Does anyone know why I should use a UV sterilizer?

Question

I am looking into getting a 100 Gallon aquarium and am not sure what I need! I have heard I dont need a uv sterilizer, is this true or untrue and why? I dont want to put my new fishies ast risk! Also are there any other products i need? Please help!

Answer 1

This is a broad question.
First it depend on your aquarium whether you NEED a sterilizer. For a marine fish tank the answer would be in most cases yes.
For a freshwater aquarium, the answer is a quality, properly installed UV Sterilizer would be a great asset to your aquarium.
As someone who has spent many years researching this topic and the sub topic of Aquarium Redox, I can say from experience that this is probably the area of more miss-information than probably any other topic in aquarium keeping.
Many articles I have read state that a UV is not that beneficial to an established aquarium as a healthy aquarium depends on beneficial bacteria typically growing on media in your filter which neutralize ammonia. Unfortunately the problem with this statement is beneficial bacteria belongs in the filter, not in the open water. Also this is great for advanced aquarists who are not adding fish and have a healthy Redox Potential, but not in the real world of average and above average aquarists that I have dealt with in the 100s of aquariums I have serviced.

Proper UV sterilization starts with the proper UV, contact time, water turbidity, water temperature, bio load, and more. Proper filtration of the water before entering the UV sterilizer helps with turbidity; many UV’s now available do not have proper contact time or advertise too high a flow rate. I would recommend 20-45 gph per watt of UVC. I have produced a 15 watt UV that is extremely effective when installed properly.
Be careful of some of the cheap uv sterilizers currently flooding the market such as the Aqua Medic, our service experience is poor with these units (leakage, poor sterilization patterns). If you obtain one of these units, you cannot make a fair assesment of what UV Sterilization can really do.

As for the Redox Potential, this is an often overlooked aspect of both freshwater and saltwater aquarists. The Redox Potential is basically the oxidation and reduction properties of water.

I have found even in freshwater aquariums such as goldfish tanks(in side by side comparisons in my service business), that health, longevity, vitality were all improved, this is partly to do with the improved Redox Potential that the UV provides, not just from sterilization.

Here are a few things (based on one of my articles) A UV Sterilizer will not do:

[1] UV sterilization will not cure infected fish of bacterial or fungal diseases. A UV can aid in cure by killing bacterial pathogens in the water column and fungal spores, also by improvement of the Redox potential and general water quality.

[2] A UV sterilizer will not kill ich trophozoites already on the fish (but then medications don’t either), but UVC can again slow the spread of ich tomites in the water column (but usually not out right kill ich tomites).

[3] A UV sterilizer will not kill beneficial bacteria such aerobic bacteria, as this bacterium is effective when attached to a surface of high water flow such as the sponge of a sponge filter, not when in the water column. It is best to turn off a Sterilizer unit when introducing bacteria to seed a new aquarium.

[4] UV Sterilization will not remove or destroy algae growing on tank or pond sides, rocks, decorations, ect.

[5] UV Sterilization will NOT make up for poor aquarium maintenance practices such as over crowding, over feeding, inadequate filtration, poor cleaning practices, improper water parameters, and more.

As for other products,
*I would suggest a good heater (or better two) such as the ReSun or Ebo Jager,
*A good filtration system; such as a canister filter (Via Aqua makes a very good one for the money, but Eheim is excellent too), I would combine this with an Internal Filter such as the Via Aqua 306 for cross circulation, also a pre filter is good for the canister filter or a HOB as this vastly increase bio filtration and decrease build up inside the canister filter.
*Test Kits including, Ammonia, nitrates, pH and the often over looked kH
*Water conditioners to neutralize chorine and add electrolytes; Prime and Start Righ are among many excellent chlorine neutralizers while Wonder Shells are great for kH electrolytes, and even Redox.

For much more information read this article about UV Sterilzation:
http://americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html

For a great resource to articles such as filtration, kH, Redox, Cleaning and more, please see this article:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Information.html

Answer 2

Hob Uv Sterilizer

Answer 3

A UV sterilizer is a good thing, but not absolutely needed. What it does is use UV light to kill harmful organisms in your aquarium. It will not hurt the fish because they will not come into contact with the UV light. It will be outside the aquarium itself and the water will flow through it.

Unfortunately it also kills off the good bacteria that you need to have in your tank, so you need to have some sort of filter in there for biological filtration. A sponge or bio balls will do a good job of this. I would also use carbon in the tank.

Answer 4

Unless you are having green algae problems, or have a saltwater tank or delicate freshwater which makes treating with copper difficult, you do not need a UV sterlizer.

I'm assuming you're getting a 100 gallon freshwater aquarium. Which is basically just a small tank, big version :) First, make sure your floor can support the weight (~1000 lbs with water, glass and rocks).

You will need the tank, a sturdy stand, of course, and a proper lid. If you want to go with plants, you should have at least 2 48" fluorescent bulbs. That will give you a little less than 1 watt per gallon; you won't be able to grow any high light plants, but you can keep some low light plants alive. If you want to go with high tech lighting, get the Coralife 48" freshwater compact fluorescent fixture. It's about 250$, but you can find it cheaper on craigslist.com - it's amazing, my tank is like 100x brighter now.

You will need proper filtration. You can go with a canister filter. I a Hang off the Back filter type of girl, so I will recommend an AquaClear 110 fillter, combined with an AquaClear 50 filter.

Naturally you need gravel - they say 1lb / gallon but I only have about 80lbs in my 100 gallon tank.

You will need a heater. I suggest you go with two smaller heaters, like two 150 watt heaters instead of one 300 watt. Sometimes heaters go faulty. With two, your fish won't freeze or boil if one breaks or will not turn off. And a thermometer.

You will need dechlorinator, and some day to cycle. Do you know what cycling is? I'll give you the gist of it, but google it for more info:

First of all, have you cycled your tank? In the wild, and in established tanks, there are nitrifying bacteria that break down toxic ammonia from fish waste and excess food into less toxic nitrates. In a brand new tank, these bacteria don't exist, so any fish in the tank will produce ammonia, which, not being broken down by bacteria, will kill or weaken the fish. So, it is vital to cycle your tank.
There are a few methods. Do you have access to an established tank? These bacteria live in the gravel and in the filter cartridge, so if you can get some from another tank, you can put the bacteria right into your tank (don't let the gravel or filter cartridge dry out). If you do this, in a day or two, your tank will beready for fish.
Another way is to get Bio-Spira. It is the actual live bacteria in a little pouch, and your tank will instantly be ready for fish.http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html

Other methods, which include putting a source of ammonia in the tank and letting the bacteria build up on its own, or putting a fish in and letting the fish produce ammonia (which borders on animal cruelty, because the fish will suffer from the ammonia in the tank), take 2 to 6 weeks before your tank is ready. If you rush that, any fish you buy may die, so try one of the instant methods I mentioned above (bio-spira or gravel from another tank)



And you'll need to decide what fish you want.
In a 100 gal tank you have a lot of choices. You can go with a community tank with tetras, angels, peaceful cichlids ,gouramis, etc. You can go with african cichlids. You can get two oscars... I suggest that, while your tank is cycling, you take a trip to the petstore and see what you like. Write it down, go home, and research it.
Always take petstore advice with a grain of salt. Usually, they only want to sell fish, and their advice isn't worth squat.

Answer 5

A UV sterilizer is a filter out that makes use of extremely violet easy/radiation to radiate microbes interior the water. in actuality it quite is a water filter out that makes use of easy rather of media. they are large for removing the "eco-friendly cloud" algae blooms and doing away with some microbes and parasites. they are great reachable in ponds. some water scientific care centers (municipal water components) use them to filter out faucet water! Your blue easy on the suited of your aquarium is maximum with the help of no skill a UV easy. that's in uncomplicated terms a blue easy, or actinic bulb. you will possibly comprehend in case you had one because it may well be a cylinder with a great bright inner easy hooked as much as a water pump on your tank and fee you $a hundred+ ;) What parasite do you have and what scientific care? Did you get rid of the carbon (chemical filtration)? Did you do a water substitute first to improve water high quality and facilitate healing?

Answer 6

anything over a 75 gallon tank should have a UV sterilizer its not needed all the time but its always good to have it plumed in from the start. you also need a protein skimmer, good lighting and a heater depending on where you live.( if its cold a lot you need one if you live in Florida you only need one if you like your house to feel like an igloo)

Answer 7

arrrg
ok like I always say get a good book or two or three and read up on it ..in the long run you will save alot of work and heartache on fish...take it slow and learn .
I congrat you on a big tank the bigger the less problems you'd have.
Bigger does not mean alot of fish they have a ratio on fish per gallon or surface space also don't skimp on a filter or two ...just get a good book on the subject and read read read!!!!.
For the beginner I'd say keep it simple

Answer 8

What you need with an aquarium depends on the type... saltwater or freshwater, and the fish you will keep. WetWebMedia.com is a great resource for information on tank setup.