UV Sterilizers?

Question

My discus tank has just become infected with ich after introducing a new fish. I'm treating it but I'd like to completely prevent this from happening again.
Would adding a UV sterilizer to the tank accomplish this? Are there any negative effects associated with it? I don't know much about them, but I thought it kills all the bacteria. I have a Fluval filter with bioballs in it, so the UV shouldn't kill any of the bacteria that is living in there, right?

Could anyone recommend a good sterilizer? It is for a 55 gallon tank.

Answer 1

A UV won't help as much as a quarantine tank. This way you can keep new fish separated until you're sure they're healthy and don't have to continually treat the other discus each time you add a sick fish.

UV units are good for some things, and are overrated for others by people who sometimes don't understand how they work. UV causes the DNA in an organism to mutate (same way UV from the sun may cause mutations that lead to skin cancer). These mutations can cause defects that kill the organism, or at least prevents it from reproducing.

The unit is outside your tank, and water is pumped (or fed by gravity) through it. How effectively it causes mutations depends on the size of the organisms (the smaller it is, the more chance it will be affected), the clarity of the water, the flow rate (the slower it is, the longer the organism will be exposed), and the size/wattage of the unit. Effectiveness also depends on the organism travelling through the tubing TO the UV unit. So parasites attached to your fish, algae attached to objects in your tank, or organisms that can avoid being caught by the intake won't be exposed to the UV. UVs work best with free-floating forms of algae and bacteria.

The bacteria you have in the Fluval bioballs, and in your gravel (the kind associated with cycling the nitrogen products) colonizes surfaces, so relatively few will be affected by using the UV. But the ich parasite tends to attach to the fish, and the stages off the fish tend to occur in the gravel. So adding a UV may not be able to pass all of the parasites through the radiation, so it won't kill all of the parasites. And as parasites go, ich is fairly large, so one pass through the unit may not do the trick.

When you consider the cost of the UV unit, and needing to replace the lamp on a yearly basis, it's not the most cost-effective control. A 10 gallon tank (or the minimum size needed for the size of discus you're buying), small filter and heater are all that are needed for holding the fish 1-3 weeks before you add it to the tank will probably be less in the long run. It also allows your new fish to become accustomed to your water conditions, and the food you provide before having to compete against the other fish.

I'll post a link for you with additional info:

http://americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumUVSterilization.html

Answer 2

You will never be able to ensure that it never happens again. You can only minimize the risk by getting yourself a quarantine tank and making sure you aren't adding any sick fish. Put the fish in the temporary tank for a few weeks before adding him to the main tank.

UV Sterilizers work by taking in water and passing it in a spiral path around a UV Light (black light). The UV Radiation from the light will kill off microscopic organisms like bacteria, fungus, and algae. It then spits out the sterilized water into your tank. It will kill ich spores and spores of other diseases, but it has to pass through the sterilizer. It will not affect the bacteria in your filter or the bacteria in your gravel. It will only kill off free floating organisms that enter the sterilizer. Just like your filter wont filter out your gravel.

It's an excellent way to improve water quality and with the discus, I would heavily consider one, but it's not a end all answer.

Answer 3

UV sterizilier will kill all the bacteria they are mostly used in a saltwater tanks and koi ponds im not sure about discus