# Anyone using UV sterilizer in freshwater?



## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

Anyone? Wondering if it's worth it. I'm just so tired of watching my cyps waste and, as a hobbyist, I would really like to solve this rather than just sticking to the species I'm successful with.


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## aprildawn (Sep 8, 2010)

the only time i use mine is when i get a bacterial bloom. i leave it on for several days & everything clears up.


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## Sand Man (Oct 12, 2006)

I did back in the day, and can't tell you if it helped or not. (I have never had cloudy water issues or algae blooms) My issue is adding one more pump with the proper flow rate for the UV filter.


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## biglove (Jan 4, 2010)

have one but only use it now when adding new fish from the LFS


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## chagoi (Dec 29, 2010)

I use one only a few days a week. It kills nasty little things. A 25 watt on a 180 gal you don't need one that size but I had it. I have had it about 20 years cost per day it,s cheap. Be nice to your fish.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

I never use them or had the need to use them.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I took pathology, microbiology, etc. in college as part of my pre-med degree. How UV light kills organisms was part of that study. Every speck of what I learned basically led me to the educated guess that in a closed loop system like we develop for our cichlids, a UV sterilizer is useless.

The water must move through the unit slowly enough to keep the organisms under the UV light long enough for the radiation to kill them. At such slow speeds, how long does it really tank for the entire water column to pass under the light? How long does it take for a fish to be exposed to a pathogen before that fish gets sick? Volume of the pathogen organisms? How does one measure success when using a UV sterilizer? and are those results not as easily obtained through simpler or cheaper means?

Many many questions and NO answers...

end decision is yours, but I know where my mind is at... and this is coming from someone who firmly believes that Ich and other 'common' aquarium illnesses are NOT fatal illnesses so take my advice with that in mind. I tend to "cure" both salt water and fresh water Ich with no medication of any sort.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

One big point not made when talking about UV is that the bulb is something that ages pretty quickly. Any UV that has run continuously for a year is likely to just be putting out light---NOT UV light. That makes it a pretty iffey question whether it is worth much. Checking the value received against what it costs to replace the bulb every year or less is not something that fits me. First big question is how do you know when the bulb is dead. It still puts out light but at what wavelength? If it has degraded down to the point it is only putting out 6500K, you might as well run a CFL. There are just so many cheaper ways to keep fish healthy.

Go to a camping/hiking site and look for info on a water purifier called Steripen. It is designed to use when hiking and drinking water from untreated spots like rivers. Reading the manual will give you some insight into how little use UV might be for aquariums. I think they feel compelled to tell you more of the truth due to the liability involved. Killing humans is lawsuit territory where not keeping fish healthy is not so much. UV light, done right works but UV done cheap as in hobby grade may not.


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## chagoi (Dec 29, 2010)

Yes done right it works.


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