Will a UV sterilizer defeat the purpose of a refugium

[BioMan]

Hello,
My first post, I have been keeping a healthy 29 gallon BioCube for a few months and there are a few fish and sps coral in there. I have recently removed the bio balls and placed sand,crushed coral,live rock frags and an assortment of macroalgae. My question is will a UV sterilizer be useful to me?
Water parameters tested by me and my LFS have been consistantly good I have an ulltra fine white sandbed that gets algae. Also would this eliminate the need for snails? Why did they invent this thing?!?!

 

[duromega]

welcome to Manhattan reefs

UV sterilizer kills floating bacterias
I won't defeat the purpose of a refugium
and it won't eliminate the need for snails

:wineglass

 

[edd]

welcome, i read it will kill pods and to me that is one purpose of a fuge.
is this a sump sectioned off or just a fuge?

 

[BioMan]

Thanks Duromega,
Edd, I dont know if I did it correctly, but I turned off the pump, removed the bio balls from the middle chamber and stocked it with everything I listed above. I attempted to build a fuge. I hope I did.

 

[edd]

Thanks Duromega,
Edd, I dont know if I did it correctly, but I turned off the pump, removed the bio balls from the middle chamber and stocked it with everything I listed above. I attempted to build a fuge. I hope I did.

it sounds like you did it right. i assume you have a 3 section sump, skimmer, fuge and return.
i don't think many use uv myself included. hopefully someone who uses one will chime in.

 

[BioMan]

Me too. ..

 

[KathyC]

IMO UV lights aren't a good mix with SW tanks as they kill both good & bad bacteria, while we all work towards developing bacteria in our tanks, especially in the first year the tank is set up.

What water parameters is your LFS testing for you? (you really should have your own kits)

You could have algae for a number of different reasons, a new tank still going through algae cycles, a water parameter that you aren't testing for that is off, not using rodi water (are you?), leaving your lights on for too long a time period....

If possible, can you post a pic of the sump?

 

[BioMan]

Kathy I have no sump only decided to use the middle chamber of my bio cube as a refugium. I have my own testing kit for Marine as well as reef plus I double check with my local fish store at least every other week.
I need a case in point type of answer or Marine biologist opinion.

 

[BioMan]

I also own a hydrometer and my specific gravity is consistently 1.026

 

[albano]

I need a case in point type of answer or Marine biologist opinion.

Maybe we should move this thread to the chemistry forum, for an 'expert' opinion..

 

[don]

the UV is ok to use but it depends upon wattage /flow rate on a tank that small minimum wattage is recommended I would not exceed 15 watts prefer 8 Watts if you balance the throughput it will help to manage your living microbial water quality so if you should choose to feed more heavily you can without threat of adverse spikes ie bacteria bloom, try to understand that your individual tank components and species kept must be all considered and balanced UV simply kills but some pods always manage to survive in a healthy established system I would not recommend using a UV unless the system is at least 6 months old

 

[jadakiss]

In my opinion its a waste of equipment to have

 

[Ariel110G]

in my opinion its a waste of equipment to have

+1

 

[BioMan]

I decided to opt out of that for now since I have made the middle chamber a refugium. Instead I placed a protein skimmer since I'm growing fish and coral. Thank you everybody who replied.

 

[duromega]

in my opinion its a waste of equipment to have

2+

 

[d5332]

wonder why pet stores still use UV filters then.

I am not going to pretend to be an expert but the UV's when properly used do serve a valuable purpose.

No it will not make your tank shinier
No it will not rid your tank of ich
no it will not prevent ich

It will aid in many diferent things when used properly and no it will not make a system crash due to its sterilization effects.

 

[CleanYourTank11]

IMO UVs are only worth it and work properly when you match your flow rate through the unit properly. If not you will either kill too much bacteria including beneficial or not enough and then it's basically pointless. Personally I try to have one hooked up with the proper sized pump and only run if I feel it's necessary.