UV Sterilizer.....A good investment?

[staticxtreme]

Just wondering if buying a UV Sterilizer is a good idea or not, been looking on PetSmart's website at their pond UV Sterilizer, and I can get one for around $100, but it's for 1000 gallons!!! You think that this particular model would be a problem for a 55g tank?

View the UV Sterilizer here
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 6843&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030158&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1097777831798

[staticxtreme]

What about an RO/DI would that be better?

[nyfireman3097]

get a 9w uv also i think its a g8 idea to get a ro/di
Nick

[mybubbles]

personally with uv sterilizers they work but only the good quality ones (european made) do. ones thats made in China for example, lets you down hard...

[Reefska]

I feel a UV sterilizer is only a must have item on a quarantine tank or maybe a FO system.
Its is said (and stands to reason) that a UV kills off alot of the microorganism life which makes a reef tank such a wonderful a diverse thing.
Anywho, if you do feel you want one, don't go for a pond UV, they are not the same thing as a sterilizer and are only really meant for cleaning green water.
In a sterilizer the water has to get much closer to the UV for it to kill off parasites etc, and so has a much narrower channel past the light.
And I agree with the others, if you dont have an RO unit, get that instead.

[Bald Eagle]

For all those people that have never tried a U.V. Sterilizer on a reef tank. Dont knock it till you've tried it. I personally would never run a reef tank without one. For very good reasons. All these medications they make for Reef tanks do not work. have you ever tried catching a sick fish in a reef tank. almost impossible. I have had U.V.'s running in my tanks for yrs. without any side effects at all. My fish are healthy and disease free. My corals grow extremely fast and very colorful and my mandarin eats pods all day long every day. (I've had him for 2 yrs now.) Take a look at pics of my tanks. Then you can see for yourself what a reef tank looks like when you're running U.V's.

[Bald Eagle]

I agree as well with the R.O. units. you should have one of those as well. much better water quality, which means less algae blooms and other related problems. 8)

[gregoryalln]

i have allways ran a u.v. on my reef, for the reasons that bald eagle said. one example was last week i added 1 flame angel, 1 rusty angel, and 1 potter angel to my tank to go along with my 2 other angels. i plugged in the u.v. as soon as i added the fish, just incase one gets sick it will help keep the disease from spreading. when using a u.v. with the correct water flow i have never had any major disease out breaks, it has allways been isolated to one fish. also when adding new fish i add garlic extreme, or garlic elixir for 2 weeks to the food. i usually run my u.v. for 45 days after adding anything new to my tank

[Reefska]

Its good to hear that, I was told about the reef tank issue in my LFS.
However I have always quarantine my fish for a month before introducing them and have not had any problems working this way.

[Bald Eagle]

Reefska, I'm glad to hear that you have a proven method for your tank. After all, that is what we all want, healthy fish. 8)

[staticxtreme]

So then I guess I should go get me one....I've seen some pretty cheap prices on JEBO uv sterilizers.....any comments on that?

[gregoryalln]

i allways went aquanetics, but i heard they went out of business.

[RandyStacyE]

I have a JEBO UV. I like it. I do know that the more powerful the bulb, the more efficient the unit is. Contact time is the key also prefilter the water before it goes into the JEBO. You can use a less powerful bulb and reduce the flow through the JEBO and you will get excellent results as well.

I use the JEBO in my wifes' turtle tank. She has 2 turtles, live plants in her fuge, and a BUNCH of snails we are raising. Anyways...You will notice a change overnight! I'm tellin ya ... OVERNIGHT. I don't think there is one other piece of equipment that will offer such a fast and drastic results so quickly.

Except an RO/DI unit. They are exxxxxxcellent too.

[BockC&M]

What is an RO/DI? :?:

[wcswebdesign]

May I ask, what are your reasons for wanting to run a UV Sterilizer? R/O is reverse osmoses water purifaction system. I would suggest purchasing an R/O before you purchase a UV. R/O will save you money, its the better investment. I have ran my tank with and without. I havnt run a UV light since that hunk of junk Jebo burnt out on me :) I took the wrong route and bought a UV light 1st hoping it would help with my alega and contain any outbreaks, non the less I still had a minor ich outbreak running the light and it cleared up most of my algea problem. Then I got smart and got an R/O unit. Phosphates was the problem for algea. So the R/O solved that. I was buying publix red lable @ 68cents a gallon x5 per week. No UV, and I havnt seen algea since I got the R/O unit.

[michaelS]

I fought algae of all kinds in a friends 75 corner tank that I set-up and maintain since her BD 3 years ago. I almost gave up the fight after getting little results with 2 additional protien skimmers, almost starving the fish, shortened photoperiod and 10-20% weekly water changes. 2 months ago I got a Corallife 18wt and hooked it inline with a 350 Magnum. After about 2 weeks all unwanted algea began to dissapear and now it is difficult to even get diatom to appear. I removed the protien skimmers a month ago and the tank is going like a dream. This pic is of before I removed the PS. If anyone wants I will take a pic of the tanks now powered only by 4 PH on wavemaker. 350 canister filter carbon and micron interchanged bi-weekly. 18wt UV sterilizer. 300watts VHO. NO SUMP!

[Mary Jo]

ive heard that the uv will kill whats in the water but not what is already on the fish you need 18 watts or better to do the job so a fresh water dip is a good thing to do before putting your new fish in your tank

[flyboydave]

ive heard that the uv will kill whats in the water but not what is already on the fish you need 18 watts or better to do the job so a fresh water dip is a good thing to do before putting your new fish in your tank

A fresh water dip is NOT a good thing to just arbitrarily do to every fish before you put them into your tank. Quarantining fish is a good thing to do, but automatically fresh water dipping healty fish will stress them out.

As for the uv wattage - the higher the wattage, the faster you can pump water through them. A 9w UV will work fine, you just have to run less water through it. But generally, the bigger the better when it comes to UV. The longer the exposure time/higher UV wattage, the larger organisms you will kill passing through the lamp. Mine came with a chart showing what flow rates were necessary to kill what objects you want to kill. I ran mine at the slowest rate (to kill the most different organisms) but it does not affect pods at all. In fact, they run all over the intake pumps.

[bwomble]

Just wondering if buying a UV Sterilizer is a good idea or not, been looking on PetSmart's website at their pond UV Sterilizer, and I can get one for around $100, but it's for 1000 gallons!!! You think that this particular model would be a problem for a 55g tank?

View the UV Sterilizer here
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 6843&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030158&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1097777831798
RO DI or UV? I suggest that you get both. I bought the RO DI first but I've been extremely with my Turbo-Twist UV sterilizer. Don't buy one that is made for a pond unless you are going to use it in a pond. IMO you should make certain you get enough power to kill parasites and not just algae, if you are going to spend the money you should get the full benefit.

[flyboydave]

Just wondering if buying a UV Sterilizer is a good idea or not, been looking on PetSmart's website at their pond UV Sterilizer, and I can get one for around $100, but it's for 1000 gallons!!! You think that this particular model would be a problem for a 55g tank?

View the UV Sterilizer here
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444177 6843&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030158&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1097777831798

I looked at some of their other UV products, and they are 9w lights for 1000 gallons. That's because their only suggested purpose is to kill algae, so they can have a very high flow rate and accomplish that. These other models are not UV+filter, and they would work ok for your system. I'd avoid the filter combo models.

But as for your question of RO or UV? They serve two different purposes. It's kind of like asking "Should I get a gas mask or antibiotics?" :-)

[bwomble]

What is an RO/DI? :?:
Reverse osmosis de-ionization. It's a water filter.

[scaryperson27]

Looks like a good read although i havent read it yet.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question29.htm

[Irisservice]

UV works, but get one that epa certified.. Most have such low UV that they do nothing...
Here are some cerified ones..
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4419&N=2004+113778
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3666&N=2004+113778
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13954&N=2004+113778

[aquino.ry]

I 've had my Jebo for almost a week now and I will say that it is a great product for a very good price. I got the Jebo 11w UV sterilizer from Ebay for $50. I've read from somewhere else that it could leak and the plastic tubes can split so I was extra careful when I screwed the inlet/outlet tubes and other assembly. A useful tip would be to use some plumber's teflon tape and do not over tighten it, and you shouldn't have any problems with.