I'm trying to figure out what wattage i need to kill ick and anything that might hurt my fish. Tanks are 50g R, 55g FW, & 75g R ( 20g coral tank). Also a brand that someone has used and likes would be great. I know that QT and keeping good paramenters are the best way! Just a little insurance, I get very attached to my pets. Any help would be appreciated


one dog-Bear (Rescued)
six cats-Sam, Sara, Oliver, Koal, Taz & Tom (Rescued)
one 2year old elderly mouse-Jerry (Long story)



thirty fresh water fish
six saltwater fish
thirty-two corals

Yes -most of the fish and corals have names.

Best advice, whatever one you go with use the smallest pump you can put on it. Many are rated for 150+ gph but Ich is a complex creature (unlike Algae and bacteria) and needs a long contact time. When I did testing on UV and Ich, I had to run a Turbo Twist 9 at about 65gph to get any effect and kill with Ich.

Thank You! If you ran a 18-40 watt inline UV could you use a canister(Rena 2 not a heavy gph)? Would that give it time to kill Ick or bugs? Tks Holley

I do not know what the flow rate of that Rena 2, do you?!? (BTW: what ya using a Canister for anyways unless it is a media reactor DIY? ;) )

Figure about 8gph per 1 watt of UV. I think that was the ratio that I broke it down to but I would have to go back and check. Granted not all UVs are the same quality either, but it should give you an idea.

See, the problem is the flow rate needs to be low enough to provide the appropriate exposure dosage, but high enough to treat the entire volume of the aquarium with appropriate frequency. The two things are hard to get in balance. If you put it on your return pump you got one advantage: all the water will pass through it. But you have three disadvantages: a) Unfiltered water is not good for a UV and b) any bods from a fuge or anything will be cooked by the time they get to your tank and c) you are going to need a huge UV or a very slow return pump. If you do not place it on your return and lets say you put it on a skimmer or canister filter, you get the advantage of filtered water free of waste but the disadvantage of not treating all the water all the time.

Long story short. Run a UV if you wish... Just do not expect it to take care of any type of ich for you.

Rena is about 250-300 gph-very old so maybe 200gph. I have been runing finishing filter pads and charcoal (fresh water 55g). I have a refugium on my salt water. Tks Holley

Go with the strongest UV you can afford. My experience with the small ones is that they are essentially ineffective.

and dont forget the length of the UV really plays a role is how effective it is. Unless you get one that wraps around itself 12 bazillion times. I just picked up a 40W thats about 38" long.....its all about contact time!

I wouldn't bother with UV. Too much maintenance and too little benefit.

I wouldn't bother with UV. Too much maintenance and too little benefit.

Agreed.

You girls scared to get your hands wet, tisk tisk tisk.

From my experience, adding a UV increases the temp of my water. Even I've seen an increase of 1~2F when using a UV. I have both a UV and an Ozone generator and I'd say both have benefits and negatives. I agree with the posts above about decreasing flow rates for ich control. This does work.

Thanks everyone! I am going to put a gamma uv on my freshwater and go from there. Can't makeup my mind on the SW tanks yet.

Thanks, Holley

IMO for the aquarium (SW) I'd either go with gamma or emperor aquatics. Those are the leaders in "affordable" UV's. There are some more expensive "commercial" grades if you choose to go that route.

Reviving this thread to see if anyone has anything to add.

Especially interested to know:

1) Brand of UV you have
2) Total Water Volume
3) Wattage & Pump Size
4) Pros
5) Cons

Feedback pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.