Does Them Uv Lights Work ?

[magnum629c]

In a fish only tank what can them lights do? And do they work? are they hard to keep up or clean?

 

[Chac]

Do you mean a UV Filter?

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

If you mean the ones used for extra cleansing of the water, they can kill algae and parasites living in the water such as ich, but not 100% of them. A good thing to have I guess but expensive, only necessary for fish stores IMO. I doubt that youd b talking about metal halides...

 

[magnum629c]

sorry i mean the uv filter do they stop ick???

 

[Navarre]

Sometimes.

There simply is no 100% cure or we hobbiests would all be out buying it. All work to varying degrees of sucess, what might work extremly well for some people might not have much effects ofr others. The best thing to do is research the pro's and cons for each type of treatment and see what best works on your system.

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

The best treatment for ich is ionic copper, IME and from what ive read.

 

[Aquascaper]

Fish Only = Copper Medications
Reef = UV or Ozone

 

[pleder]

The effectiveness of a UV is highly dependent on two things

1. The cleanliness of the wate passing through it

2. The flow of the water passing through it.

The best way to hook up a UV is inline after a water polisher, such as a cannister filter. This will prevent any bacteria or parasite from hiding on a piece of deitrious.

UV's have flow rates for each model. IMO you want to run your UV at the lowest flow rate the unit can handel. Lower rates give more exposure to the bulb which equals more efficentcy. Also the flow rate to kill bacteria's and the flow rate that will kill parasites are different. A lower flow rate will kill the bacteria and the parasites that pass through it.

There is an issue with heat on some units. after adding the 18w to my 65 my temp went up a degree.

IMHO they are a great addition to a system helping not only with disease and parasites, but also with alage control. IME I have never had any disease in my tank since I went marine in 2001.

Good Luck

 

[Opcn]

It depends on your method of reefkeeping, While it will kill off all Ich and bacteria and phytoplankton there are critters that eat that stuff, not just cleaner shrimp but sponges and tube worms and scalops and corals and tunicates, same goes with protein skimmers and water polishers, if you have an outbreak then yes ou want to use UV to help em get over it, claner wrasses and skunk cleaner shrimp are great additions too, and good long term help aswell, the best way to keep deseas out of your tank is to behave well with new additions and to keep your fish happy and healthy.

 

[FishOwner]

I've used a UV to combat green water (yes, in a marine tank!) and it worked wonders. I also used it when a copperband butterfly I bought had an unknown parasite and contaminated my other fish. Long story short: I had the CBB in a QT for 6 weeks, got it eating good and didn't notice anything unusual except that the fish would lunge a tiny bit forward every once in awhile. Did a search on various websites, couldn't find any info, figured it wasn't anything harmful and added the fish to my main tank after the 6 weeks was up. Couple weeks later and the CBB was lunging even more and the other fish were starting to do the same. Hooked up the UV and the other fish were fine in a week but it was too late for the CBB..... it was eating great the night before and the next morning it was dead....poor fishy....
BTW I used a Turbo Twist. I don't keep it on the tank regularly but I feel good knowing I have it if I need one. Oh, and the bulbs have to be replaced every 6 months.