UV Filters?

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone used a UV Filter for a fresh water aquarium? Or has anyone got any comments or views on the topic. I'm busy installing one for a new setup and i'm kinda convinced its a good idea, but it seems to be a touchy subject...

Any info will be very welcome:

In terms of algae prevention? Disease prevention? how will it affect the bio filter for example? Well anything really...

Thanks,
Hans

 

I wouldn't personally use a UV filter in any of my tanks. One of the reasons being that any new fish you add to that water will make the potential disease outbreak rather likely as the 'old' fish are no longer used to all the bacteria etc that any new fish would bring with it. Just my 2c, that being said though, I have never and plan to never use a UV filter in my tanks. Perhaps others with more experience on UV filters should give their views as well. Personally, it is not necessary in a freshwater aquarium so why use one?

 

Okay, thnx for the info, good point about not current fish not being able to deal with new bacteria

 

Mostly used on koi pons due to the amount of waste they give off.
But for a tank dont know of anyone that uses one.

 

Yip, I have one running on my koi pond. The fact that it will sterilize the water in the aquarium is an appealing idea. Obviously a much lower capacity one than a koi pond's filter will be required for an aquarium.

The reason i'm opting for it is cause i've had some algae problems and i'm not a big fan of putting any sort of chemicals in the tank, so if i can do it with a gadget then it will be my preferred solution.

 

ok, but algae mean maybe your tank is getting to much light.

 

I've cut down on the lighting a lot and that helped but it only took it so far

 

ok, what do you all have in the tank.

 

It was quite overstocked at the time, but i'm setting up a 4 foot to solve that problem as we chat

The tank in question has loads of plants and some drift wood, and like i mentioned it was kinda overstocked.

 

I think once you have the overstocking part sorted out and have given everything a good clean were you can without loosing to much of your old water, you wont have a problem with algae. Cause it was posted here recently two big factors for algae is too much light and overtstocking.

 

Surely by using something like a UV filter for a tank, you are just 'masking' a problem??
Would it not be better to address the cause of the problem?
My 2c.

 

Nope not masking a problem in this case, this is for a brand new setup, fish are only going in later in the week (apart from a few water testers).

I'll post some pics of the tank as soon as I've completed the planting and when the decorations are in.

 

I have used a UV for a while now, without a problem, just be sure that the UV is placed after the mechanical filter, and before the bio filter, that way you dont kill all of your useful bacteria before returning the water to the tank.

I also have a T joint before the UV to bleed off some of the water pressure (Pump is overrated for the filter), otherwise the water is moving too fast to be really effective. This depends on what size UV you are using, the filter that you are using should be rated to your pump l/hour, not tank size as a lot of the lfs's will sell it to you. I.E. the UV filter at 800l/hr will be a waste on a system running a 1200l/hr pump.

Otherwise they are very effective..

 

UV can be very useful if you have algae outbreaks.
But should not be used all the time.
My 2c

 

Hi Guys,

UV sterilization and its benefits and disadvantages need to be very carefully considered.

If you have an algal bloom in a koi pond the UV will be able to kill of the algae, but you should find out what the reason for the algal bloom is and not just simply continue using the UV. If you overstock, overfeed, have inadequate filtration, do not do enough water changes as a result of which you have high nitrate levels, have the pond in high sunlight and perhaps a few more reasons then you should treat this cause and not the symptom. I say this time and time again, if you just treat the symptom then in a short time the next problem will appear.

The negative side of UV is that in a system which is not overstocked or any of the other factors mentioned above, then bacteria can be lowered in the system to the point where the fishes are actually not exposed to any bacteria any more. You might think that this is good, but it is not because then the immune system of the fishes just switches off. If you then introduce new fishes, the fishes that are in your system are more susceptible to disease than if you did not use UV at all. Bacteria need to be around for a fish or any other vertebrate organism to keep its immune system going. I say this from my knowledge of having lectured and done research in Immunology for the past 27 years and this is not just something that I have sucked out of my thumb.

UV sterilization can be beneficial in discus breeding where you may want to bring down bacterial numbers that may be infecting eggs. However, as a general remedy I would strongly recommend against it because your fishes' immune system becomes "lazy" and if you then introduce a new pathogen with new fishes you can have massive problems.

In human immunology we now know that if you grow up in an environment without bacteria you are actually much more susceptible to diseases and you are also prone to developing allergies. The old saying of the kids that grow up on the farm in all the muck and being very healthy as opposed to kids growing up in town and getting sick all the time is very applicable here. Also, Jacques Kallis with his ad for Protec soap is actually more dangerous than beneficial. My advice is that kids must eat lots of earth in the sand box to stimulate their immune systems!

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger then...

Sounds to me like it comes down to "Use with caution!!"

Being the Ueber-Nerd that I am, I'm kinda into gadgets. Thus I relished the idea of yet another device that can have some useful purpose and even better yet another one for my new tank. Especially one that could provide my fish with a cleaner environment, but that seems to be pointless if its not healthier, my concern is more with killing off the healthy "bugs" needed in the tank.

Thanks for you advice Dirk (and others), I'll be doing less UV'ing in the new system than planned. The little UV system that I have is all ready installed and has been running for two (or so) days, the system has be cycling for 10 days. But I'll take it out just to be safe.