After my bout with ich, I'm doing whatever I can to keep my tank in as best of a condition as possible. I'm wondering, is UV sterilization a good option? If so, are there any compatibility issues at all with it?
UV Sterilization
- Thread starter thegreatpablo
- Start date
I have heard that they are good but I think they are expensive. If you have the money then get it but I know heaps of people who don't use them.
They are not reccomened for reef tanks, they kill benificial microbes. Quarantining is probably the best way to deal with ich and other diseases. I have heard of some people that have run them successfully on reefs tanks but I wouldn't reccomend them for a reef tank. On the other hand if you have a FO or FOWLR it would do great job of killing free floating bacteria, algea, and parisites.
Well, kind of. The problem with a UV is that it can't process all the water at once, so there's always a chance that something will escape. Plus, they are fussy to setup and require frequent maintenance and bulb changes to remain effective. Careful buying practices, good quarantine, and regular maintenance is more effective at preventing diseases, IMO. Even in a FO tank, they will reduce the diversity of beneficial bacteria and micro fauna.
Orion Girl is right about the maintenance, quarantine, and purchusing quality fish from conscientious suppliers as the best way to prevent disease. I was just saying if you are set on getting a UV sterilizer they would be more benificial in a FO or FOWLR than a Reef tank.
On that note, about buying from good suppliers, has anyone had any experience, good or bad, with buying from liveaquaria.com? They seem to be rather knowledgeable and have a lot of good info on their site. . .but that's where I bought my hippo tang and lost him 2 days later. 
I called them today about the hippo tang and explained the ich situation. They said that since I lost him within just a few days of getting him, they would go ahead and provide me with a credit for the amount of the fish, so I'm going to hold off on the tang for a while until I've ran my tank successfully for a while and work on my wish list, which I've posted on this forum as well.