To UV or not UV that is the question.

[ErinCahir]

I vote we leave the thread alone and let the Mods delete any personal attacks that have no business being in the thread because Ill be honest, with the way LFS are pushing UV down your throat, maybe someone could find this thread helpful.

I am still on the fence about whether its a good idea or not because as I stated before the "troll" rant I have no room for a hospital/quarantine tank and I am genuinely curious whether or not having a UV, although prolonged use has proved harmful, could be of value for a short period of time. I would rather have everything in case of a mishap/illness than not and something die because of it ya know?

The majority of us do not QT or UV... we try to keep healthy tanks by not overstocking, making sure our animals are compatible and keeping with minimum size requirements.

LFS exist to make a buck. Take every piece of advice they give you with a grain of salt.

 

[Marines_Wife]

The majority of us do not QT or UV... we try to keep healthy tanks by not overstocking, making sure our animals are compatible and keeping with minimum size requirements.

LFS exist to make a buck. Take every piece of advice they give you with a grain of salt.

But things like Ich....happen do they not? Is that a chemical thing? I have been ccreating my "Wish list" however I know my limits and everything is compatible. But illnesses like Ich have to be caused by more than simply stress...right?

 

[ErinCahir]

Unless you QT all of your fish in hypo or copper for 6 weeks before you add them to your tank, ich will be in your tank. Ich is in most tanks, but the fish are healthy enough to fight it off on their own.

 

[Marines_Wife]

And a freshwater bath does not cure them of this or does it cure the parasites that may be on them only

 

[ErinCahir]

A freshwater dip does not cure them of it, it only causes the visible parasites to drop off. You will still have ich in your tank.
Plus, if you fish is already showing visible signs of ich, he is stressed already and a freshwater bath, or chasing him around to catch him and throw him in a QT is only going to stress him out more.
Best bet is buying healthy fish (make sure they eat at the store)... and then keep them happy and healthy in your tank.

 

[Jmck]

My suggestion would be, forget the UV and create a healthy tank.

When a fish does get ich, the suggestion is to take him out, put him in a QT and treat them with copper. But everyone here has made a simple choice not to do this because in many cases it causes a lot of stress in the fish with the moving and chasing.

The recommended pracatice for ich is to find why they have it, which is generally size issues, water quality issues or bullying, thus you fix this problem and they will get better without UV or a QT.

So, try 1 year without it, and you wont have a problem. Ill give you another reason, most fish are not as susceptible to ich. The fish which will be most likely to get ich are the tangs and larger fish who are used to large open spaces to swim in and good hiding places :)

Sorry I helped your thread get hijacked, I got angry, Ive tried a small yellow tang in my 60g because I was meant to upgrade and he didnt last long :(

 

[little_fish]

Perhaps reading this about ich will help you decided wether or not its worth getting:

https://www.livingreefs.com/oh-no-have-ich-do-do-t30950.html

 

[Marines_Wife]

Ok, like I said I was just wondering if it was a good investment up front. Im one of those "always be prepared" people so if there was a 1% chance having a UV light would have helped I would rather have it then not but it sounds like they cause more issues then not.

Why are UV lights even made? Is this sort of like the canister filter, made for freshwater and it just doesnt translate well to Marine tanks?

 

[irensing]

If you want to be prepared and are decided on a canister filter then perheps you could get one with UV and remove the bulb (or not turn it on, i'm not sure how they work). If you ever need it it's there. Is there a huge cost difference to have the UV?

 

[RyanG]

Alli, you hit the nail right on the head. In the right type of system a UV can be a very useful tool. Personally I wouldn't use on for the main part of a system, I would however use it between say an algae scrubber and the return from that. A UV is a great tool in a freshwater system, as are canister filters but neither is amazing in a marine system but they do have their place. Ok now Im rambling. Basically what Im getting at is save your money when it comes to UV filters.

 

[Jmck]

I would also say dont get a cannister filter. That is more of a fresh water thing and something that can cause issues in our tanks unless properly cleaned as they hold a lot of bad bacteria.

Ryan is very right in what he wrote.

 

[irensing]

I'm pretty sure I have the same bowfront tank that you have. Do you want me to take some pictures of the set up? It has a closed off cabinet stand with a hanging wet/dry. I have it caddy cornered. When pushed against the wall I'm almost certain your daughter would not be able to get hurt or get to any of components.

 

[Marines_Wife]

Sure I would love pictures and no there is not a huge difference in the UVfilter vs the one without. Like $30.00 but honestly the reason why I was considering it is because they are expensive on their own. However if I do not need it because it causes a lot of issues then I will save my money on it and leave it alone.

Right now the skimmer I am running on it is a CPR bakpak. Its not terrible but I am not overly excited about it either. At first I thought I wasnt running it right, however upon investigation alot of people are having the same issues with it that I am which is that it really doesnt collect much and it puts a lot of micro bubbles in the tank. I mean it DOES work for now however I am just not in "love" per say.
I am considering foregoing the filter and spending the money on a nicer skimmer however I keep going back and forth. Im taking everyones input into consideration dont get me wrong however I am just still trying to decide on the best route.

 

[irensing]

I'll take some pics when I get home. Right now I'm designing transformers at work. yay. What type of filter are you running now?

 

[Marines_Wife]

Alli, you hit the nail right on the head. In the right type of system a UV can be a very useful tool. Personally I wouldn't use on for the main part of a system, I would however use it between say an algae scrubber and the return from that. A UV is a great tool in a freshwater system, as are canister filters but neither is amazing in a marine system but they do have their place. Ok now Im rambling. Basically what Im getting at is save your money when it comes to UV filters.

You a**hole dont talk to me ;)
JK NO worries we made nice people we can play in the same fish tank now

Like I was saying before, given the fact that having a sump isnt a option at this time would a canister filter be ok? I am currently looking at ones that have removable media trays that you can put your media of choice into. Obviously not the same as a sump and doesnt have the benefits, and as my skimmer does ok but not stellar I was considering going this route......I know alot of people are using different filtering media in their trays and so I was considering doing it.

After hearing what everyone has to say I definitly will steer away from a UV filter. It seems like aside from killing everything in your tank (algae pods etc etc) it would severely limit my choice of fish as many fish eat those sorts of things. One day, down the road I would like to have a mandarin and from what I am reading, they eat pods which means I couldnt have one because there would be none in there. Not that I would put a tang in here but if I were to, I would have to feed it because there would be nothing to pick off of the rocks......

 

[RyanG]

You will be far better off having a decent skimmer than a great canister filter. JMO.

 

[Marines_Wife]

I'll take some pics when I get home. Right now I'm designing transformers at work. yay. What type of filter are you running now?

Right now I am not running a specific filter I am only running my Skimmer. I wanted to do some serious investigating before I spent my money on a filter. I want my tank to be the best I can put together, and thats not always necessarily the amount of money you put into it.

 

[Jmck]

Well, it is the best choice for a skimmer. I would never be adding a canister filter.

If you wanted to add media to your tank you can do it a few ways, one way is to get a filter sock or even a stocking and add media that way. Another is to get a specific reactor for each type of media which will be better than having a canister filter.

However, an excellent skimmer is the first thing you should invest in and then media as it is required. :)

 

[Marines_Wife]

If you wanted to add media to your tank you can do it a few ways, one way is to get a filter sock or even a stocking and add media that way. Another is to get a specific reactor for each type of media which will be better than having a canister filter. :)

Wait hold on how do you add media to your tank if you dont have a sump, just a skimmer running on it?

 

[irensing]

Here is a pic from the front. That stand was $100 I think. It has a nice coating to prevent it from getting water logged. I'm not exactly sure why a sump is out of the question. You should be able to fit one in the bottom of this stand and put a child lock on the door.