UV Sterilizers and Reefs... Are they a necessity?

[Sponge_Bob]

Like most of you know, I have a 55gal + 25gal sump. My mechanical filter (Fluval 304) is linked to an 18W UV sterilizer. I was wondering if it was doing any good, bad, or simply make no difference. It runs 24/7.

What's your take on UV Sterilizers?

 

[Rob Top]

As I understand it they aren't needed on a reef and shouldn't be run 24/7 on a fish only. Surely if you do a search here you will get the whys behind it, that I can't remember at this point.

 

[Josh Weber]

hello sponge,
some people don't like them b/c they kill "good" things floating in your water. if you have live brineshrimp, or are trying to breed fish ore inverts, the will kill the eggs. MO on uv sterilizers is I LOVE THEM!!! i'm not trying to breed anything and if i was i would turn it off untill the eggs hatched or they were done breeding. i leave mine on 24/7. my 56 gallon reef is doing better than ever. the thing i like about a sterilizer is that you can have tangs, clowns, angels, gobies, and anything that gets a desease if it's even a little stressed. you can't treat your tank with copper based chemicals to kill the paricites or deseases that can wipe out your tank. so one buys a sterilizer, no problems.
also unless your adding a fish or coral, you can turn it off for weeks at a time to save your bulb a little.
josh

 

[Meloco14]

You will get differing opinions, but yes the main drawback to using UV is killing off any live plankton and microfauna in your tank. I believe that the majority of reef keepers who have them, have them mainly as a precaution, and only turn them on when they have to, or when adding new, potentially diseased specimens. IMO there is no reason to run it 24/7 since once it kills everything, there is nothing left to kill, until you introduce something new to the system. HTH

 

[Anonymous]

Good - yes it does good since it kills algae spores that would otherwise look nasty in the tank

Bad - It can kill some phytoplanktonic material, but not a big deal unless you crave the whole complete self-sufficient eco system type of tank. Larger animals like copepods will simply be unaffected with a fast enough movement rate (and at 18watts that's not very fast), a refugium will be more than useful for keeping those populations alive.

Necessary - Absolutely not, they are nice, it's another item that lets you be a little more careless with your tank without any dire consequences.

 

[ChrisRD]

Others have already mentioned some of the good/bad aspects of running a UV - I just wanted to add that running a UV is in no way a guarantee against disease. It can help control the spread of waterborne parasites, but it's not a replacement for quarantine and/or proper treatment of diseases.

 

[Sponge_Bob]

Thank you all for your interesting replies. From what I gathered, I conclude that UV sterilizers are much like a tool, to solve a problem, and should not be used 24/7. If you introduce new fish or suspect a problem, then you turn it on and it helps you. Otherise, you simply leave it there but not running.

I will follow your advice and act accordingly. Thank you all again.

 

[Nautilus1]

If you have a UV sterilizer runnning all the time you must maintain the bulbs. A tank with A UV sterlizer running all the time is like the boy in the bubble. When the bubble breaks (the bulb is no longer pumping out enough UV) the boy dies.

 

[Sponge_Bob]

If you have a UV sterilizer runnning all the time you must maintain the bulbs. A tank with A UV sterlizer running all the time is like the boy in the bubble. When the bubble breaks (the bulb is no longer pumping out enough UV) the boy dies.

I am quite aware of that, but thank you for reminding me.