Do you find that a UV Sterilizer leads to less frequent water changes? I have a sterilizer set up. I've done it in the past in order to reduce an algae bloom (and it worked), but this time I'm leaving it on all of the time. Is anyone aware if a sterilizer makes a difference somehow related to water changes? I might get a sterilizer for my other aquarium.
Water Changes And Sterilizer
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waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
UV units and water change frequency are unrelated. WD
Hello,
Please be very careful here. As stated above, The use of UV is totally unrelated to the need of regular water changes. UV will slow the build up of algae on your tank glass (in my experience, I used to get traces of algae on the glass after a week.. I now go about three or four weeks before anything is seen. Vegetable matter/dead leaves etc. do take longer to decompose (if they were actually left in the tank!) as the numbers of water bourne organisms are reduced by the UV.
I've know a few people that think that the use of UV is the "magic cure" to any and all problems that may occur in a tank. The truth is (imho) that although these units are very useful, they cannot and should not be viewed in this way.
For me, these units are essential, but this has nothing to do with reducing the need for proper tank maintenance. If you would care to search for other posts regarding UV on this site then you will see my personal reasons for this opinion.
I would recommend that anyone with an interest in the possibility of using UV do as much research as possible. Bear in mind that most commercial sites are trying to sell you something.. so, proceed with caution.
Bodge99
Please be very careful here. As stated above, The use of UV is totally unrelated to the need of regular water changes. UV will slow the build up of algae on your tank glass (in my experience, I used to get traces of algae on the glass after a week.. I now go about three or four weeks before anything is seen. Vegetable matter/dead leaves etc. do take longer to decompose (if they were actually left in the tank!) as the numbers of water bourne organisms are reduced by the UV.
I've know a few people that think that the use of UV is the "magic cure" to any and all problems that may occur in a tank. The truth is (imho) that although these units are very useful, they cannot and should not be viewed in this way.
For me, these units are essential, but this has nothing to do with reducing the need for proper tank maintenance. If you would care to search for other posts regarding UV on this site then you will see my personal reasons for this opinion.
I would recommend that anyone with an interest in the possibility of using UV do as much research as possible. Bear in mind that most commercial sites are trying to sell you something.. so, proceed with caution.
Bodge99
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Yes, really good post Bodge!
The weekly water change thing is so multifaceted. Fish and plants truly need a lot of individual nutrients, various elements from the periodic table for instance (17 in the case of plants) and some of those come from fresh water rather than food. Calcium and Magnesium are examples often cited.
Every time we change our water we are bringing in a fresh set of these trace minerals, replacing water that may have lost some of them due to plants and animals using them. Likewise, every time we siphon the water out, we are removing untold different organic substances and various trace metals and things that may have been building up. Left without sufficient water changes, a tank will gradually acclimate the fish to water that is different from the local tap water, setting things up for an eventual shock to the fish that may be too large when water is finally changed.
All of this is quite separate from the algae issue, which is one of the main reasons for using UV.
~~waterdrop~~
The weekly water change thing is so multifaceted. Fish and plants truly need a lot of individual nutrients, various elements from the periodic table for instance (17 in the case of plants) and some of those come from fresh water rather than food. Calcium and Magnesium are examples often cited.
Every time we change our water we are bringing in a fresh set of these trace minerals, replacing water that may have lost some of them due to plants and animals using them. Likewise, every time we siphon the water out, we are removing untold different organic substances and various trace metals and things that may have been building up. Left without sufficient water changes, a tank will gradually acclimate the fish to water that is different from the local tap water, setting things up for an eventual shock to the fish that may be too large when water is finally changed.
All of this is quite separate from the algae issue, which is one of the main reasons for using UV.
~~waterdrop~~
UV units can be useful for some disease control or for algae control. Since a UV never sees every drop of water in the tank, it is not a cure for any disease, but can help in the battle while you are using the proper medications. Similarly, it never removes all algae spores so you will still see some algae. I do not use a UV for the simple reason that I have no need for them. I do not mind some algae in my tanks, I consider it a plant like any other plant. I am very careful about the fish I add to my tanks so I worry very little about disease also. In the last 7 years since I got back into the hobby I have had one small tank with an ich infestation and that is it. A bit of salt and the ich was gone, although it took a week or so to kill all the parasites.
For me, a "magic cure" for most problems is a big water change. If something about a tank of fish looks wrong to me, usually in the form of strange behaviors, I do a huge water change, try changing their diet and almost always see the fish bounce right back to vibrant good health. I seldom know what was wrong but figure if the water quality is kept very high, the fish will heal themselves. It seldom works out to be the wrong answer.
If you are interested in reducing water change frequency, try using natural plants to tie up the metals and nitrogen in your tank water. That means staying away from the planted tank people and using the "poisons" in your tank water as fertilizers, not the added ferts that plant people will encourage. I run a Natural Planted Tank, NPT, that gets a 6 months water change whether it needs it or not. The fish in that tank are abundant and probably overfed while the water in the tank is pristine. As WD said, a water change is used to replenish the trace elements in the water. After about 6 months, I start to worry that my plants may not be getting enough minerals so I do a large water change. Right before the change I measure my nitrates at less than 10 ppm, better than my tap water, and other measurements show zeros for ammonia and nitrites. The water's pH is close to my tap pH so I feel fairly good about doing that huge water change. This is the tank I am talking about. As you can see, the fish population is far from light in that almost unfiltered tank. It does have a sponge that gets cleaned about as often as I do a water change.
For me, a "magic cure" for most problems is a big water change. If something about a tank of fish looks wrong to me, usually in the form of strange behaviors, I do a huge water change, try changing their diet and almost always see the fish bounce right back to vibrant good health. I seldom know what was wrong but figure if the water quality is kept very high, the fish will heal themselves. It seldom works out to be the wrong answer.
If you are interested in reducing water change frequency, try using natural plants to tie up the metals and nitrogen in your tank water. That means staying away from the planted tank people and using the "poisons" in your tank water as fertilizers, not the added ferts that plant people will encourage. I run a Natural Planted Tank, NPT, that gets a 6 months water change whether it needs it or not. The fish in that tank are abundant and probably overfed while the water in the tank is pristine. As WD said, a water change is used to replenish the trace elements in the water. After about 6 months, I start to worry that my plants may not be getting enough minerals so I do a large water change. Right before the change I measure my nitrates at less than 10 ppm, better than my tap water, and other measurements show zeros for ammonia and nitrites. The water's pH is close to my tap pH so I feel fairly good about doing that huge water change. This is the tank I am talking about. As you can see, the fish population is far from light in that almost unfiltered tank. It does have a sponge that gets cleaned about as often as I do a water change.
I'll have to wait for a month or so as I am currently setting up a tank which has a sterilizer and a canister. I'll start planting soon, but so far the water has stayed very clear, yet as was said, the water contains nutrients that need to be replenished.
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