UV light or no UV light

[justchad]

I have another newbie question... I have been hearing mixed answers to this question... Do you use a UV light on a reef?

 

[Hawkeye]

do you mean like an in-line uv light to help kill things?

I would probably pass. Perhaps I'd consider hooking one up to a small bare bottom QT tank.

Caveat: I've never used one personally. So perhaps someone who actually has used it and found it to be helpful can chime in here.

 

[justchad]

yes an inline one. I have a 36w turbo twist but I wasnt sure if I should run it on my 150g reef. I have one on my 55g reef but since putting it on the 55g I heard some negative things.

 

[REEFLECTIONS]

well, what have you experienced on your 55?

 

[reefsandrotts]

I run one on my 120 with low flow more to burn up algae than anything.I don't think they work too good for parasites but I can't prove that, never had any.KNOCK on wood...

 

[duijver]

A few guys on RC have always mentioned that ICH is not phased by UV, but who knows. I'm actually considering putting a small 4w UV on my 47g to break down my cyano. I've pretty much taken care of my green algae issue with the nitrate waterfall, but the cyano just keeps coming back.

 

[onefish2fish]

i heard they kill some of the stuff corals feed on? not sure about that one.

 

[calaxa]

I have a UV on one of my setups. It is good really for one thing.....clearing up the water. It has made my green water turn crystal clear in a matter of days. Then again, it sometimes doesn't do anything, as that water is green again (maybe I have UV resistant phyto now?). It can kill most free swimming parasites. The key word is free swimming. The parasite must pass through the UV. I would not buy one unless you got extra cash to burn (I got mine for free). It does kill stuff that coral could feed on as it is an indiscriminate killer. It will kill crypto but only in free swimming stage but again, it has to pass through the UV during this time, which is very hard to guarantee. Since you have one, you already know some of what it can do and is your call as to continue using on your 55, move to 150, or stop altogether. Those are my observations with using one.

 

[njstillwell]

chad as you know i have mine up and running still without buying a new bulb, when i first started reefing i never used one in my 55, had 4 break downs. In my 120 nothing has caused the tank to crash and I'm not knocking on wood because reef keeping is so fundamental stick to the basics if your going to keep up with water changes then why hook kit up but if you are going to let one go here and there and not have an auto matic top off then why not have that extra line a defense it does kill both good and bad but more of the bad and if your rock and sand are from your 55 tank that is up and running then you should be fine to not run a UV sterilizer because of all the beneficial bacteria that's already there for you and will continue to be there for you but instead of going crazy trying to figure out what works for you, you already got the UV yeah its a little low on the UV end for that size tank it think you said it was lower than a 20 watt UV but why not just hook it up and see what happens and if you decide to not hook it up and things go crazy are you going to be blaming that on the UV not being hooked up just food for thought i would not put the UV on-line/turn it on just yet after adding in the bio spira has been natural breaking down all the toxic levels in the tank and getting you that good barrier of bacteria wait about 2 to 3 weeks then put it on-line just my opinion

 

[DaveK]

I have another newbie question... I have been hearing mixed answers to this question... Do you use a UV light on a reef?

It is possible to use UV light on a reef system. I have used it before, but I do not currently use UV.

I recommend you use UV only if you have some specific problem that UV will solve. Don't run out and get one because you want another piece of gear or the LFS told you it was a good idea.

UV is good for killing off algae that is actually in the water column. It will also kill any plankton you might want. This is why UV water is ofter very clear.

UV can kill parasites in the water that passes through it, but you do need a massive dose of UV to do this. In a multiple tank system, like at a LFS this will keep disease from spreading to other tanks. It will not necessarily control disease in a single tank.

UV must be used correctly to be effective. Contact time is everything. In a typical system, you should plumb UV off the main return using a T, with only part of the return water going through the UV unit. The typical amount of water run through the unit should be about 5 - 10 gal per hour per watt of UV light. In other words a 25w unit should get about 125 - 250 gph through it.

 

[jerzsky]

i saw your 55, very clean and crystal clear! i would transfer the uv over to the 150, imo. they are great for killing algae spores, and keep parasites in check! def go for it! i have used uv lighting for a while, from my reef, to my pond, my freshwater, and have never seen any negatives, only positives! good luck!