UV vs. Algae

[Pipe_Organ]

First I want to apologize if this subject has been discussed already. I was wondering if UV would kill or slow down certain types of algae ie: Bubble. If so, do I need a plumbers license to hook one up? Could I hook it up to circulate in the sump rather than the tank?

[Craig Manoukian]

I don't believe UV kills algea. Water born pathogens are toasted by UV and other than that I'm not sure.

[Jason McKenzie]

Craig is correct. UV will not help with Algae
UV killes perisites and microbs. Some of which are not bad in a reef tank.
There has been debate for some time as to whether UV should be used in a REEf tank. My opinion is no.

J

[Craig Manoukian]

Thanks J!

[Pipe_Organ]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

[mojoreef]

Actually UV sterilizers are very effective at removing algae from a system.UV exposure for waterborne algae is 22,000 µW-sec/cm2 is very attainable on most models of hobby grade UV's. It will kill both free floating algae and the spores released by all macro's, its also a great tool in the battle against diatoms to.
If yu couple that with the fact that it will kill pathogenic bacteria, protozoa's and a whole host of viruses. or me anyway its a big plus for any system.


Mike

[NUGIO]

I was also under that impression Mojo that it will help w/algea removal.it will also kill beneficial orginisms as well so you may not want to run it 24/7 but only when you have an outbreak of either

[mojoreef]

NUGIO I guess that is the part folks seem to be torn bewteen. The what about the good stuff.
I will give you my opinion, for whatever it may be worth. In the world of bacteria, most of what we know as beneficial bacteria are going to be associated with various environments within the tank. All of your denitrifying bacteria will be in the anaerobic zones within either your sand bed or your live rock, so they will not be affected by any UV. Your nitrifing bacteria will be in the shallow depths and surfaces of your live rock and live sand. These bacteria are usually held in place by the enzymes and the microbial bonds they create with the surfaces they inhabit. Now if you have detritus/organics floating through your system they will also be covered with this type of bacteria and it happens to pass through the UV they will be killed. But now if you really think about that, that is a great method of exportation. The bacteria are removing nutrients such as phosphate and nitrogen from the detritus/organics and their removal from the system is a positive step in exportation instead of allowing them just to die eventually in the tank releasing everything back in. Pods worms and other similar size creatures will not be killed by a UV sterilizer. So no worries with them. Most of your larva, protozoa, zooplankton stay within the confines of the sand or live rock, as moving from these locations is certain death by preditation, so again the possibility is there but probably not very likely.
A UV sterilizer will kill most microscopic life forms that happened to be floating in water column, this would include an amount of planktonic life, some protozoa's (a alot of these are infectious), some larva that may have broken away from their refuge and have not been eaten by a predator yet, free-floating algae such as phytoplankton, free-floating algal spores, parasites, parasitic protozoa and a few others.
I think Nugio if you really break it down and have an understanding of the environments that most beneficial creatures have it tends to tip the scales toward the use of UV. This becomes quite a reality when your corals get a bacterial infection, or jelly type diseases, or algae blooms, or the fish get ICH, or velvet or other similar diseases.

For me anyway the small sacrifice of losing a few of the good does not away the safety of a Texteradicating the many bad. Anyway I just wanted to give you a look from a slightly different angle on the use of a UV sterilizer.

Take care

Mike

[Pipe_Organ]

Thanks to you both for your input. That being said, is a UV easy to install and can I circulate it in my sump or do I have to hook it up directly to the main tank?

[mojoreef]

You can hook it up to your sump, just draw i water from the entry chambe of the sump and dump it back into the chamber closest to the exit point.


Mike