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Posted by Stokes on May 11, 2006, 6:48 am
Please log in for more thread options Just wondering if anyone here has had any experiences with UV
sterilisers. After having lost four discus in three days, I was
absolutely shattered. After days of large water changes, medication and
turning the heat up to 32 C, I'd rushed off to the LFS and asked the
owner if there were any preventative measures I could take to minimise
the spread of disease and parasites and he promptly showed me a UV unit
intended for ponds (Intensity 239). So I installed it and within 10 or
12 hours the fish were looking alive again. The discus that were near
black, changed to their characteristic colours, vibey and full of
vitality. Needless to say the water clarity had improved greatly.
I'm curious to know about your experiences, good and bad, and any
advice you may have to offer.
Thanks in advance.
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Posted by Marksfish on May 12, 2006, 10:29 am
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>I'd rushed off to the LFS and asked the
> owner if there were any preventative measures I could take to minimise
> the spread of disease and parasites and he promptly showed me a UV unit
> intended for ponds (Intensity 239).
There are two types of UV's for fishkeeping. UVC (ultraviolet clarifier) for
ponds and ultraviolet steriliser. There is a big difference between the two.
Pond streilisers are designed to disrupt the cell walls of algae, causing
them to clump and be caught in the filtration system, thus clarifying your
water. UV sterilisers are for aquarium use where the water passes closer to
the light to kill of bacteria and pathogens. The two should not be mixed!!
>After having lost four discus in three days, I was
> absolutely shattered. After days of large water changes, medication and
> turning the heat up to 32 C
You don't say what the symptoms were. You can safely put the temperature in
a discus tank up to 34- 36C so long as you have sufficient aeration and any
other inhabitants can withstand it.
What medication did you use?
You can put ordinary cooking salt (not table salt) in the water, can't
remember the rate, I think it is 1gramme per 10gallons, this is especially
good if the filtration has had a "hiccup" and you have a nitrite reading.
Come to mention it, what are your water parameters? What size tank and how
many discus? What other inhabitants?
At the end of the day, the steriliser will be a temporary fix, a lot of
people don't advocate them any more as sterilisers don't differentiate
between good bacteria and bad.
Discus need good, clean water to remain healthy and I always had great
success with garlic supplements in the food.
Mark
--
www.marksfish.me.uk
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Posted by Stokes on May 15, 2006, 6:14 am
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Hi Mark,
Thanks for your response.
It is a steriliser no doubt, as the pacaging said so, and the UV light
is within the range for killing pathogens. It doesn't fit onto a filter
and runs pretty much on its own.
You don't say what the symptoms were. You can safely put the
temperature in
a discus tank up to 34- 36C so long as you have sufficient aeration and
any
other inhabitants can withstand it.
The symptoms were darkening, refusal to eat, rapid wasting away, bosy
flicking, white spots which usually signal the start of HLLE around the
eye and lateral line.
According to most discus book authors, salt is not recommended for soft
water fish like discus, but then again, these are locally bred discus,
so maybe they are tolerant of saltiness?
The tank is an AquaH20 125 which holds 280l. I have 7discus in there
currently, there used to be 11. There 's also a Black Ghost Knife, 5
loaches, 15 small various tetras, two cories and two pearl gouramis.
I am aware of the need for water changes, I keep up a good routine, at
30% twice weekly and about 60% every two weeks, so I'm pretty sure its
sufficient. The water parameters are 120 ppm GH, ph 7.2, 0 Ammonia, 0
Nitrite and Nitrate at 10 ppm.
Thanks again.
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Posted by Marksfish on May 15, 2006, 11:53 am
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>According to most discus book authors, salt is not recommended for soft
>water fish like discus, but then again, these are locally bred discus,
>so maybe they are tolerant of saltiness?
>
>
I have put UK bred and freshly imported Malaysian fish into salt water with
no
problems. The salt we are talking about is a weak solution of cooking salt,
not marine salt, table salt or tonic salt. As such, there are no buffering
materials in there for the water chemistry to worry about. Going black like
this and the white faeces can all be indicative of nitrite poisoning
although you say your reading is 0, next the skin mucus may start peeling
off, which looks horrible.
> I am aware of the need for water changes, I keep up a good routine, at
> 30% twice weekly and about 60% every two weeks, so I'm pretty sure its
> sufficient. The water parameters are 120 ppm GH, ph 7.2, 0 Ammonia, 0
> Nitrite and Nitrate at 10 ppm.
>
>
What filtration and what media do you have? How old is the tank? What/ how
much are you feeding? The lower the pH of the water in an aquarium, the
lower the concentration of bacteria. Basically, an acidic tank can have a
ammonia/ nitrite reading, purely because the bacteria cannot survive in
acidic conditions. Luckily the effects of ammonia and nitrite are not
usually apparent at these levels (pH 6.5 and below). The problem can arise
when
acclimatising fish from low pH to a higher one as the ammonia then becomes
toxic and can burn the gills.
>The tank is an AquaH20 125 which holds 280l. I have 7discus in there
>currently, there used to be 11. There 's also a Black Ghost Knife, 5
>loaches, 15 small various tetras, two cories and two pearl gouramis.
>
>
I would suggest the gouramies and knife fish are not suitable tankmates for
discus. Discus can be timid fish and gouramies are just bullies in my
experience. I don't know much about knife fish, but I am sure they will grow
too large and make the discus feel uncomfortable. Just doing a quick
conversion also tells me that 289l is only 60 UK gallons. It is usually
recommended that you have 1 discus per 10 gallons to allow for growth, etc.
Bearing in mind that you currently have 7 discus and a knife, plus others, I
am not 100% certain, but I would say you are a bit overstocked.
Regards
Mark
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> owner if there were any preventative measures I could take to minimise
> the spread of disease and parasites and he promptly showed me a UV unit
> intended for ponds (Intensity 239).