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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

UV Sterilizers

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22 Mar 2010 17:52 - 22 Mar 2010 17:52 #1 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Hey guys,

I know a lot of salty keepers that use UV sterilizers to help control unwanted microbial life in their systems. Are these really a must have or just nice to have? From the research Im doing while setting up a new marine system there seems to be two schools of thought. One being that they are an excellent addition to help supplement your filtration, and the other being thy can be detrimental to livestock by doing such a good job that over time the livestock's immune systems cant deal with infections when they arise. So, what do the salty keepers here think? Are they worth it? Bearing in mind that these aint cheap :dry:.

Jay.

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.
Last edit: 22 Mar 2010 17:52 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes).

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22 Mar 2010 19:33 - 22 Mar 2010 19:35 #2 by Tetra (Tetra)
Replied by Tetra (Tetra) on topic Re:UV Sterilizers
Have been reading up on UV's and ozone myself lately and the general agreement seems to be there good if ya have ich or any other infection/disease which can be treated with UV but thats it.They not only kill bad bacteria but also good (plankton).After 12 weeks of use they get covered in a film of algae and are not as effective as they were. They can leach UV also over time it has been said they leak(cheap ones) They add extra heat to your water bulb needs to be replaced min every year. Even one guy on RC said that it raised his nitrate level and started an algae bloom. Seems to me there expensive and you don't get alot of benfits. Although one upside would be to use for QT only, less stress on the fish.
Last edit: 22 Mar 2010 19:35 by Tetra (Tetra).

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22 Mar 2010 19:40 #3 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re:UV Sterilizers
Maybe one inside a filter rather that on the tank would be better, leaving bacteria to grown in the tank and get killed in the filter meaning there should be always some in the tank at least. But I am not sure at all.


Mark

Location D.11

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22 Mar 2010 20:13 #4 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
@ Tetra,

Yeah, it seems the the debate is raging on this. Like yourself I personally am leaning towards leaving it out, but then at the same time, I dont want to be left swinging if something goes wrong if you get my drift. I think ill go ahead and set up without one and see how things progress. That said, if I stumble across a good one at the right price...:laugh:.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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22 Mar 2010 20:23 #5 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:UV Sterilizers
I use two, one a led based version incorporated in a filter, the second is a uv compact within a silica tube and concealed in a Filter, i use them, not as a preventative but as a curative ie. if i get an outbreak of something like ick i put it in to catch the free swimming b@st@rds.

Kev.

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22 Mar 2010 20:32 #6 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
@ Kev,

So do you just turn them on when you suss a problem? Have you had to replace any parts or had any snags with them at all?

@ Tetra,

Are you planning on incorporating ozone with your skimmer? From what Ive read it makes them far more efficient.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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22 Mar 2010 20:33 #7 by Katherine (Katarzyna Glebocka)
I'm not a salty keeper but I bought an external filter with built-in UV lamp. I found this option most convenient for me just for reasons described by Mark. I can swith the lamp on/off whenever I want. I've been using this filter for a very short time (2 weeks or so) but there are some other forum-users who have them for longer and can give you better feedback on. In my opinion the UV lamp gives just additional but not necessaryly 'first line' protection. I bought it to calm myself and to be sure my fish are given the best they can get (so as usually I'm exaggerating - seems like overprotection :) )

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22 Mar 2010 20:41 #8 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
@ Katherine,

I get what you mean, that peace of mind is priceless for many. However, setting up a salty aint cheap and Im flying on fumes as it is so weighing off fish health and wallet health at the same time is difficult. What make is your filter? Is it a canister with a built in bulb? You say its running about two weeks? Do you run it constantly or just when you see a problem. Any snags with it?
Apologies for all the questions...

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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22 Mar 2010 20:53 #9 by gerryberry (Jeff Daly)
Just setting up an marine tank at he moment and got a uv unit. i have read all the arguments for and against and decided it was better to have it than not to have it.
I don,t plan to use it 24/7, far from it. i will use it as i stock up my tank and turn it on an off over a period of the first few months til everything settles. Long term i will probably remove it.
have it running on a seperate pump so easy to control it and by that time i will have so other gizmo to use the pump on;)

What size tank are you setting up

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22 Mar 2010 21:14 #10 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Hmmm, you make a good argument for it. The tank is a 400ltr.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

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22 Mar 2010 21:21 #11 by gerryberry (Jeff Daly)
Put it this way jay, there is such an outlay of cash setting up a marine tank, skimmers, liverock, circulation pumps etc. make a list of the essiential things you need and when the time comes if you have the cash get one or if you see a good price second hand one pick it up.

i considered it a luxury item myself but a cheap one came up from a fellow fishkeeper down my way so couldn,t pass it up.

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22 Mar 2010 21:22 #12 by Katherine (Katarzyna Glebocka)
Hi,
It's a canister filter, sold under the name of Hanza on Polish market but it's Chinese product. I bought it on allegro.pl as it was cheaper than on e-bay.ie. The UV bulb is built into the filter canister - so very convenient. The filter and the lamp are used constantly. I want this filter to be the only filter used in my fish tank but have to wait till it's mature (another 2 - 3 weeks and I'll remove the sponge internal one that is running simultaneously at the moment). The UV lamp is turn on all the time but I do not use full power of the filter (stream would be to heavy for my 84l tank and my gopies...) - just about 50 %. Exactly the same filter you can buy on e-bay for 90 pounds delivered. The only snag I had with it was just because I wasn't the strongest girl and I had to use "external men's power" :) to connect pipes. If you buy on e-bay make sure it's delivered with media or order them at the same time and supplier. You can easily put up to 1 kg of meadia to each of 3 buskets. The canister weights 5kg itself.According to the opinions I gathered before I decided to buy it, the engine is not as strong as Ehaim or any other top brands but for this money - "Price makes miracles" - you get what you pay for and it's worth this money. :) Hope I helped you.
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22 Mar 2010 21:31 #13 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
@ Gerry,

Think you hit the nail on the head there mate. Reckon Ill focus on the essentials and see how things turn out. Cheers man.


@ Katherine,

Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed response. Much appreciated. As it stands, I have a filter en route so if I do decide on one down the line I will probably head in a different direction. Interesting these dual canisters though...thanks again.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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23 Mar 2010 01:52 #14 by Tetra (Tetra)
Replied by Tetra (Tetra) on topic Re:UV Sterilizers
To be honest jay uv is prob the last thing to think of, spend your money on a better skimmer or reffugim it will benfit you allot more check out some reef forums to you will see most tanks of the months don't run uv it might sound crazy but they dose with vodka vinegar or vitamin C and get amazing results in my opinion uv is worthless way over priced for a simple job of wot a QT can do.

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23 Mar 2010 08:19 #15 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
Cheers Tetra, its definately on the long finger for now. Thanks again,

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
may not be the party we hoped for, but while we
are here we might as well dance.

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11 Jun 2010 14:03 #16 by russell (russell watson)
Having kept Marines along with Discus the question is. Can I treat white spot / velvet ets, without destroying the good guys.if you have live rock inverts etc you can't use any meds as they are copper based & will kill off everything including anenomes and the like. If used properly put the U/V on a timer and run it for set times. this will increase the tube light and maintain all perams.
I would rather remove algea which you shouldn't have if you run a skimmer & use Rowafos or similar.
Stock is far to valuble to loose.

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11 Jun 2010 17:31 #17 by wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
Replied by wolfsburg (wolfsburg) on topic Re:UV Sterilizers
russell wrote:

Having kept Marines along with Discus the question is. Can I treat white spot / velvet ets, without destroying the good guys.if you have live rock inverts etc you can't use any meds as they are copper based & will kill off everything including anenomes and the like.


Not strictly true. There are some chemical based whitespot treatments that do not contain copper and are reef safe. There are also a few herbal treatments that don't do damage to corals or inverts.

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11 Jun 2010 18:33 #18 by russell (russell watson)
Must be a German product !!!!!!!!!!!!

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