UV sterilizers, pros and cons?

[clint]

Anyone have any experience with them are they worth the investment? are they of any use against algae control? I notice if i keep up with my 50% weekly water changes algae stays in control, but is still present all the same. Be nice to have a algae free tank one day.

[Oldfish]

I have used UV lights on my koi pond for algae control and they work great.But they only kill algae that goes through them. The kind that can make your water turn green. For the algae that grows on surfaces within the tank they are useless

[zenins]

Yes the UV sterilizers are useful for algae control, but I use one on my most stocked tank to eliminate bacteria/parasites/fungus problems.

I used to have a disease outbreak every 3 or 4 months, despite regular partial water changes.
After a major die off of fish, I checked out some UV options.
Since installing a UV sterilizer a few years ago, no problems at all

Here is an article I wrote some time ago for my club newsletter:
http://www.kwas.ca/Articles/uv.pdf

[glenna]

some people feel like a UV sterilizer might mask a low grade problem, but I really love mine. I remove them, or turn them off for periods of time to see if any illness "erupts" but have not had that happen thus far.
I KNOW it saved my loaches during an ich outbreak when I had done EVERY treatment I could think of, and they were still fading. Then, I added a UV sterilizer and it must have zapped the free swimming stage. That, along with continued medication, heat up, etc, gave them the edge they needed.
Also had a little bit of a green water issue in my 29 gallon planted and added in a small UV sterilizer. Within 24 hours crystal clear water.
Lastly, added one to my 75 gallon as I just couldn't seem to get the water clarity I wanted despite a good canister filter so I added a submariner 9V and the tank is really clear now. OF course, you still have to do your weekly water changes and regular tank maintenance stuff, but I am a UV sterilizer fan, for sure. Getting ready to add one to my 125 gallon once I can come up with the funds (alas, good ones are not cheap, but I guess you already knew that!)

[clint]

Yes, i've priced them. I have 2 marineland 350magnum cans running my 90G. I'm pretty good about my WCs 50% every week to 10 days, i still have algae problems and the clarity is not the greatest. But it is a planted tank that i have lost alot of plants in, the bo's and loaches seem to have found alot of them edible. So i think alot of my issues has been due to organic waste from plants and algae outbreaks here and there. A planted tank is such a fine balance it seems sometimes. I'm a relative newbie, only been doing this aquarium thing for a year and a half now. The 90g is almost a year old and i had the 20g setup before that. I'm still debating on the UV thing, might have to give one a try and see if it doesn't help with the algae issues.

[Diana]

I run a UV on a quarantine tank if I am at all suspicious about the origins of a fish, and of course at the first sign of Ich.

I do not run one all the time on any tank. Even the Q-tank will get UV for only a week, then I turn it off to allow potential problems to surface.

[zenins]

I run my UV sterilizer with a timer for 12 hour periods.

That way the UV bulb lasts twice a s long, 24 months instead of 12 months.

I don't think the UV has to be running continuously in an aquarium, like it has to for a drinking water supply line