UV FILTER. Pros? Cons? Is it REALLY Worth the $$??

moy

Member
Is REALLY worth the money, geting a UV FILTER?
Pros? Cons?
Are there any Cons in purchasing a UV Filter?? :confused:
 

goofieones

Member
I have a UV, and love it so far. Don't know how much it actually helps. But I can tell you that I have a Regal Tang which are supposed to be more ich prone than others, and I haven't had an outbreak yet. Knock on wood. On the other hand I don't know why Trigger2001 says his works so great when he has two posts about how to treat his ich problem. I really don't know how effective they really are, becuase if you've always used one, you don't know what would happen if you didn't. Know what I mean. Anyways I'd like to say I made a good investment.
 

pufferlover

Active Member
Trey; Now I have a question for you. You stated turn it off when medicating with medicine which I agree. I have been advised tho when using copper to leave it on what do you recommend from your experience.
 

tjswanson

Member
I'm not disagreeing w/ you trey, but my LFS said it didn't matter if I left my UV running when treating the tank. I used formalin and quick cure. Should I have turned the uvs off? TJ
 

moy

Member
WOW! Thats a mouth full, trey's comments! Where does he get the time?
Anyways, everyones comments are way more than helpful to all of us here on the forum.!
Im confused, 2 local petstores told me not to brother to buy a UV filter, cuase it would just be a WASTE of money. They mentioned that the only real reason anyone should get a UV filter would be for algae and nor ICH. Cause if you have ich outbreak you would have hundreds of ich parasites swimming around and MAYBE if your lucky you'll one get a low percetage to go through your UV Filter (10 - 15% effective).
So whats the deal, some say its essential for parasites while many others state that it will help little to nothing for parasites?! Only really intended for algae blooms or problems! Can anyone shine more light on this!
 

janice

Member
Mind if I append my question here? Could a UV filter help with algae problems for real? I think based on what I'm reading that I've got diatoms (2 yr old tank).. I have another post out there but I'm excited that this could work... What do you think? I'm desperate..
 
with algea yeah itll help, it helps with algae and disease at the same time, but it depends on the flow rate water passes though it
to fast and its only good for cutting down algae
to slow and its only good for parasites(with a little algae but not as much)
getting the flow rate on a uv is important because if its right itll have the right amount of parasite kills and algae to slow down
for your 55 gallon tank i would probly wind up going with a 15 watt would be good(you can probly get away with an 8 but i wouldent recomend it)personally i like the double pass uv's , for the same flow rate u get double the light exposer onto the water
 

tjake68

Member
i have a 8 watt on a 60 gallon tank it is to small it said it was good for 125 gallon but its to small for a 55 use a 15 watt as far as uv killing ich im not completly conviced but it will help keep yor water crystal clear and all u have to do is get the flow rate right for what u want to use it for i time how long it takes to fill a gallon container i keep mine at 60 gallons an hour i think thats for parissites good luck just remeber get at leas a 15 im going to get a 15 and put 8 on my 30 gallon tank
 

benguck

Member
how do you guys filter the water that enters your UV? Do you use a spone over the inport of the powerhead?
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Originally Posted by benguck
how do you guys filter the water that enters your UV? Do you use a spone over the inport of the powerhead?
A uv is a filter, no need to pre filter.
If you have UV questions start a new thread, this one is 4 years old and I'm going to lock it.
 
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