UV Sterilizers
A UV Sterilizer is a piece of equipment that can clear or prevent infestations in your aquarium or pond. It kills bad water borne bacteria, parasites, fungus, virus and algae from your aquarium or pond.
A UV Sterilizer will clean your tank in the open areas, but in there could also be come bad bugs hiding in the corners of your tank, attached to fish or on rocks, right there where the UV Sterilizer can’t go. A UV Sterilizer reduces the infestation load, but does not eliminate it, therefore medication is still needed to complete the task which becomes more manageable. It is advisable to get a UV Sterilizer because its use could save your tank. Also it is always advisable to have a small quarantine tank depending on the amount and size of fish in your aquarium, you could be ok with a 5 or 20 gallon quarantine tank.
Medication such as copper sulfide is bad for corals so a UV Sterilizer is the only fighting alternative for a reef tank to fight diseases or parasites such as ectoparasites
There are three types of UV sterilizers:
- Tray Type: Not commercially safe, because it involves the use of an open UV bulb.
- Tube Type w/ Wet Bulb: It is effective but it has some issues with the fact that the bulb is directly exposed to the water and the risk of an electric shock is possible. It is also difficult to clean.
- Tube Type w/ Dry Bulb: It is the best option. I has a quartz glass protecting the bulb from water so there is no risk of an electric shock, and is easier to clean.
