almost got it all :)

[fiorano]

so the only things i need for my sps tank are a calcium reactor and a uv sterilizer. ( i know that people always say there almost done lol) anyway i know what im getting for a calcium reactor but i dont know where to start with a uv sterilizer. i have a 150 gallon system and any suggestions would be appreciated :)

[o.c.d.]

I suggest not putting one in your system. Do more research and you'll find many more advanced aquarist that will agree.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

My wife & I love ick-magnet fish like Powder Blue tangs & Porcupine puffers. I have an 80w UV on my reef & a 40w UV on my fowlr/softie tank. Helps keep the ick under control enough for our ick-magnets to fight it off.

Anthony

[o.c.d.]

They fry beneficial bacterial and plankton populations in your tank Furthermore they can raise the Temp of you tank. Don't get me wrong they do sterilize the water and reduce pathogens but all the water in the tank would have to pass through it and that just doesn't happen. Leaving refuge areas for reproduction of pathogens ect. If proper water quality is maintained and you try to buy fish that are healthy. IMO a UV unit is not needed.

[i have crabs]

buy a qt tank instead of a uv

[Skimmerking]

buy a qt tank instead of a uv
+1 on that but however, when you get a fish like smaller angels and tangs like powder blues and browns, they usally the first time being shipped that is it they will keep getting it. once that fish is in your tank you have icvk and the only way to rid the tank of ick is the way Lance did it 6 weeks with no fish. to kill off the free floater pests that attach to the fish. Feeding garlic will only cause the ick pests to drop off the fish but they still will live on the bottom waiting for the next fish to appear at night usually that is how it happens. cleaner wrasses are great forthat taking rid of the pests and shrimps too.

but the best way is the 6week method

[fiorano]

allrighty thanks for the advice guys. i was just gonna get one because i though you were supposed to in an sps tank. but if i dont need it that just saves me money :)

[globaldesigns]

Well, I have to disagree to a point...

I have the corallife 36 watt in my reef tank and everything is actually doing better, fish and coral... I had way too much plankton happening and I couldn't get rid of the last of any algae.

Now in saying this, I run ZEOVIT, the UV has actually helped me to get my tank to a zero nutrient environment. And now the ZEOVIT is really starting to kick in.

I guess it all depends on what you are doing. Good luck

[Myka]

Now in saying this, I run ZEOVIT, the UV has actually helped me to get my tank to a zero nutrient environment. And now the ZEOVIT is really starting to kick in.

I guess it all depends on what you are doing. Good luck

Sorry, I have to correct this. If your tank was zero nutrient it would die. ZEOvit encourages low nutrient tanks. :)

UV sterilizers have their place, which imo is generally on a quarantine tank. In order to kill pathogens though, the wattage has to be much higher than most people think, and the length of exposure needs to be longer as well. For these reasons, UV sterilizers are usually only good for killing algae which is more sensitive.

On a QT I like to run a UV wattage that is 10x the capacity of the tank. So for a 30 gallon QT, get something close to 30w, then have 3x the wattage for turnover, so in this case about 90 gph. I wouldn't recommend this for a display though, it would kill too much beneficial "stuff".

[globaldesigns]

The objective with Zeo is a low nutrient system, so sorry, I didn't reread my post. Zero is very hard to achieve, so low nutrient is always the goal.

Also with Zeovit systems, especially with Europeans, the common is 2 protein skimmers and UV. I am running the same configurations as the europeans and tend to follow their directions more as they seem to have a longer and much more experience with this type of system than North Americans.

Fiorano, my advice to you would be to ask others, but with all the information you get, you then have to make your own decisions. Everyone has different points of view, but it will be up to you to what you wish to do. I have found alot of good advice from others that may have saved me money and time, but I do know that some things I do others would hang me for it. What I have done has worked for me, it may not work for others.

Good luck, but more importantly have FUN!!!

[fiorano]

thanks :)

[Jason McK]

Well, I have to disagree to a point...

I have the corallife 36 watt in my reef tank and everything is actually doing better, fish and coral... I had way too much plankton happening and I couldn't get rid of the last of any algae.

Now in saying this, I run ZEOVIT, the UV has actually helped me to get my tank to a zero nutrient environment. And now the ZEOVIT is really starting to kick in.

I guess it all depends on what you are doing. Good luck

If your running Zeovit and a UV, your UV is killing the beneficial bacteria you pay so much for in the ZeoBac. You should really stop the UV ASAP

[subman]

If your running Zeovit and a UV, your UV is killing the beneficial bacteria you pay so much for in the ZeoBac. You should really stop the UV ASAP

Yeah that's what I thought!

[o.c.d.]

I remember reading that in the Zeovit Guide when I researched for a friend. Ya page 14 of 25 Highlighted " We would like to emphasize that the use of Ozone or UV sterilizers are not possible with this system. The added microorganisms and elements will be destroyed by its use."...... Must be the North American Version the much more experienced Europeans must have tougher microorganisms that can withstand UV. Isn't learning FUN

[globaldesigns]

As done by others on a site of the same name as the product (sorry cannot post urls to other forumns), others with Zeo that do use Zeobac have had success with UV usage. What they do is tend to turn off the UV for 1-3 hours when ZeoBac is added. (I will state that there are mixed reviews, but again it is being done)

Here is a quote from that site from a well regard ZeoHead and Admin for this ZEO site:

"Hi (name removed), you can use it temporary, just switch off the UV for about 1 hour after you have dosed ZeoBac."

Now this is what I can tell you has happened with UV and Zeovit. Before UV I had a plankton issue, I had alot and the fish loved it, but I didn't because it also assisted to some algae development and green water. Also I had some coral tissue regression. Even with regular water changes and testing, my tank specs were within proper levels, but I did have this one issue. Since adding the UV, the plankton issue is gone, algae on back wall also almost gone, water is clear and coral has taken off . Yes... the coral is growing quite aggressively. (My tank is majority SPS)

So in my case UV is working even with ZEO...

Remember the main purpose to forums, they are not just for the basics, without some expirementation there isn't any progression in the hobby. Remember others in the past have done things that they got bashed for and today what they did may be a standard practice. This is for many things in life so again remember the purpose of forums, if they are the same blah blah blah from everyone then what is the point.

Have fun all!!!

[Jason McK]

Sorry but the object of Zeovit is to create an active bacteria culture in your Tank to elliminate nutrients in the system.
The purpose of a UV sterilizer is to kill Bacteria.

Those are the basic functions. they simple can not exist together in the same system.

J

[globaldesigns]

Another reason I lurk and don't post much, this forum doesn't have too many positives.

It doesn't really matter, I have a beautiful tank and that is all that counts.

Admin, time to lock this thread

[Jason McK]

My intention was not to offend.
Just pass on knowledge

J

[Myka]

Another reason I lurk and don't post much, this forum doesn't have too many positives.

I really don't know why so many people say this. Imo, you see what you want to. There isn't anything negative about sharing information. What a lot of people forget is that so much is lost in translation when people type that you often can't get a grasp for someone's intentions. People are so quick to ask for their threads to be locked when the discussion doesn't go the way they want it to, why not just quit looking? That's what I do! :lol:

On topic...UV does definitely help with green water issues. UV has it's place, but not in my tank! ;) I could see how UV and ZEO would work against eachother, and you would never be able to achieve the full impact of either, but do what works for you. Maybe sometime in the future when your nutrients are low enough you will be able to do away with the UV.

[globaldesigns]

Maybe sometime in the future when your nutrients are low enough you will be able to do away with the UV.

Myka says something I agree with... Yes, the goal is to eventually turn off or use sparingly. Currently I am only cycling it on when the ZeoReactor isn't (every 3 hours). I am having very positive results, but as you said... hopefully will turn off or use only when needed. I should state it has only been 2 weeks with the UV on, with the results I am getting maybe only another week or so and I will be where I want.

I tend to only lurk here because to many people want to bash, not help (not just this thread but many others), people should ask why I am doing this and what are my results (maybe ask do you have before and after pics, I don't so don't ask, I should of though)... It is ok to have your opinion, but I find people too closed minded, their way or the highway. Again this is just my opinion.


Have fun all!!!

[Jason McK]

I find it very strange that you have taken such offense to my post that was intended to help save you frustration of dosing Zeobac (a live Bacteria) into your system and then having your UV sterilizer kill all the benefits of the ZeoBac.
In efforts to ensure I was not giving you false information I went to Zeovit.com to check my advise and sure enough http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15625 states the same thing I have said, Along with page 15 of the ZeoGuide
There is no Bashing in my statements or closed mindedness.

J

[fkshiu]

I tend to only lurk here because to many people want to bash, not help (not just this thread but many others), people should ask why I am doing this and what are my results (maybe ask do you have before and after pics, I don't so don't ask, I should of though)... It is ok to have your opinion, but I find people too closed minded, their way or the highway. Again this is just my opinion.

Canreef is like a tripped out hippie commune compared to places like Reef Central.

[globaldesigns]

Canreef is like a tripped out hippie commune compared to places like Reef Central.

HEHE...

Jason, I don't really take offense... I just find that people are one minded... If you went to zeovit.com like you said, you would also see people are doing what I am doing (but you just want to prove your point and keep it to standards, these standards I do know also)... As I stated, what I am doing is working for me, and it isn't a permament thing. I know what zeovit is and what each dose does, I am not STUPID (Zeovit is expensive and I don't want to waste money, with a 300gallon total system it gets expensive), but when you are given a situation you need to look at it and decide how to approach things.

I find with this forum, if it isn't in the book, sorry can't be done. Like I said, sometimes you have to think outside the box.

I think we should end this... no reason to discuss further... I wish everyone the best and again let's have fun!!!

[albert_dao]

There is occassional cause to supplement the use of Zeovit with sterilization methods such as UV or Ozone, one of them being in the advent of a bacterial bloom from overdose of Start2...

By far and large though, it's completely unnecessary once you hit phase 2/3.

[Nate]

Good old canreef...this is the classic canreef thread

My input would be that the zeo bac would be made less efficient if used with a uv, becasue a UV is used to kill single cell algae and bacteria that flow through it. Thus, if you turn off the UV for a bit after dosing zeobac, or, didn't dose the zeobac into the feed pump of the UV, you would probably be ok, as the zeobac would be able to settle in the zeo rector.

That being said, generally the tanks that run zeo have that stupid fuzzy fine algae and the UV would do absolutely nothing for this.

Wost case setups would be where you would use the same feed pump for the UV and the zeo reactor and everything that goes in the zeo reactor flows first through the UV.

I think you are probably fine running both, but often times a UV is not the most necessary at all time of the aquarium process...that being said, either is zeo...

[shrimpchips]

Sorry but the object of Zeovit is to create an active bacteria culture in your Tank to elliminate nutrients in the system.
The purpose of a UV sterilizer is to kill Bacteria.

Those are the basic functions. they simple can not exist together in the same system.

J

The amount of bacteria in the water column in negligible compared to the bacteria that colonizes every other surface in the aquarium (think live rock). Hence bacteria on the rock will never be killed by the UV sterilizer.

It's entirely possible and more likely probable that the bacteria that gets added gets a chance (in the hour or so of no UV) to settle on a hard surface and is proliferating and active there.

[Myka]

I can see where globaldesigns is coming from. I can see where the UV could help him (guessing here?) with his current setup. The bacteria that ZEObac puts into the water column should be colonizing the live rock and sand in much higher concentrations than the water column anyway, so using UV with ZEObac will inhibit it to a certain extent, but it definitely wouldn't compromise it to any huge extent provided the UV is turned off for awhile (I would guess that 2-3 hours would be sufficient, but I'm taking an "educated guess") just after dosing the ZEObac. I would bet that you could find people discussing this on the ZEOvit forums. This is the same philosophy that water changes during the cycle won't inhibit the cycle at all. [If you care to read more about that, I go over it in the cycling article in my signature.]

And he IS right, too many people think the book is the only way. Personally, I like to suggest "the book" method (haha) to newbies, so they have a base to start from that helps them along. I certainly don't follow the book all the time, but mostly I do because hey, it usually works. There is no way to expand knowledge if everyone is doing the exact same thing.

Albeit, I am far more closed-minded to things like keeping difficult species, which I think experimentation should be left to the pros where sucess is more likely.

[BlueAbyss]

Canreef is like a tripped out hippie commune compared to places like Reef Central.

Yes, rather than a university staff room (with it's plethora of 'professors' and 'experts').

I'm going to side with those that feel that the bacteria don't proliferate in the water column. If your tank is overstocked or has a high bioload, UV is probably best for the health of your fish... otherwise shouldn't really be needed. And UV makes your water nice and clear (when used with a skimmer).

[Aquattro]

And he IS right, too many people think the book is the only way. Personally, I like to suggest "the book" method (haha) to newbies, so they have a base to start from that helps them along.

There's a book?? Now you tell me!!

Seriously people, there was no bashing here, certainly nothing to close a thread about. There is generally a right(ish) way to do things, and that was all that was offered. If something different works for someone, well, that's awesome!
But, as Myka says, many people need to follow the "rules" when starting out, so clarifying what those are may help new people that get confused by the more experienced variants of any given method.

[globaldesigns]

Now this is turning good. See different views and ideas, not just bashing, this is good, we need more of this.

These are the types of threads I like reading and would be more than happy to post to. thanks to all that have posted their great thoughts and ideas.

We can all have our different views, but we still need to get along. Thanks all...

[Jason McK]

Sweet look a good descusion on the subject

Ameekplec makes a great point. I never thought of it that way. I guess I was only thinking of when you agitate the reactor and when you add the Bac. so when the Bac was free floating in the water.

[fiorano]

well now that everyone has said there part about canreef and this bashing i just wanted to say im so grateful for this thread. the majority of my reef tank knowledge stems from this forum and all of the helpful people here and how no one bashes noobs for asking simple questions. i just wanted to say thank you to all of the people in this thread who helped me out and everyone else o canreef :) ... much more polite than some other forums i know ... cough reefcentral cough haha