Uv Sterilizer For Fresh Water

[blue acara]

im considering buying one of these things to reduce disease mostly as im having trouble with gill/skin flukes

ne1 have 1 of these and is is good/worth buying? wot do u think of the price of the 1 shown on the link?
link

 

[voo]

You shouldnt need a uv steriliser to control diseases.

If you have adisease there must be an explaination why it's occurred.
Typically bad water conditions, over stocking, adding new fish.

Have you dont either of them recently?
Treatment with meds usually works, and costs a lot less!

 

[BigIan]

well worth it!....

I want one for my aquarium, it just makes everything that little bit easyer...
Be warned though they can be barstewards to plumb in at times

 

[k.o.d]

You shouldnt need a uv steriliser to control diseases.

If you have adisease there must be an explaination why it's occurred.
Typically bad water conditions, over stocking, adding new fish.

Have you dont either of them recently?
Treatment with meds usually works, and costs a lot less!

You dont use the steriliser solely to control diseases, you use it to reduce the amount of pathogens in the tank, thus reducing the potential for disease.

I agree with the potential for it to be water quality related

It is a hotly debated topic, but I run UV's on every tank we have, mainly because I think the opposite way you do, I think throwing chemicals in a tank is not the way to go, but it is each to their own.

Personally I would spend a bit extra and go for the TMC Vecton range of UV units, look on the mail order websites and you will find a pretty good deal

Steve

 

[CFC]

UV sterilisers are usefull when keeping species which cannot be treated with standard aquarium medications like stingrays, mormyrids, knife fishes and pirahna species as they destroy parasites before they can become a problem. With more normal freshwater aquarium fish they are more of a luxury item like air con in a car, you dont "need" it but if you can afford it then its a nice thing to have. They are quite expensive to run power wise and the bulbs need replacing every 6 months religiously or it will be doing absolutely nothing, you also have to regularly clean the quartz tube that the bulb is housed in and make sure all the pipework is clean and free of blockages.

 

[andywg]

On larger tanks it is a hell of a lot cheaper than using meds. I run one on both my FW setups. I have personally seen just how quickly they can elimnate a whitespot outbreak.

 

[SmileyMan]

Never even considered one of these for a FW tank, But looking into it, it sounds a good idea.

Do they have to be run 24hours to be effective or can they be run just for 12 hours or so?

 

[blue acara]

as im am getting this problem with gill flukes at the moment-and all the meds seem to be sold out i thought it might be a good idea. espically as the water in my tank is very good and im still getting problems.
ive spent so much on tanks already that spending another £100 or so if it helps the fish seems reasonable.

im going to have a look for the tmc vectron unit as you suggest steve

 

[T1KARMANN]

UV sterilisers are usefull when keeping species which cannot be treated with standard aquarium medications like stingrays, mormyrids, knife fishes and pirahna species as they destroy parasites before they can become a problem. With more normal freshwater aquarium fish they are more of a luxury item like air con in a car, you dont "need" it but if you can afford it then its a nice thing to have. They are quite expensive to run power wise and the bulbs need replacing every 6 months religiously or it will be doing absolutely nothing, you also have to regularly clean the quartz tube that the bulb is housed in and make sure all the pipework is clean and free of blockages.

thats what i would have said if i chould spell

they are great they last for ever and do a good job if you make sure you change the bulbs when they need changing

 

[annka5]

I've got one on my 750gallon discus tank (after a green water outbreak) which is great - no floating algae, easy to use etc. Mine is a "Fish are Fun" (terrible, TERRIBLE name) sterilizer which is submersible, and can go in the tank just like an internal filter. Wasn't hugely expensive, either, and per the marketing blerb, it is a sterilizer and not just a clarifier.

 

[Lost Cause]

I have also purchased one of the `Fish R Fun` UV sterilisers and would recommend it to anyone. They are very cheap and couldn`t be any easier to install.

http/www.rocketrading.co.uk/product_info...4abb81db18ac77e

They come in two sizes: the smaller (which I use in a 180 litre freshwater tank) is around 25 quid delivered, the larger is around 50. Replacement bulbs are reasonably priced too.

It is an independent unit, so doesn`t have to be plumbed in-line with your existing external filter - with all the accompany worrying about correct flow-rates through the steriliser, too much head pressure, more joints to leak, etc. So, you sucker it to the inside of your tank in the same way as a heater, trail the wires to wall socket and that`s it. Within the housing of the `Fish R Fun` UV steriliser is a small pump with an inlet/outlet to draw your tank water at the correct flow-rate over the internal bulb.

I`m still building the stock levels in this particular tank, and over the past six months I`ve had no white-spot problems passed on from new introductions at all - even though a couple of those new introductions have flicked for a short while. My water is crystal clear, and I haven`t bought any meds for six months either - which is good because I keep ADFs, nerites and shrimps too.

Some on here might consider them a little `mickey-mouse`, but the results I`ve had from these cheap little UV sterilisers have been brilliant. (I have no attachment to this company BTW, just an impressed owner having been similarly recommend of these).

[edit: they are a little bigger than they look in the photos, so stick to the smaller one if you fall in its range]

 

[SmileyMan]

Did you start using from the start before first fish went in?

 

[Lost Cause]

There were about 6 small fish in the tank already before I was recommended and bought it - so no, I didn`t have it from first set-up. However, I`ve left in turned on permanently ever since.

 

[blue acara]

for a smallish tank the fishrfun looks a good product and cheap.

just thought id add a link to the product that i bought. its a bit larger and is the cheapest i could find. i always use this company

 

[jkc]

I have always considered getting a UV as I keep discus but have been working hard over the last year to achieve a nice planted tank and have read in a few places that UV's may remove some ferts thats are put in the tank so I havent bothered yet. If anyone has any further info on this id be interested.

Thanks

J