andrem Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Can anyone offer some advice on the for / against of running one of these. Had whitespot issues and just want to give the fish a little bit more protection against getting it again. Setting up a refugum and also hear that the UV units kill pods and other useful bacteria? Also have a setup of about 330 litres including sump and wondering what wattage I would need, you go "overkill" like a skimmer or would something like a 9w unit do the job ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 For that size probably a tmc 25 watt model, Dont get a pond one they are not the real deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 For that size probably a tmc 25 watt model, Dont get a pond one they are not the real deal That's a statement to start a discussion. What brand is the TMC 25 watt? Why is it the real deal? The only difference that I can see between a fish tank UV unit and a pond unit is through put of water. Reduce the flow and you get the same effect. I sell the Pondmaster units so my opinion may be considered bias. You work for Jansens, what units do you guys sell? I use a 36w Pondmaster unit. Quartz sleeve, Philips bulb. All good. Rated for about 36000 litres an hour for a pond. I run 3600 litres an hour through it. The pump I run it with has a sponge on it which will stop most pods getting in it. You could also put your UV on a timer with your lights so it is off at night when the pods are most active. I run mine all the time. Has saved me at least $1000.00 worth of fish with both my tanks coming down with whitespot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/uv-questions-answered-vt16857.html might clear up a few things for you andrem, worth using IMO i will be adding one shortly, just made a few changes to my setup and im letting each one take effect before adding the next just to get an idea of how each one changes my tank, so uv will be end of jan at this rate but i will get the unit shortly. im thinking of getting a deltec, layton has had good results with his. havnt priced it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 The pond ones arent rated as sterilizers, they have a wider gap between the bulb and the wall which is good at killing mass amounts of algae which is their primary purpose. However to kill everything like the parasites (which are real bastards) this distance is very important. It would still help though, and I think they are much cheaper. Also anther thing Layton pointed out many bulbs are made of quartz, so you loose 50% of the killing regardless of having a quartz sleeve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Thinking about that gap thing, does it matter if the gap is big & therefore it does not kill everything on the way past? When you think about it, SOME of the water will pass close to the bulb, and so presumably get the full effect. As the sterilizer does not nessecarily get every drop of water in the tank anyway, it would not matter that it does not sterilize every drop of water that passes through it, long as it gets some of it, being the stuff that passes close to the bulb? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Should point out I don't know crap about UV's :lol: , I was just asking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 As the sterilizer does not nessecarily get every drop of water in the tank anyway, it would not matter that it does not sterilize every drop of water that passes through it, long as it gets some of it, being the stuff that passes close to the bulb? Thats the thing though - if you call it a sterilizer it has to sterilize everything (or close to). You wouldn't want a surgeons scalple being 2/3 sterile. :lol: The parasites like whitespot are real tough to kill, remember that the wider the gap you get an exponential falloff coupled with the increased water acting as a slight buffer along with other detrius/particles that can block out the light adding to the sheilding effect. There is an industry accepted standard, I'm pretty sure the Pondmaster UV units are technically UV clarifiers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Not very scientific but I ran a 11w UV unit on a 200 litre tank and got 'total' elimination of visible whitespot on tang within a few days and it hasn't been back since. It got it reasonably regular before then.Got me thinking they do something useful! You might lose a few pods but also consider that some reckon that whitespot are also most active and 'aggressively' seeking fish at night. They even say fish 'roost' at night in a similar spot to where they dropped the parasites earlier in the cycle which then emerge from the substrate and jump back on the host. But I cruise all sorts of sites so ya just don't know the credibility of some things... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 I'm looking forward to seeing whether JDM's nitrates will be reduced as in Laytons experience. I think it will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KP Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 He has just got a new de-nitratifier so I'm guessing it wont be a fair test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 yep, my sulphur denitrator has arrived this thing will take ages to get the nitrate under control. i will be setting it up this week, from there i have to wait 3-4 weeks for the out put to drop to zero nitrate, then i can up the flow, i will start at 1 drip per second and once i have a constant dribble i will add the uv. uv for me is more for the upping skimmer output and increased water clarity, similar to your ozone i could for the sake of science, not start the denitrator and add the uv now, this would give us more of an idea of how the uv affects nitrate in my tank. hmmm might start a thread as a bit of a pole to see who is interested in me doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 hmmm might start a thread as a bit of a pole to see who is interested in me doing that. I'm in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 A UV will not reduce nitrate, pretty much impossable, it will help the build up of nitrate by breaking down things so that the skimmer can take it out thus reducing nitrates indirectly. Pond Uv do have a big gap to allow more water thru them , Feelers has it pretty much spot on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Not very scientific but I ran a 11w UV unit on a 200 litre tank and got 'total' elimination of visible whitespot on tang within a few days and it hasn't been back since. If you didn't have a UV would the WS have gone anyway?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Perhaps...who can predict the future? The "what would have happened if I hadn't done something" question! I know the patterm of WS 'coming back' on a regular cycle, hence why the PBT is in my quarantine tank. Nothing seemed to change except the latest generation of WS. He's been as clean as a whistle (where did that expression come from?) for over 6 weeks. 'Proof' enough for me to invest in a bigger UV unit for the main tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBlog Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 I don't know if this means anything either, but since I put on my UV's I haven't had any outbreaks of white spot. Prior to this, I used to get it ALL the time (damn tangs). In fact, I lost 90% of my stock in one go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Put a nice little compact 9w UV on my tank yesterday- no reason other than to try it, noticed this morn my skimmer cup is half full Wonder if my sand will clear up?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazzard Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Ive had a 9w uv on my system since i got it and have never had a problem with white spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Yeah I just put it on for the hell of it, never had a whitespot prob anyway. Did your skimmer output increase? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneo Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Doubled my skimmer output lasted a month or so and now its back to normal :-? quess the u.v + skimmer did a clean up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazzard Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Not sure cause it was on when i got it. I will be adding a uv to my new tank for sure though.From what ive heard the cheaper ones still seem to have a positive effect. I havent heard a bad thing said about them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Placebo effect maybe. The cheaper units wont kill parsites unless you slow the water flow to about 1000 L/h The cheap UVs are good for freshwater or ponds to kill algae, they are no good for saltwater Here is some info what output is required to kill protozoa. i doubt any cheap Uv will do it. on the "kill power" needed for the corresponding Micro-Organisms. Waterborne Algae 15,000 to 30,000 æW sec/cm2 Common Bacteria 15,000 to 30,000 æW sec/cm2 Protozoa (Ich) 45,000 æW sec/cm2 Fungi 45,000 æW sec/cm2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 When i call mine "cheap" its cos i paid wholesale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 yep. 9w is cheap and nasty for saltwater. wont really do much except kill some algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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