uv sterilizers and ich?
- Thread starter ssweet1
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exile415
Guest
Fish that show ich it cannot be treated by a uv. Uv's kill parasites and other bacteria. Sometiems even good bacteria. That's why "pros" refuse to use this. As you can see i am far from a pro. that's why I use one
murph145
Active Member
a lot of so called "pro's" use them..... they help in reducing free floating bacterias from a tank.... this mean it wont kill ich that is on a fish since its on the fish.... it will only kill the lil bugs as they pass the path of the uv light zapping it and killing it....
u would need to treat your fish in quaratine and then put a uv filter on to help sterilize your tank for the future ... once your fish is better you can reintroduce him back and everything should be fine....
i had a bad ick outbreak probably a year and a half ago when i had a fish only tank.... after medicatiing the fish and adding the uv sterilizer to the tank attached to one of my fluval 404's i have not had one fish related issue in over a year and a half.... i have about 12 fish in my 100 gallon reef tank....
many "pro's use an uv filter on there reef tanks .... it helps....
i have about 20 different kinds of corals....
5 different types of anemones
12 different fish including a blue hippo tang
and all are doing fine with the use of a uv
i might not be a pro .... yet..... but im a good intermediate
u would need to treat your fish in quaratine and then put a uv filter on to help sterilize your tank for the future ... once your fish is better you can reintroduce him back and everything should be fine....
i had a bad ick outbreak probably a year and a half ago when i had a fish only tank.... after medicatiing the fish and adding the uv sterilizer to the tank attached to one of my fluval 404's i have not had one fish related issue in over a year and a half.... i have about 12 fish in my 100 gallon reef tank....
many "pro's use an uv filter on there reef tanks .... it helps....
i have about 20 different kinds of corals....
5 different types of anemones
12 different fish including a blue hippo tang
and all are doing fine with the use of a uv
i might not be a pro .... yet..... but im a good intermediate
scubadoo
Active Member
Some folks swear by UV's but they do little to combat the disease. There is really no reason to add a UV to a well-run system. Water flow, exposure to UV, etc all play a part in the effectiveness. Their impact on parasite control is marginal.
Money is better spent on filtration which helps maintain water quality. I can assure you if you have poor water quality a UV will do little in "curing/ridding" your set-up of parasites.
If you have a UV, you must change the bulb once every 6 months and constantly keep the internal parts clean. The water running through the UV should be filtered first.
If you have a fish with ich you have a problem with your set-up or stess. Most fish with a strong immune system and living in steady condtions with excellent water quality will kick the disease on their own.
Your efforts are better directed at preventing the conditions that allow the disease to take over. A UV strilizer will not rid your tank of ick...and it's impact is minimal at best.
There is also a school of thought that prolonged use of a UV creates too sterile an enviornmnet rendering fish incapable of fighting off disease due to lack of an appropriate immune system. ...sorta a fish-in a- bubble aka boy in a bubble situation. Not sure this has been proven. ...but it is out there for consideration
JMO
Money is better spent on filtration which helps maintain water quality. I can assure you if you have poor water quality a UV will do little in "curing/ridding" your set-up of parasites.
If you have a UV, you must change the bulb once every 6 months and constantly keep the internal parts clean. The water running through the UV should be filtered first.
If you have a fish with ich you have a problem with your set-up or stess. Most fish with a strong immune system and living in steady condtions with excellent water quality will kick the disease on their own.
Your efforts are better directed at preventing the conditions that allow the disease to take over. A UV strilizer will not rid your tank of ick...and it's impact is minimal at best.
There is also a school of thought that prolonged use of a UV creates too sterile an enviornmnet rendering fish incapable of fighting off disease due to lack of an appropriate immune system. ...sorta a fish-in a- bubble aka boy in a bubble situation. Not sure this has been proven. ...but it is out there for consideration
JMO
murph145
Active Member
well i agree with the need for your tank to have good water parameters in the first place....
if you have bad water quality then your fish will get diseased due to the stress.... so i do agree that if you keep your water quality excellent you shouldnt have an issue with diseases in the first place.... however i feel that they are a good source of insurance .... i guess it just depends on what people define as necessary or additional equipment.... to me the extra $100 or so wasnt much in comparisson to what i could possibly lose...
i dont have a comparisson of not using it for the last year and a half but all i can say is no problem so far.... which to me was worth it :joy:
but like i said just depends on what people want for there tank and think is neccessary or just extra insurance...
if you have bad water quality then your fish will get diseased due to the stress.... so i do agree that if you keep your water quality excellent you shouldnt have an issue with diseases in the first place.... however i feel that they are a good source of insurance .... i guess it just depends on what people define as necessary or additional equipment.... to me the extra $100 or so wasnt much in comparisson to what i could possibly lose...
i dont have a comparisson of not using it for the last year and a half but all i can say is no problem so far.... which to me was worth it :joy:
but like i said just depends on what people want for there tank and think is neccessary or just extra insurance...
fishnerd
Member
And they thought this question would get past me...
I will use plain English for this paragraph. UVs do NOT kill ick. They are great for viruses, bacteria, and algae, but ick is simply too large to be killed under normal applications.
Think of a tanning bed (which is UV). A flea, louse, etc will die at about the same time you are getting a sunburn. If you stay in a tanning bed for a day or two, the UV light will kill you.
Now the "semi-technical part"...
Most UV systems sold for aquariums have their flow rates based on a "zap" of 15,000 microwatts per sq. cm, per second. This is enough to kill almost all viruses, bacteria and unicellular algae. Fungi are larger, and need a longer contact time. Parasites are MUCH larger, and thus need a MUCH longer contact time. C. irritans (SW ick) needs a "zap of +/- 128,000 microwatts per sq. cm, per second to be killed. Thus, if your UV is rated for a 500gph pump, you would need to drop it to app. 55gph. Once a UV is slowed down that much the ick is probably reproducing faster than its being killed.
And with all due respect to readers...Before someone posts that I am wrong, call your UV's MANUFACTURER, and ask them the flow rate required by your UV to kill ick.
I will use plain English for this paragraph. UVs do NOT kill ick. They are great for viruses, bacteria, and algae, but ick is simply too large to be killed under normal applications.
Think of a tanning bed (which is UV). A flea, louse, etc will die at about the same time you are getting a sunburn. If you stay in a tanning bed for a day or two, the UV light will kill you.
Now the "semi-technical part"...
Most UV systems sold for aquariums have their flow rates based on a "zap" of 15,000 microwatts per sq. cm, per second. This is enough to kill almost all viruses, bacteria and unicellular algae. Fungi are larger, and need a longer contact time. Parasites are MUCH larger, and thus need a MUCH longer contact time. C. irritans (SW ick) needs a "zap of +/- 128,000 microwatts per sq. cm, per second to be killed. Thus, if your UV is rated for a 500gph pump, you would need to drop it to app. 55gph. Once a UV is slowed down that much the ick is probably reproducing faster than its being killed.
And with all due respect to readers...Before someone posts that I am wrong, call your UV's MANUFACTURER, and ask them the flow rate required by your UV to kill ick.
scubadoo
Active Member
Originally Posted by fishnerd
And they thought this question would get past me...
I will use plain English for this paragraph. UVs do NOT kill ick. They are great for viruses, bacteria, and algae, but ick is simply too large to be killed under normal applications.
Think of a tanning bed (which is UV). A flea, louse, etc will die at about the same time you are getting a sunburn. If you stay in a tanning bed for a day or two, the UV light will kill you.
Now the "semi-technical part"...
Most UV systems sold for aquariums have their flow rates based on a "zap" of 15,000 microwatts per sq. cm, per second. This is enough to kill almost all viruses, bacteria and unicellular algae. Fungi are larger, and need a longer contact time. Parasites are MUCH larger, and thus need a MUCH longer contact time. C. irritans (SW ick) needs a "zap of +/- 128,000 microwatts per sq. cm, per second to be killed. Thus, if your UV is rated for a 500gph pump, you would need to drop it to app. 55gph. Once a UV is slowed down that much the ick is probably reproducing faster than its being killed.
And with all due respect to readers...Before someone posts that I am wrong, call your UV's MANUFACTURER, and ask them the flow rate required by your UV to kill ick.
You are contradicting your position that uv's do not kill ick. You mention if you slow down the flow rate you can kill parasites...but you are correct that the kill rate will be so slow the reproductive rate will be faster. In some cases the flow rate would take weeks to cycle a large system one time.
So the correct postion is actually that uv's can kill parasites...if you have the proper flow rate and contact time....but not practical given the equipment available and reproduction rate.
The only real benefit from using a uv is that it can marginally improve water quality whcih in trun slightly reduces the risk of an ich outbrask if the diesease is present in the system.
Your blanket statement in your first paragraph that UV does not kill ich is wrong. You contradict this statement in paragraph two.
Are you saying that given the appropriate exposure time ich will always survive uv exposure?
And they thought this question would get past me...
I will use plain English for this paragraph. UVs do NOT kill ick. They are great for viruses, bacteria, and algae, but ick is simply too large to be killed under normal applications.
Think of a tanning bed (which is UV). A flea, louse, etc will die at about the same time you are getting a sunburn. If you stay in a tanning bed for a day or two, the UV light will kill you.
Now the "semi-technical part"...
Most UV systems sold for aquariums have their flow rates based on a "zap" of 15,000 microwatts per sq. cm, per second. This is enough to kill almost all viruses, bacteria and unicellular algae. Fungi are larger, and need a longer contact time. Parasites are MUCH larger, and thus need a MUCH longer contact time. C. irritans (SW ick) needs a "zap of +/- 128,000 microwatts per sq. cm, per second to be killed. Thus, if your UV is rated for a 500gph pump, you would need to drop it to app. 55gph. Once a UV is slowed down that much the ick is probably reproducing faster than its being killed.
And with all due respect to readers...Before someone posts that I am wrong, call your UV's MANUFACTURER, and ask them the flow rate required by your UV to kill ick.
You are contradicting your position that uv's do not kill ick. You mention if you slow down the flow rate you can kill parasites...but you are correct that the kill rate will be so slow the reproductive rate will be faster. In some cases the flow rate would take weeks to cycle a large system one time.
So the correct postion is actually that uv's can kill parasites...if you have the proper flow rate and contact time....but not practical given the equipment available and reproduction rate.
The only real benefit from using a uv is that it can marginally improve water quality whcih in trun slightly reduces the risk of an ich outbrask if the diesease is present in the system.
Your blanket statement in your first paragraph that UV does not kill ich is wrong. You contradict this statement in paragraph two.
Are you saying that given the appropriate exposure time ich will always survive uv exposure?
fishnerd
Member
SCUBADOO-
You are correct. A UV CAN kill ick, but we are talking about oversizing a UV 10x than what would usually be used. IE- using an 80w on a 55gal instead of an 8w.
UVs kill bacteria and viruses which lower the stress level in fish, and as we all know, stress is a major catalyst in causing ick outbreaks.
Many LFSs and message boards tell people to put a UV on their tank for ick, and it simply isn't practical to oversize a unit 10x in the home aquarium.
You are correct. A UV CAN kill ick, but we are talking about oversizing a UV 10x than what would usually be used. IE- using an 80w on a 55gal instead of an 8w.
UVs kill bacteria and viruses which lower the stress level in fish, and as we all know, stress is a major catalyst in causing ick outbreaks.
Many LFSs and message boards tell people to put a UV on their tank for ick, and it simply isn't practical to oversize a unit 10x in the home aquarium.
scubadoo
Active Member
Originally Posted by fishnerd
SCUBADOO-
You are correct. A UV CAN kill ick, but we are talking about oversizing a UV 10x than what would usually be used. IE- using an 80w on a 55gal instead of an 8w.
UVs kill bacteria and viruses which lower the stress level in fish, and as we all know, stress is a major catalyst in causing ick outbreaks.
Many LFSs and message boards tell people to put a UV on their tank for ick, and it simply isn't practical to oversize a unit 10x in the home aquarium.
You know your stuff!
SCUBADOO-
You are correct. A UV CAN kill ick, but we are talking about oversizing a UV 10x than what would usually be used. IE- using an 80w on a 55gal instead of an 8w.
UVs kill bacteria and viruses which lower the stress level in fish, and as we all know, stress is a major catalyst in causing ick outbreaks.
Many LFSs and message boards tell people to put a UV on their tank for ick, and it simply isn't practical to oversize a unit 10x in the home aquarium.
You know your stuff!