mikemcd Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I bought a flame angel on impulse from LFS about a month ago. I don't use QT on fish, so putting them into tank can be a risk and since he had only been at the fish store for a few days this was a risk--definitely one I shouldn't have taken. Long story short, fish had some type of parasite and after he died, fish in my tank started to drop like flies. Well, looks like I'm just about out of fish (have a chromis, damsel, six line wrassed and a Foxface currently in a small tank dosing with copper, but I don't think he'll make it). I lost a clown, trigger, royal gram, and a few others. Questions is can I run a UV sterilizer (which I don't currently own) to kill of any remaining parasite that may be in the tank? I'm looking into purchasing one either on this site or Craigslist. Just would like a little advice as to how effective they are. thnks for any pointers/info... Michael McDermott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I was checking out the pacific aquarium site, there is a link on the group order thread, and they have a pretty informative section called reef school. It had a section about uv so I'm just pasting it here for you. Hope it helps. UV Sterilizers Another method of water purification that became popular at that time and is still used today is UV light purification. The basic theory is that water is passed through a glass tube that is surrounded by UV lamps that destroy organic matter. It seems like a great idea in theory. Problem is that soon the glass tube becomes coated with debris and film and then the UV light can not penetrate to the water and thus never actually cleans the water. Also, the size UV system that would be needed would have to be massive to really have any real effect, not practical for most home aquariums. These units are often sold for fish parasite control, but again the same applies here, the tube becomes coated and not much is accomplished. And, typically not all of the parasites will be in the water column so even if the kill rate of the UV was 100%, which it is not in most units, the parasite may never be in the water column so it will never be exposed to UV anyway. My personal advise after testing and using UV units for many years is to save your money and don’t bother with one, it will do little more than lighten your wallet and give you a false sense of security unless you can afford a very large unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemcd Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 Thanks for the info...that really helps in the decision. I like to keep it as simple as possible and that sounds like it would most likely be a waste of money. MJM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I think there was a thread on reef central that was about getting rid of marine ick and it was geared towards husbandry and use of a q.t. the long and short of it was that once introduced it took a great deal of care and time to get rid of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemcd Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 Rgr that...I've read several articles and you can go either copper or hypersalinity in a QT, but you put so much time into taking care of tanks as it is (daily maint, water changes, etc). Also, its a hassle catching the fish with all the live rock to deal with. I lost a trigger who must have took a serious turn for the worse the day after I left town for a trip. Came back 3 days later and he was beyond help. He seemed to be dealing with the stuff okay on the day I left, but took a turn for the worse and was beyond help by the time I got home 3 days later. Anyway, thnks for the info... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 My wife has a theory that I'm buying into and that's as soon as you really dig sumpin in your tank it's days are numbered. Every morning I tell all my critters I hate em. It's been working for close to 6 months (fingers crossed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apr123 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I bought a flame angel on impulse from LFS about a month ago. I don't use QT on fish, so putting them into tank can be a risk and since he had only been at the fish store for a few days this was a risk--definitely one I shouldn't have taken. Long story short, fish had some type of parasite and after he died, fish in my tank started to drop like flies. Well, looks like I'm just about out of fish (have a chromis, damsel, six line wrassed and a Foxface currently in a small tank dosing with copper, but I don't think he'll make it). I lost a clown, trigger, royal gram, and a few others. Questions is can I run a UV sterilizer (which I don't currently own) to kill of any remaining parasite that may be in the tank? I'm looking into purchasing one either on this site or Craigslist. Just would like a little advice as to how effective they are. thnks for any pointers/info... Michael McDermott I had the same problem. I have since started keeping a quarantine tank but the main tank still has some crypt. I did get a UV sterilizer (24 watt) for my main tank (26G; so 24watt is probably overkill). It helped tremendously. I think the key is to run it minimally. I now look for spots on the fish and scratching behavior and as soon as I see any of this run the UV for a day or two. You may not be able to kill all the parasites in their free swimming state but if you can get rid of most of them, the fish (if healthy enough) can handle the rest. Every time I have done this, the fish have returned to good health within a day or so. Hopefully, at some point all the crypt will be gone. I highly recommend the sterilizer but only run when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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