Which uv sterilizer?
- Thread starter innsmouth
- Start date
bdhough
Active Member
i can't tell you which is good but i personally would not waste my money on it especially since you have live rock. i have no experience but have heard the light will end up killing more good things than bad things. a fowlr has the potential to grow alot of microlife which can help to feed your fish. do some searching on this and maybe youll save your money for some good lights 
innsmouth
Member
I have a JBJ single strip 36" 96W 50/50 NO and a 24" 2x40W CSL power compact 10K and "true" actinic (not so sure if it's really an 03 actinic). You think this is good enough? I'm really not very knowlegable when it comes to lighting. Also how does this relate to the UV sterilizer? Doesn't the UV kill parasites and bacterias or am I thinking about the wrong piece of equipment?
bona42na
Member
Im gonna tag along here because Ive already plumbed in an AquaUV 15 watt sterilizer into my system. As far as quality and ease of install goes I can vouch for that . I havent lighted it yet as Im still cycling my tank. It would be tragic if it killed all the good stuff on my live rock. I read that it was great to prevent disease on tanks.
bdhough
Active Member
and answering your lighting question it should bbe good enough for your fish. they should look nice. if you set up a 25 dollar quarentine tank then you won't really have to worry bout disease in your tank. keep in mind that if your fish are never sick when they go in they won't ever get sick unless you introduce an outside source of water/life....
tony detroit
Active Member
Personally I've talked to many people, myself too, I will always run a UV sterilizer on any marine tank I set up in the future. I've seen results I believe I would get one if I were you.
cincyreefer
Active Member
I agree with Tony... A UV is a very good investment on any tank you are keeping a decent amount of fish. I have heard good things about the turbo twist sterilizers, but dont have any experience with them. I have just always used the double helix on any system smaller than 180 gallons.
dankell
Member
gotta agree with the others, i have a turbo twist 9/w and its mounted close to my sump, not on the back of the tank, but i will say, it will not harm anything in you tank, it will help everything...wont hurt live rock (how ?) dont get that one, it will kill unwanted parasites definately,,,and i use a powerhead to run it also, It's probably the best investment i have purchased so far , and talk about crystal clear water !! my fish look like their floating in air , its great when everyone asks how i keep my water so clear !! i bought the recommended size for my tank 125 gal, which requires the 9/w but you can use a larger one if you like, whats important is the dwell time passing through the light, you want it to do its job so dont over pump the water through it , give it enough time to kill whats passing through it, so I recommend it by all means.. good luck.
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daniel411
Guest
Originally posted by bdhough
i will add this to it. the uv steralizer will kill anything floating through it. it will not harm anything on the rocks and most of the beneficial things attach to the rocks anyways.
To my knowledge, they won't necessarily kill everything that floats through it. While it won't harm live rock atleast as far as coraline coverage on them is concerned. UV does have the potential of harming pod populations, natural phytoplankton, etc.
I currently believe in running UV on fish only systems and am starting to not see them being so bad on most reef systems. When I first started out with some soft corals, I ran a 9w double helix. My coraline still spread along my back wall, never "noticed" a drop in pod population, or any other negative side effects. We're starting to see more and more phenomenal full blown reef tanks which run UV. You just need to be aware of which corals UV may harm its feeding style.
bdhough
Active Member
now that in think about it that kind of makes sense. uv light naturally occurs every day over a reef with just the sun shining down into the water. im sure the water breaks some of it up but then again some of it must get down into the water. maybe if you went with a weaker light on reefs to add that uv element???
tony detroit
Active Member
Ideally for less cleaning, you want filtered water to go in one end, and to come out the other back to the same container. You can gravity feed them, or even run them hang on. Which type is yours?
cincyreefer
Active Member
I go back into the sump since it is easiest, but either way is fine. Just do whichever is easier.