UV Sterilization or Not?

What do you guys think about UV sterilizers? Is it worth it for a native tank as a prevention? It seems like my native fish have survived 2 ick attacks and they seem resistant to the parasite but they continue to flash around ,BUT! They never break out in Ick??? Its almost like it tries to attack them and then it cant because they built a resistance. (I already tried raising temps and adding salt) and it does diddly squat!

Anyway should I get the UV Sterilizer? or forget about it?

What do you guys think about UV sterilizers? Is it worth it for a native tank as a prevention? It seems like my native fish have survived 2 ick attacks and they seem resistant to the parasite but they continue to flash around ,BUT! They never break out in Ick??? Its almost like it tries to attack them and then it cant because they built a resistance. (I already tried raising temps and adding salt) and it does diddly squat!

Anyway should I get the UV Sterilizer? or forget about it?

I have a UV handy for ich breakouts and thats all I really use it for.

Well, it could come in handy. I have never used one. Once nice thing is it will kill suspended algae.

I say get one. They solve a lot of problems, usually before they even start.
There are numerous native parasites that can trash your whole tank before you even figure out what they are, let alone how to get rid of them, but a UV can keep your fish safe.

I wanted to get UV sterilizers until I saw how much they can heat up your tank.

I wanted to get UV sterilizers until I saw how much they can heat up your tank.

Replacement bulbs will prove expensive as we replace every six months, otherwise units fail to kill.

H2O2 is a lot cheaper.

Such equipment is WAY out of my price range. Of course, I don't use test kits or water conditioners either. Not even salt.
I find it cheaper to provide a healthy, stress free environment, keep species within their natural environmental parameters, avoid overly sensitive "Typhoid Marys" [ie silversides etc] and give a varied and healthy diet.
As a last line of defense, I have been known to "terminate with extreme prejudice" any individual that shows signs of developing a catchy bug. Truthfully, it's been years and years since I've had to do even that.
Maybe I'm just lucky. Maybe I just jinxed myself.
FWIW, we use UV to disinfect our effluent at the municiple wastewater treatment plant [way eaiser than using CL2 and no need to dechlor]. We never get bacteria hits on our permit. It is expensive, uses lots of juice and is sensitive to maintenence issues. If you don't replace bulbs on schedule, you're using lots of electricity to do very little disinfecting.
For aquarists, I'd think UV would be good for wholesalers, large scale breeders. and those who keep overly sensitive species. Probably overkill for the regular guys.

I like mine, but it wasn't all that cheap. I used to run it one day per week as a preventative, but nowadays just drop it onto tanks to clear up green water outbreaks. I may go back to the old setup as algae has gotten worse since removing it.

You can get a cheapo chinese Odyssea 9w for about $35 and jimmy rig it to get the job done. I get replacement bulbs for about $10 off eBay.

I like mine, but it wasn't all that cheap. I used to run it one day per week as a preventative, but nowadays just drop it onto tanks to clear up green water outbreaks. I may go back to the old setup as algae has gotten worse since removing it.

You can get a cheapo chinese Odyssea 9w for about $35 and jimmy rig it to get the job done. I get replacement bulbs for about $10 off eBay.

I recently bought the jbj model comes with powerhead think it was $55 it cleared my green water crystal clear.

I recently bought the jbj model comes with powerhead think it was $55 it cleared my green water crystal clear.

In my experience, the major problems with cheap units come from the housing and seals, not the electronics. So, they sterilize just fine but leak like a sieve or crack when you tighten the fittings or something along those lines. If you're DIY minded and don't plan to run the unit constantly, then JBJ or similar is the way to go.

One thing to consider along the lines of "maintenence issues" is the glass sleeve that houses the bulb. Our big unit at the WWTF has an automatic acid wash that keeps the sleeves clean. If mineral deposits build up, even fresh bulbs will lose their effectiveness.
We installed one on the drinking water supply to a state prison that had an auto wash system that apparently can't keep up with the mineral deposits. The thing was always going down [which stopped the well pumps and drained the water tank!]. Manual washes were being done almost every week and still we started getting bacteria hits. It is currently offline while we use sodium hypochlorite [bleach].
As of right now, the state considers it a gigantic boondogle which cost the tax payers some serious coin.

One thing to consider along the lines of "maintenence issues" is the glass sleeve that houses the bulb. Our big unit at the WWTF has an automatic acid wash that keeps the sleeves clean. If mineral deposits build up, even fresh bulbs will lose their effectiveness.
We installed one on the drinking water supply to a state prison that had an auto wash system that apparently can't keep up with the mineral deposits. The thing was always going down [which stopped the well pumps and drained the water tank!]. Manual washes were being done almost every week and still we started getting bacteria hits. It is currently offline while we use sodium hypochlorite [bleach].
As of right now, the state considers it a gigantic boondogle which cost the tax payers some serious coin.

They just had on news a report on the new big UV system they are using in S.CA for recycling sewage water in 'drinking" water .

I say get one. They solve a lot of problems, usually before they even start.
There are numerous native parasites that can trash your whole tank before you even figure out what they are, let alone how to get rid of them, but a UV can keep your fish safe.

keeping fish for yrs I never got into "high tech" stuff as never needed it never had ich but recently with green water in Florida I bought one and love it.

I like mine, but it wasn't all that cheap. I used to run it one day per week as a preventative, but nowadays just drop it onto tanks to clear up green water outbreaks. I may go back to the old setup as algae has gotten worse since removing it.

You can get a cheapo chinese Odyssea 9w for about $35 and jimmy rig it to get the job done. I get replacement bulbs for about $10 off eBay.

I dont find that co the best having used their pc system better off paying bit more

I like mine, but it wasn't all that cheap. I used to run it one day per week as a preventative, but nowadays just drop it onto tanks to clear up green water outbreaks. I may go back to the old setup as algae has gotten worse since removing it.

You can get a cheapo chinese Odyssea 9w for about $35 and jimmy rig it to get the job done. I get replacement bulbs for about $10 off eBay.

Do you find your UV heats up the water ? I ask as use mine for my patio tank and now on my pond but thinking of setting up a tank inside for maybe darters or small suns .
for example in a 55 gallon tank using a 5 watt UV 24/7 to get water movement plus extra benefit of UV at room temp of 70 will tank increase more than 2 degrees?

Thanks