armadillo

Hi eveyrone. A piece of thread about UV sterilisers caught my interest. As it was unrelated, I for once decided not to steal the thread and start a new one. That means that:

1/ I want a medal
2/ I'd be really interested in your opinions on UV sterilisers

If you've used it, would you say it's money well spent?
Has it been documented/tried and tested that it doesn't mess with your cycle?

It would be a godsend if it's not a gimmick as one of my mollies is constantly getting sick. Would be a great thing to have on a hospital tank too. Anyway, really interested in your opinions.

Dino

You are better off doing extra water changes than getting a uv 90% of the time.
They are best used on very large systems or systems that have a constant influx of new fish ( such as at a fish store).

Setting one up for home use , in most cases, is money mispent.

armadillo

Oh, OK, thanks for taking the time.

What makes me consider it is this one particular fish (molly) who's constantly sick/on the mend/sick/on the mend. She seems to react very badly to water changes. I've checked the obvious (water = treated, no pH/temp fluctuation, max 20% of water changed at any one time, water poured back in with watering can, you name it).

Dino

What the temperature of the water?

And pH, if you know it?

armadillo

26C and 8.0. Very constant. 0.5C fluctuation at water change time basically.

jayfl234

I hear you about the sick fish my mollies are becoming the same way so i turned my temp up to 82 to try to get rid of the ich in my tank. Only a suggestion but i have heard that it works. I also dont like to use meds in the tank if i can get away with it.

armadillo

She's died about a week ago. I was kind of relieved as it felt like there was nothing I could do to help her.

I see what you mean about the meds in the tank. I felt that way too, but I had to try with meds as she seemed to react really badly to salt.

I like to have my temp on 26 so that in case of ich, I can bring it up a couple of degrees. I think bringing up, rather than the fact that it's high, is what helps, but I'm not sure. I think I read that somewhere.

Dino

The free swimming life stage of the ich organism cannot tolerate temperatures over 82F.

armadillo

If I remember well, the article I read didn't really explain why, so I'll go for your explanation and keep the temp high at all times, species mix permitting.