Do UV sterilizers substantially reduce risk associated with adding new fish
without quarantining them first?

I would say yes, because IME, the main risk is ich, and UV sterilizers are
effective against ich. Not sure how effective they are against bacterial or
viral diseases, but those usually aren't much of a problem if your fish are
healthy.

What are the implications for plant
nutrients? I hear the UV energy can oxidize, and a presume render
plant-unusable, some key nutrients. Is this a manageable problem?

The effect is minor. Hydroponics growers use UV sterilizers all the time, and
they don't have any problem.




Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Do UV sterilizers substantially reduce risk associated with adding new fish
without quarantining them first?

I would say yes, because IME, the main risk is ich, and UV sterilizers are
effective against ich. Not sure how effective they are against bacterial or
viral diseases, but those usually aren't much of a problem if your fish are
healthy.

What are the implications for plant
nutrients? I hear the UV energy can oxidize, and a presume render
plant-unusable, some key nutrients. Is this a manageable problem?

The effect is minor. Hydroponics growers use UV sterilizers all the time, and
they don't have any problem.




Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Thanks. I know you had indicated that you use one. Do you have it running
still ?

Have you seen the book by P.R. Escobal, called Aquatic Systems Engineering?
It has a couple of chapters on the use of UV sterilizers, and the required
"zap" doses for different organisms.

-Bruce
I
"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
Do UV sterilizers substantially reduce risk associated with adding new
fish
without quarantining them first?

I would say yes, because IME, the main risk is ich, and UV sterilizers are
effective against ich. Not sure how effective they are against bacterial
or
viral diseases, but those usually aren't much of a problem if your fish
are
healthy.

What are the implications for plant
nutrients? I hear the UV energy can oxidize, and a presume render
plant-unusable, some key nutrients. Is this a manageable problem?

The effect is minor. Hydroponics growers use UV sterilizers all the time,
and
they don't have any problem.




Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Thanks. I know you had indicated that you use one. Do you have it running
still ?

Have you seen the book by P.R. Escobal, called Aquatic Systems Engineering?
It has a couple of chapters on the use of UV sterilizers, and the required
"zap" doses for different organisms.

-Bruce
I
"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
Do UV sterilizers substantially reduce risk associated with adding new
fish
without quarantining them first?

I would say yes, because IME, the main risk is ich, and UV sterilizers are
effective against ich. Not sure how effective they are against bacterial
or
viral diseases, but those usually aren't much of a problem if your fish
are
healthy.

What are the implications for plant
nutrients? I hear the UV energy can oxidize, and a presume render
plant-unusable, some key nutrients. Is this a manageable problem?

The effect is minor. Hydroponics growers use UV sterilizers all the time,
and
they don't have any problem.




Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Thanks. I know you had indicated that you use one. Do you have it running
still ?

Yes. Mainly because I'm too lazy to remove it. :-)

I am thinking about taking it out, since it's one more thing to clean/maintain.
And I'm reaching the end of the recommended life of the bulb.

Have you seen the book by P.R. Escobal, called Aquatic Systems Engineering?
It has a couple of chapters on the use of UV sterilizers, and the required
"zap" doses for different organisms.

Haven't read the book, but I've heard that ich is one of the most difficult
organisms to kill. OTOH, they don't breed as fast as bacteria, so maybe flow
rate counts more than dose, in some cases?






Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Thanks. I know you had indicated that you use one. Do you have it running
still ?

Yes. Mainly because I'm too lazy to remove it. :-)

I am thinking about taking it out, since it's one more thing to clean/maintain.
And I'm reaching the end of the recommended life of the bulb.

Have you seen the book by P.R. Escobal, called Aquatic Systems Engineering?
It has a couple of chapters on the use of UV sterilizers, and the required
"zap" doses for different organisms.

Haven't read the book, but I've heard that ich is one of the most difficult
organisms to kill. OTOH, they don't breed as fast as bacteria, so maybe flow
rate counts more than dose, in some cases?






Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

The table does not list ick specifically, though it lists protozoa, which is
what (I think) ick would be. (Anyone know for sure?) Zap doses are
measured in microwatt-sec/cm^2. For protozoa, the dose is 200,000, bacteria
zap doses are typically 10 % of that, or around 20,000, depending on the
type of bacteria. Some types of Mold are the hardest to kill, requiring
more than 330,000 microwatts-sec/cm^2.

FYI, Escobal describes methods for calculating zap dose as a function of how
long the sterilizer has been running in your tank. (I.e., size of your
tank, size of your sterilizer, etc, all figure in.) I am still reading..

Since I do not have a hospital tank set up, and do not really want to get
one going, I thought this might be an alternative to quarantining. Sounds
like you have not had an ick outbreak since installing yours.. That is
hopeful.

BTW, how much maintenance is involved? Maybe it would just be easier for me
to set up a hospital tank..

-Bruce Geist


"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I know you had indicated that you use one. Do you have it
running
still ?

Yes. Mainly because I'm too lazy to remove it. :-)

I am thinking about taking it out, since it's one more thing to
clean/maintain.
And I'm reaching the end of the recommended life of the bulb.

Have you seen the book by P.R. Escobal, called Aquatic Systems
Engineering?
It has a couple of chapters on the use of UV sterilizers, and the
required
"zap" doses for different organisms.

Haven't read the book, but I've heard that ich is one of the most
difficult
organisms to kill. OTOH, they don't breed as fast as bacteria, so maybe
flow
rate counts more than dose, in some cases?






Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

The table does not list ick specifically, though it lists protozoa, which is
what (I think) ick would be. (Anyone know for sure?) Zap doses are
measured in microwatt-sec/cm^2. For protozoa, the dose is 200,000, bacteria
zap doses are typically 10 % of that, or around 20,000, depending on the
type of bacteria. Some types of Mold are the hardest to kill, requiring
more than 330,000 microwatts-sec/cm^2.

FYI, Escobal describes methods for calculating zap dose as a function of how
long the sterilizer has been running in your tank. (I.e., size of your
tank, size of your sterilizer, etc, all figure in.) I am still reading..

Since I do not have a hospital tank set up, and do not really want to get
one going, I thought this might be an alternative to quarantining. Sounds
like you have not had an ick outbreak since installing yours.. That is
hopeful.

BTW, how much maintenance is involved? Maybe it would just be easier for me
to set up a hospital tank..

-Bruce Geist


"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I know you had indicated that you use one. Do you have it
running
still ?

Yes. Mainly because I'm too lazy to remove it. :-)

I am thinking about taking it out, since it's one more thing to
clean/maintain.
And I'm reaching the end of the recommended life of the bulb.

Have you seen the book by P.R. Escobal, called Aquatic Systems
Engineering?
It has a couple of chapters on the use of UV sterilizers, and the
required
"zap" doses for different organisms.

Haven't read the book, but I've heard that ich is one of the most
difficult
organisms to kill. OTOH, they don't breed as fast as bacteria, so maybe
flow
rate counts more than dose, in some cases?






Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

The table does not list ick specifically, though it lists protozoa, which is
what (I think) ick would be. (Anyone know for sure?)

Yes, ich is a protozoan.

Since I do not have a hospital tank set up, and do not really want to get
one going, I thought this might be an alternative to quarantining. Sounds
like you have not had an ick outbreak since installing yours.. That is
hopeful.

I haven't had any problems with ich since the UV sterilizer was installed. It
was great, especially when first stocking the tank. I could add in a few new
fish each week, gradually buidling up the stock...which would be a real pain if
I had to worry about ich.

BTW, how much maintenance is involved? Maybe it would just be easier for me
to set up a hospital tank..

Not much, really. The main pain is the powerhead that runs it. I have a
sponge prefilter on it that needs to be cleaned every week, and I take it apart
and clean the impeller assembly maybe every other week.

Algae grows in the hoses, so they need to be cleaned every once in awhile.

The sterilizer itself...that really depends on which model you buy. With some,
you have to clean the sleeve over the bulb. Others have a device built in that
lets you clean the sleeve without taking the unit off the tank. I have a
Custom Sealife; they use a material that supposedly never needs cleaning.

The bulb itself needs to be replaced, every six months to a year, depending on
what kind you get.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

The table does not list ick specifically, though it lists protozoa, which is
what (I think) ick would be. (Anyone know for sure?)

Yes, ich is a protozoan.

Since I do not have a hospital tank set up, and do not really want to get
one going, I thought this might be an alternative to quarantining. Sounds
like you have not had an ick outbreak since installing yours.. That is
hopeful.

I haven't had any problems with ich since the UV sterilizer was installed. It
was great, especially when first stocking the tank. I could add in a few new
fish each week, gradually buidling up the stock...which would be a real pain if
I had to worry about ich.

BTW, how much maintenance is involved? Maybe it would just be easier for me
to set up a hospital tank..

Not much, really. The main pain is the powerhead that runs it. I have a
sponge prefilter on it that needs to be cleaned every week, and I take it apart
and clean the impeller assembly maybe every other week.

Algae grows in the hoses, so they need to be cleaned every once in awhile.

The sterilizer itself...that really depends on which model you buy. With some,
you have to clean the sleeve over the bulb. Others have a device built in that
lets you clean the sleeve without taking the unit off the tank. I have a
Custom Sealife; they use a material that supposedly never needs cleaning.

The bulb itself needs to be replaced, every six months to a year, depending on
what kind you get.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/