do not / will not remove algae from surfaces in the aquarium... but algae also spreads through becoming free floating and moving from one area to another... unless it gets zapped by a UV light...

Algae / bacterial blooms become a thing of the past...

I would recommend not adding one to a new system and allowing it some time to mature... but they pose no risk to your beneficial bacteria in a mature system.

I have often heard a speculative myth that fish raised with UV lights fail to develop a healthy immune system... there is no scientific or physical evidence to support this. It is simply an internet myth that has established itself...

I've used UV lights in freshwater aquariums for well over 5 years... and heavily explored / experimented with them while raising Blue Dempseys which are known to be prone to parasitic illnesses when young. I currently have 3 adult Blue Dempseys that were raised in tanks with UV lights and are currently healthy thriving adults in tanks without UV lights.


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## locomotive282 (Jun 2, 2009)

UV Sterilizers. That is a huge topic. One that i have wrestled with a lot when doing my new setup.

First thing is that UV sterilizers do not kill anything. They only render them sterile so that the organism can not reproduce. Next you need 10W per gallon of water per hour. Lastly you want to have movement in gph of 2x your tank volume.

So for a 90 gallon you want 180 gallons per hour / 10W = 18W UV Sterilizer.

UV Sterilizer set up in this config will prevent ich and other parasites, raise the redox potential of the water, inhibit algae growth, make the water crystal clear, keep fish very happy.

A UV Sterilizer will not kill algae already present on the surfaces in the tank. Prevent all algae growth. Cure ich if already present.

There are many ways to skin a cat but I will just tell you about my setup. I have a 90 gallon tank. I use the coralife turbo twist 36W. Yes it may seem like overkill but I swear when I put my ear up to it I can hear the organisms screaming. I use a XP1 to move about 180 gph though it. The benefit of this that I run some filter floss and this makes sure no detritus get into the sleeve. The only problem with my set up is that it raises my temp 2 degrees.

UV Sterilizers are costly, can be difficult to set up and require you to buy a new bulb every 6 - 9 months, but i would never run a tank without one.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

I look at UV the same way as having auto insurance...when you find you need it, after an accident, it is too late to get it. 
I was fortunate enough to find a UV system(9watt, pump, tubing, and a rather large spitting frog)for a small pond. It was in the pond section of our local home improvement store, during the winter. They had marked all pond stuff down 50-80%. 
At the time I was fighting a milky, white bloom in the living room tank. 
The UV system(minus the frog) was hooked up to run in the sump..24hrs. later, the water was crystal clear. 
Put me on the, get one-they are worth every penny, side


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

I think the bottom line is if you can spare the coin, get one. They're not _essential_, but they provide some really nice benefits. I like the "insurance" analogy, which is why I have them.

-Ryan


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## jfly (Feb 17, 2009)

there is an awesome aqua fine sterilizer for 40.00 bucks on ebay, i have one exactly like it . these are 400-600 dollar units,, snatch it up. i was going to sell mine but like kaiser said its better to have instead of using hindsite. :thumb:


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## thunderbolt (Nov 14, 2008)

I am most likley to add one in to my system. The tank is a 90 gallon with built in overflow and a Mega 3 wet/dry filter. I"ve read some on installing one.My sump pump is a 950gpm. This is a new system and not up and running yet. It is being run with water only and nothing else to check for leaks and operation before it is put in the house and set up. I"ve had many other tanks on fresh water but never a UV. What is the procedure for installing it in this type tank and filter system?I do not mind spending a reasonable amount to put it in. Also what size in wattage I am guessing 14 or bigger? Where to put the unit, where to put the inlet line, where to install the output line etc. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

> First thing is that UV sterilizers do not kill anything. They only render them sterile so that the organism can not reproduce.


I disagreeâ€¦ this is in opposition to everything Iâ€™ve read about UV lightsâ€¦ as well as my core understanding of the mechanics of UV radiationâ€¦



> Next you need 10W per gallon of water per hour. Lastly you want to have movement in gph of 2x your tank volume.


Iâ€™ve also found that moving water past the UV light at 10 gph per 1W of UV strength is ideal for eradicating parasites (and everything else)â€¦

Although I find that moving the full volume of the tank past the UV light once per hour is sufficientâ€¦ yet I completely agree â€˜more is betterâ€™â€¦

Bare in mind both the flow rate and the cycles per hour should be calculated using actual flow rates, not what the pump or canisterâ€™s manufacturers claim they moveâ€¦



> A UV Sterilizer will notâ€¦ Cure ich if already present.


Ich is a parasiteâ€¦ and the actual parasite that is â€˜ichâ€™ has a very short life span (could of days)â€¦ When it reproduces, itâ€™s larvae are released in a free swimming stageâ€¦ which the vast majority of died in the light of the UV filterâ€¦

So while the UV light will not kill the actual parasite the is on your fishâ€¦ the UV light can â€œcure an ich outbreakâ€


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Thanks for all the info. I am in a third floor apartment and do not feel comfortable running a canister because of all the leakage problems I have read on reviews. So I just use HOB power filters with media cages.

So, my question is what people think about the in tank submersible UV sterilizers? I actually just bought one off eBay and it was way bigger than I thought, but my tank already has so many unsightly filtration aspects (i.e. HOB filters), so I guess I donâ€™t really mind, I will just use some fake plants to hide it. Will the sponge it came with clear enough debris to make it effective (standard sponge)? Is it worth using one if it is not coming off a filtration system (canister or sump)? Should I replace it with a higher quality mechanical filtration pad or will it inhibit the gph too much? The one I bought is rated max 216gph, 9w for a 55 gallon tank.

I have a tank with an EBJD (5") and another tank with yellow labs, which tank would it be more beneficial for? Or should I get submersible UV sterilizers for both?

Regarding curing parasites that are already on/in fish, if a fish had a internal parasite, like "bloat" would the UV sterilizer cure it or would he still have to be treated/medicated? My EBJD was not really eating pellets anymore, mouthing them and spitting them out, so I was concerned he may have a parasite; but he always eats a tone when I feed him frozen food mixes. So probably no issue, just curious.

Thank you for all the help, sorry for the excessive questions, just trying to learn as much as possible.

Thanks,
Matt


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

Good canisters rarely leak, though ours all sit in a Rubbermaid tote just in case! 

You're kinda limited with a "submersible" UV. They're mostly designed for killing algae. It's probably fine as is, though you may want to replace the mechanical pad when/if the current one gets too gacked up that cleaning won't do the job anymore.

UV won't cure anything, it just kills the "free swimming" stage of the parasite's reproductive lifecycle, so it really depends on the parasite. If the parasite is like ich, the UV will keep it from spreading, and eventually the critters on the fish will die and all will be back to normal.

As for your EBJD, have you tried a different pellet/food? Sometimes fish simply don't like (or stop liking) a certain food. Our chocolate cichlid just doesn't like one brand of pellet (mouths and spits)... so I've been feeding a different kind, which he'll greedily consume. That your EBJD is at least "mouthing", suggests that he's hungry... he's just not liking what he's finding. 

-Ryan


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## locomotive282 (Jun 2, 2009)

> I'm not trying to argue or split hairs... just sharing details


Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation is still not killing the organism, its still could die but the function of it is to impede or disable cellular mitosis from occurring. This is achieved by bombardment of the nucleus with short wave UV light. These short waves destroy nucleic acids that form the organism's DNA/RNA strands.

Water flow and wattage is all dependent on what you are trying to achieve with the UV Sterilizer. If you are mostly looking to inhibit algae growth 3x or 4x tank volume flow rates is needed, this info I received from coralife, if you want to destroy parasites 1x or 2x tank volumes would be most beneficial.

UV lights will not cure ich, call it an "outbreak" or not, only copper will. As to there life cycle that all depends on water temps, at 80 degrees the life cycle is 5 days, at 70 it can be as long as 4 weeks! The infective theronts or free swimmers don't always feel the urge to swim conveniently into our UV Sterilizers many stick to the substrate and wait for the next meal ticket. Keep in mind ich has existed on earth for millions of years longer than humans, don't think that a simple UV Sterilizer will push them to the brink of extinction.

To answer mslancasters questions the internal uv sterilizer are not sufficient for large tanks. The 9W is probly good for up to a 30 gallon, and the 24W is good up to 75 gallons. The internal sponge requires weekly cleaning, and the design is aimed at inhibiting algae growth.

Someone else mentioned this before but it bears repeating. UV Sterilizers are costly and can be a pain, but they are worth every penny and then some.


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