All my tanks plumbed together, should I get a UV sterilizer?

[Anonymous]

With the new house, all but one ofmy tanks will be plumbed together and share a common refugium. Should I get a UV sterilizer for this system? They will be mostly reef tanks, with a few fish only. I'll have a UV on my 110 gallon titan trigger tank, but that will be in the living room and not the 'fish room' of the house. Should I put one on? Would it be better for or detrimental to the system?

Any thoughts and explanations why would be appreciated. Thanks.

Peace,

Chip

 

[SteveP]

IMHO, if you haven't had the need for one so far, i.e. your tanks seem to be healthy, plumbing them together shouldn't pose any new health issues as long as you can keep the water quality high. UV does kill parasites, but only water-borne ones. Ich in particular tends to stay at the bottom of the tank, in the sand and on rocks, so you'll never completely rid the tank of it as long as there are fish in it. UV also kills the good citters floating around.

Steve
8{I

 

[Jawbone]

I assume you have at least one Quarantine tank that you will be keeping separate for you new fish to live in for a couple of months so you dont accidently infect your inhabitants.
I run UV on my tanks but have not added anything to my tank for five months or so so I could probably turn it off.
If I was going to purchase a new coral or fish I would make sure my UV was on. If it gives me a false sense of security then so be it.

I know that there are a lot of reef tanks out there with UV systems in place and running 7/24 with no ill effects.

There are also alot of people that will say that they are an unneeded product for your tank. since they kill micro-organisms that our corals and other inhabitants feed on.

To come out and say that they are absolutley bad seems silly, when so many reef systems have them running and our reefs are growing and propogating just as expected.

If I was in your position and stocking a new system. I would do what I could to prevent infection to my new inhabitants.