ich on tang (new uv sterilizer)

maybe

I'd be interested to see a reference for that if someone has one. I tend to highly doubt that, usually immune function is fairly tied to the pathogenic insults in the environment. If there are not significant pathogens, for example, due to uv, then I would expect that the immune system would not develop as much and would not be as active "on-alert". So, I would think UV may actually reduce immune function, if it actually works well against common pathogens in our systems.

Did you know some studies show that over 50% of the population believes in ghosts

 

I'm sorry to correct you, but Ich takes the second largest dosage of UV to kill of all the common marine aquarium organisms (only the Costia parasite takes more). To put this in perspective, most UV sterilizers have a flow rate that is pegged to 15,000 mWS/cm2. This lets you know what flow you need to attach to the unit to get the dosage required to kill the organisms you're going after. The values below are the dosages required to kill various marine organisms:

Algae: 10,000 - 22,000
Common Aquarium Bacteria: 3,500 - 22,000
Most Viruses: 4,000 - 32,000
Fresh Water Ich: 100,000
Marine Velvet: 105,000

And finally...

Marine Ich: 280,000

If you assume that the Green Machine flow rate is pegged to 15,000 mWs/cm2 (I can't find any dosage info so let's go with this) at 100 gph, it would mean you'd have to run it at roughly 5gph to kill ich. Any higher than that and ich passing through the unit won't get enough of a dose to die. So if you want to run your tank volume through at even just once per hour you could put it on a 5 gallon tank and expect it to be only marginally effective at killing ich.

So yes, it takes a massive UV sterilizer to kill ich (at least in relation to tank volume). Even the 200W unit I'm running on my system would be only decent at killing the parasite. I've got it set now to kill marine velvet, and it's doing it quite well. Of course it cost me nearly $2000 to do so.

 

From a veterinarian and professor of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences:
FA164/FA164: Cryptocaryon irritans Infections (Marine White Spot Disease) in Fish

"Use of ultraviolet (UV) sterilization to kill theronts has been suggested, based on research involving Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (freshwater "ich"). The recommended UV dose for Ichthyophthirius theronts is 100,000 µWsec/cm2 (Hoffman 1974). However, UV doses required for Cryptocaryon irritans are anecdotal or extrapolated, and range from 280,000 µWsec/cm2 (industry numbers) to 800,000 µWsec/cm2 (Colorni and Burgess 1997).

Theronts must go through the UV sterilization unit in order to be exposed, so any theronts that are not exposed to UV radiation and remain in the tank or holding areas will be unaffected. Similarly, encysted tomonts within the tank or holding area will not be affected. "

 

You are correct.

Not a bad hypothesis, though immaterial if you're running UV in high enough dosage to kill the pathogens anyway

I run a massive UV sterilizer and I KNOW it is keeping my fish alive. Is it keeping them healthy? That depends on your definition of "healthy." It is not stopping them from getting the marine velvet that I know is in my tank. It is keeping them from getting it in sufficient numbers to cause the fish undue stress. So it is keeping them alive, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to say they are completely healthy.

And the moon landings were a hoax.

 

Never seen that 800,000 number before... sturdy little buggers.

Exactly... which is why you can never rid your tank of parasite via UV alone. UV can control the parasites by keeping them from reaching dramatically unhealthy proportions, but it can't realistically eliminate them.

I find myself compelled to try and set the record straight when I see UV sterilizer threads. There is so much mis-information floating around (much of it perpetuated by LFSs) and people are spending hard earned money on what amounts to an expensive placebo.

The bottom line is that UV can be an effective control of marine parasites when used at a correct dosage. The "correct dosage" part almost eliminates keeping ich in check for most systems, though, as I am finding, it is in the realm of feasibility for marine velvet, a disease I find to be far more nefarious and destructive than ich.

 

Oh man, I don't know why I have so much fun giving pink4miss a hard time ;D


As to the immune stuff, it's getting off topic, so, I'll keep it short. There is definitely evidence, that increasing immune response as a result of one pathogen, can prevent disease from others which are completely unrelated. On the other hand, if UV reduces pathogens in the water and these are the most common pathogens in our systems (I don't know this) then immune function may not be as active. If the organism fish/coral etc... is then exposed to a pathogen that is say benthic, so not reduced by uv, I could guess that that pathogen may be more likely to result in disease. Now I don't know that this is the case, but there is as much reason to think this could happen as there is to think UV may have a net positive benefit... Not that I don't think there are situations that there could be a net positive benefit.

 

lol to you both!

 

garlic doesn't work, i fell into that whole garlic bull too. threw it in the trash. the dip in combo with the uv worked for me.
none of the other fish got the ich

and for the uv nay sayers. ;D i had a fish that the cat put teeth holes in. i put the fish back in the tank and it healed and lived. i bet you without a uv that fish would have died from a bacterial infection.

 

The only thing garlic does is increase the fishes appetite, which hopefully boosts it's immune system. Sick fish stop eating hence the garlic recommendation.

 

It's not the only thing... if you use liquid garlic to soak food it smells your house up. That stuff stinks to high heaven.