My pond is in full sun. I thought I was following all the no algae
principles but my water was usually very mucky; I would say green. I was
about to give up and buy a UV, but became suspicious when different folks
were posting about building a skippy filter and clearing their algae, which
I dont believe per se is possible. So I built a small skippy like
mechanical filter with small river rocks and a drain and it cleared in 2
days. I think, ecspecially as the season progresses some people (like me)
just have a lot more suspended debris gunk floating around in their water if
you dont have a decent mechanical filter. It your conditions are ripe for
algae growth live algae cells will slip through any filter. It would be a
shame to buy a uv and still have the same problem.

My conclusion about UV is that they are fine. If you dont want that, you
dont have to obscure all you fish for the high cover. The only down sides I
could find is 1)they typically flow much slower, which may cause you to
alter you pump/filter system and 2)Algae will tend to grow more if your fish
are producing too many nitrates. If you have a significant fish load you
may need to test your water more often for excessive nitrates, because you
do not have the 'natural' signal that you are overstocking or overfeeding.
If you decide to go UV my very unscientific observation was, (ecspecially on
the cheaper models), take the manufacturers claim for pond size and reduce
it by about 30-40 percent, particularly if you get lotsa direct sun to the
water and your pond is not deep.
HTH
Bill Brister - Austin, Texas

"Mostyn" wrote in message
...
Can anyone tell me what does a UV light actually do to the water & why do
you have to change the UV bulb/tube and how often do you have to change
the
bulb/tube.
Thanks
Mostyn

most people say they kill the algae, but my UV is too weak to do that and I have read
that UV damages the cell wall of algae so they clump together and get filtered out.
I dont change my bulb UNTIL it looks like it isnt handling the algae. actually, I
didnt change my first UV unit bulb at all. the wires rusted off (it was a used one
somebody gave me). the people who sell bulbs recommend replacing it every year, but
I think replacing it when it doesnt do the job is a cheaper idea.
Ingrid

"Mostyn" wrote:

Can anyone tell me what does a UV light actually do to the water & why do
you have to change the UV bulb/tube and how often do you have to change the
bulb/tube.
Thanks
Mostyn




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

In article ,
wrote:

most people say they kill the algae, but my UV is too weak to do that and I
have read
that UV damages the cell wall of algae so they clump together and get
filtered out.
I dont change my bulb UNTIL it looks like it isnt handling the algae.
actually, I
didnt change my first UV unit bulb at all. the wires rusted off (it was a
used one
somebody gave me). the people who sell bulbs recommend replacing it every
year, but
I think replacing it when it doesnt do the job is a cheaper idea.

Do you extend this idea to taking antibiotics ? Do you stop giving
them when your fish look better, despite the fact that the Rx says to
complete the entire regimen ?

This 'on-the-cheap' attitude has created many resistant strains that
were only inoculated rather than killed, only latter to kill. This is
a huge problem in the ornamental fish trade.

While most ponds only use UV for suspended algae, a very simple
organism... it can be used for higher parasitic organisms as well. UV
tolerance, is clearly an evolutionary adaptation.

I use UV as Rx'd, turn them off in winter and replace lamp in spring.

jay
Mon Aug 16, 2004




Ingrid

"Mostyn" wrote:

Can anyone tell me what does a UV light actually do to the water & why do
you have to change the UV bulb/tube and how often do you have to change the
bulb/tube.
Thanks
Mostyn




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.