Ozone or UV Sterilizer Question

I have read on a website that UV Sterilizers can reduce unwanted Algae, is
this true and if so, then how effective is this against the Algae?
Also, I was told a while back by a LFS that Ozone kits are effective for
reducing and/or removing Algae problems, once again, is this true and how
effective is this method against Algae problems?
Last question is that if both can do this, then which one of these methods
would be the best and safest method to use??

I have a Green Hair Algae problem in my tank that is driving me insane, I
dont have filtered fresh water to add yet so it is straight from the tap,
Yes i know that a water filter will no doubt be my best answer but at Filter
prices here in Australia, it isn't on my shopping list just yet, UV and
Ozone are way cheaper options and if they can assist me battling this Algae
untill I can afford a good Water Filter then that's ok to me.
Any help is muchly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Microbot

Would you consider buying and using distilled water from the
supermarket instead? Your tap water is surely adding
nitrates and phosphates to your tank, and this will
continuously feed and fuel the GHA in your tank. Did you
already read this article?

http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

I've not used a sterilizer because it will kill good
bacteria along with the bad bacteria.

I've not used ozone, but if you do be sure to read up on how
to keep using it safely.

Marc


Microbot wrote:

I have read on a website that UV Sterilizers can reduce unwanted Algae, is
this true and if so, then how effective is this against the Algae?
Also, I was told a while back by a LFS that Ozone kits are effective for
reducing and/or removing Algae problems, once again, is this true and how
effective is this method against Algae problems?
Last question is that if both can do this, then which one of these methods
would be the best and safest method to use??

I have a Green Hair Algae problem in my tank that is driving me insane, I
dont have filtered fresh water to add yet so it is straight from the tap,
Yes i know that a water filter will no doubt be my best answer but at Filter
prices here in Australia, it isn't on my shopping list just yet, UV and
Ozone are way cheaper options and if they can assist me battling this Algae
untill I can afford a good Water Filter then that's ok to me.
Any help is muchly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Microbot



--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Yes thanks Marc, I have read your articles and would gladly buy distilled
water if it was cheap enough.
I saw in a thread once that where you guys are it is a rather cheap option,
but here in Australia where i am, I cant find it anywhere close to as cheap.
Just the price alone of the container that holds the water is not cheap
here.
My nitrites are so low they barely register on my test kit.
My Phosphate detects nothing on both the tanks water and my Tap water.
Lighting time is at present 6 hours, Algae seems to grow even if the lights
are off..
I dont mix my water, I use natural seawater..

Cheers
Microbot

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
om...
Would you consider buying and using distilled water from the supermarket
instead? Your tap water is surely adding nitrates and phosphates to your
tank, and this will continuously feed and fuel the GHA in your tank. Did
you already read this article?

http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

I've not used a sterilizer because it will kill good bacteria along with
the bad bacteria.

I've not used ozone, but if you do be sure to read up on how to keep using
it safely.

Marc


Microbot wrote:

I have read on a website that UV Sterilizers can reduce unwanted Algae,
is this true and if so, then how effective is this against the Algae?
Also, I was told a while back by a LFS that Ozone kits are effective for
reducing and/or removing Algae problems, once again, is this true and how
effective is this method against Algae problems?
Last question is that if both can do this, then which one of these
methods would be the best and safest method to use??

I have a Green Hair Algae problem in my tank that is driving me insane, I
dont have filtered fresh water to add yet so it is straight from the tap,
Yes i know that a water filter will no doubt be my best answer but at
Filter prices here in Australia, it isn't on my shopping list just yet,
UV and Ozone are way cheaper options and if they can assist me battling
this Algae untill I can afford a good Water Filter then that's ok to me.
Any help is muchly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Microbot



--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

On Thu, 3 Feb 2005 21:47:16 +1000, "Microbot"
wrote:

Yes thanks Marc, I have read your articles and would gladly buy distilled
water if it was cheap enough.
I saw in a thread once that where you guys are it is a rather cheap option,
but here in Australia where i am, I cant find it anywhere close to as cheap.
Just the price alone of the container that holds the water is not cheap
here.


Use plastic fuel containers. New of course, old detergent 60 gallon
drums and cooking oil containers are nice as well as garbage cans.

I HAVE been using natural seawater since i started the Tank, Not exactly
sure the date I started it but has to be in its mid second year by now..
Top offs are done with Tap water which the test kits tell me have non
detectable levels of phosphates, Nitrates, Copper, Ammonia and everything
else that is bad.
I have been using a Protein Skimmer since the start.
I only started getting this dreaded weed algae since i bought some Base Rock
to add to what i already had, this rock had the algae already on it and i
was told it would just die off, I have since realised that this was not very
helpful information and it did not die off but instead has taken over the
Tank.
I keep manually removing the stuff (which takes ages) only to have it back
just as bad as it was before within weeks..

I have one Aquaclear 500 hangon filter and a Canister filter.
Also Live rock which i have half filled the 4 foot tank it is in, sorry no
idea how much in weight.
A Hangon Overflow box to a 3 foot sump used only at present to add to the
waters capacity. Nothing in it except for some Mud and Crushed Coral (which
both have only just recently been introduced).

Cheers
Microbot

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Microbot" wrote in message
u...
Yes thanks Marc, I have read your articles and would gladly buy distilled
water if it was cheap enough.
I saw in a thread once that where you guys are it is a rather cheap
option, but here in Australia where i am, I cant find it anywhere close
to as cheap.
Just the price alone of the container that holds the water is not cheap
here.
My nitrites are so low they barely register on my test kit.
My Phosphate detects nothing on both the tanks water and my Tap water.
Lighting time is at present 6 hours, Algae seems to grow even if the
lights are off..
I dont mix my water, I use natural seawater..


If you saying you will be using natural seawater and it is clean, then you
do not need filter. Then I would suggest of other thing like Protein
Skimmer. What filteration [natural or man made] method did you apply to
your tank?

CapFusion,...

Finding a container is not a problem, it is finding a source of the water to
put in the container!
Purified water just is NOT cheap here, Just water purifiers for your home
taps that you can buy at hardware stores can start at around $399.

Cheers
Microbot

"kryppy" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 3 Feb 2005 21:47:16 +1000, "Microbot"
wrote:

Yes thanks Marc, I have read your articles and would gladly buy distilled
water if it was cheap enough.
I saw in a thread once that where you guys are it is a rather cheap
option,
but here in Australia where i am, I cant find it anywhere close to as
cheap.
Just the price alone of the container that holds the water is not cheap
here.


Use plastic fuel containers. New of course, old detergent 60 gallon
drums and cooking oil containers are nice as well as garbage cans.

It seams to me that you don't have the problem in the water from tap or
ocean. It is your filtration technique that's causing nitrate problems.
Using canister filters, hangon filters with sponge in it is in fact nitrate
factory. Crushed coral in your sump adds nothing to filtration but produces
nitrates. Your best way would be to use only live rock and protein skimmer
for filtration, combined with regular water changes. Be sure to provide
enough water flow in aquarium with minimum of 10 times the volume of
aquarium per hour.
Since you live near the source of NSW you coul find yourself nice pieces of
live rock and replace those rocks that are overgrown by algae.
If you want there's nothing wrong in using ozone but you must be very
carefoul with it. It must not reach main tank or it can kill its
inhabitants.

Mislav

"Microbot" wrote in message
u...
I HAVE been using natural seawater since i started the Tank, Not exactly
sure the date I started it but has to be in its mid second year by now..
Top offs are done with Tap water which the test kits tell me have non
detectable levels of phosphates, Nitrates, Copper, Ammonia and everything
else that is bad.
I have been using a Protein Skimmer since the start.
I only started getting this dreaded weed algae since i bought some Base
Rock to add to what i already had, this rock had the algae already on it
and i was told it would just die off, I have since realised that this was
not very helpful information and it did not die off but instead has taken
over the Tank.
I keep manually removing the stuff (which takes ages) only to have it back
just as bad as it was before within weeks..

I have one Aquaclear 500 hangon filter and a Canister filter.
Also Live rock which i have half filled the 4 foot tank it is in, sorry no
idea how much in weight.
A Hangon Overflow box to a 3 foot sump used only at present to add to the
waters capacity. Nothing in it except for some Mud and Crushed Coral
(which both have only just recently been introduced).

Cheers
Microbot

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Microbot" wrote in message
u...
Yes thanks Marc, I have read your articles and would gladly buy
distilled water if it was cheap enough.
I saw in a thread once that where you guys are it is a rather cheap
option, but here in Australia where i am, I cant find it anywhere close
to as cheap.
Just the price alone of the container that holds the water is not cheap
here.
My nitrites are so low they barely register on my test kit.
My Phosphate detects nothing on both the tanks water and my Tap water.
Lighting time is at present 6 hours, Algae seems to grow even if the
lights are off..
I dont mix my water, I use natural seawater..


If you saying you will be using natural seawater and it is clean, then
you do not need filter. Then I would suggest of other thing like Protein
Skimmer. What filteration [natural or man made] method did you apply to
your tank?

CapFusion,...

What does a gallon of distilled water cost at the
supermarket? Here is runs about .50 a gallon, maybe .10
less or .20 more depending on the store.

Do you have snails in the tank to help eat the algae that
you can't pick off?

Marc


Microbot wrote:

Finding a container is not a problem, it is finding a source of the water to
put in the container!
Purified water just is NOT cheap here, Just water purifiers for your home
taps that you can buy at hardware stores can start at around $399.

Cheers
Microbot

"kryppy" wrote in message
...

On Thu, 3 Feb 2005 21:47:16 +1000, "Microbot"
wrote:


Yes thanks Marc, I have read your articles and would gladly buy distilled
water if it was cheap enough.
I saw in a thread once that where you guys are it is a rather cheap
option,
but here in Australia where i am, I cant find it anywhere close to as
cheap.
Just the price alone of the container that holds the water is not cheap
here.


Use plastic fuel containers. New of course, old detergent 60 gallon
drums and cooking oil containers are nice as well as garbage cans.






--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 15:26:01 +1000, "Microbot"
wrote:

Finding a container is not a problem, it is finding a source of the water to
put in the container!
Purified water just is NOT cheap here, Just water purifiers for your home
taps that you can buy at hardware stores can start at around $399.


I use ocean water also.
I do use a small amount of RO/DI, but with enough fresh ocean water
you can practically forget about it....I was listing what I use to
haul mine from the sea.
I got a great RO/DI filter from Canada for $100 US. How is shipping
to AU?

Thanks for your reply.
I had no problem with the Algae until I added the rock that had it growing
on it already, since then it has grown out of control.

If i did a test for NitrAtes wouldn't this show up on the test if i had a
NitrAte problem?
I have even tested for NitrAtes by taking the water sample directly from the
sponge in the Hangon Filter and from inside the Canister Filter, All tests
show NitrAtes are very low. (LESS than the first colour on the Test kit).
Waterflow is good.
Rocks nearby to here are not quite Live Rock quality and I really dont want
to throw the Rocks i have already away and start anew...
The crushed coral is in the sump under a few inches of local mud picked up
from nearby to here.
This is an experiment started by a friend in here..
Filtered water, Ozone and UV are the only things i can think of left to try
to solve this weed issue..

Cheers
Microbot

"Mislav" wrote in message ...
It seams to me that you don't have the problem in the water from tap or
ocean. It is your filtration technique that's causing nitrate problems.
Using canister filters, hangon filters with sponge in it is in fact
nitrate factory. Crushed coral in your sump adds nothing to filtration but
produces nitrates. Your best way would be to use only live rock and
protein skimmer for filtration, combined with regular water changes. Be
sure to provide enough water flow in aquarium with minimum of 10 times the
volume of aquarium per hour.
Since you live near the source of NSW you coul find yourself nice pieces
of live rock and replace those rocks that are overgrown by algae.
If you want there's nothing wrong in using ozone but you must be very
carefoul with it. It must not reach main tank or it can kill its
inhabitants.

Mislav

"Microbot" wrote in message
u...
I HAVE been using natural seawater since i started the Tank, Not exactly
sure the date I started it but has to be in its mid second year by now..
Top offs are done with Tap water which the test kits tell me have non
detectable levels of phosphates, Nitrates, Copper, Ammonia and everything
else that is bad.
I have been using a Protein Skimmer since the start.
I only started getting this dreaded weed algae since i bought some Base
Rock to add to what i already had, this rock had the algae already on it
and i was told it would just die off, I have since realised that this was
not very helpful information and it did not die off but instead has taken
over the Tank.
I keep manually removing the stuff (which takes ages) only to have it
back just as bad as it was before within weeks..

I have one Aquaclear 500 hangon filter and a Canister filter.
Also Live rock which i have half filled the 4 foot tank it is in, sorry
no idea how much in weight.
A Hangon Overflow box to a 3 foot sump used only at present to add to the
waters capacity. Nothing in it except for some Mud and Crushed Coral
(which both have only just recently been introduced).

Cheers
Microbot

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Microbot" wrote in message
u...
Yes thanks Marc, I have read your articles and would gladly buy
distilled water if it was cheap enough.
I saw in a thread once that where you guys are it is a rather cheap
option, but here in Australia where i am, I cant find it anywhere close
to as cheap.
Just the price alone of the container that holds the water is not cheap
here.
My nitrites are so low they barely register on my test kit.
My Phosphate detects nothing on both the tanks water and my Tap water.
Lighting time is at present 6 hours, Algae seems to grow even if the
lights are off..
I dont mix my water, I use natural seawater..


If you saying you will be using natural seawater and it is clean, then
you do not need filter. Then I would suggest of other thing like Protein
Skimmer. What filteration [natural or man made] method did you apply to
your tank?

CapFusion,...