Skimmate color

[musicalocean]

I was just wondering why my skimmate has changed from dark green to almost clear amber color as of this week.. My water is crystal clear, everything in the tank is very happy, all parameters are great so what gives? I did hook up a 57 watt aquaultraviolet UV about a month ago & my water has never been so clear as it is now.. Could the sterilizer be working so good that it's actually reducing the gunk being skimmed from the water? Also my filtersock is staying cleaner than normal too. I'm still overfeeding as usual 3 times per day. So that's not it..

 

[ichthyoid]

musicalocean;585715 wrote: I was just wondering why my skimmate has changed from dark green to almost clear amber color as of this week.. My water is crystal clear, everything in the tank is very happy, all parameters are great so what gives? I did hook up a 57 watt aquaultraviolet UV about a month ago & my water has never been so clear as it is now.. Could the sterilizer be working so good that it's actually reducing the gunk being skimmed from the water? Also my filtersock is staying cleaner than normal too. I'm still overfeeding as usual 3 times per day. So that's not it..

That's exactly it. UV works much the same way that ozone and peroxides work, by degrading organic molecules. This is called 'free radical scission' (same root of the word scissor, ie-to cut). Skimming helps by removing the organic waste products produced by our little critters, but is not as efficient.

To use another example, we have all seen plastic craze and/or turn yellow and degrade in the presence of sunlight. Similar cause/effect, this is just happening in your aquarium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_(chemistry">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_(chemistry</a>)

FWIW- free radicals may also be used constructively, such as when making some plastics, chemicals, medicines, etc.

 

[musicalocean]

Wow how interesting! Thanks for the info & the article. I'm fixing to go check it out!

 

[musicalocean]

This is a good thing right? Surely you can't overdo it with clean water. Will it kill beneficial bacteria?

 

[ichthyoid]

musicalocean;585807 wrote: This is a good thing right? Surely you can't overdo it with clean water. Will it kill beneficial bacteria?

It is a good thing as far as killing pathogens- parasites, fungus and undesirable bacteria, along with helping keep your water clean. Unfortunately it is non-selective and kills all good guys too, including any bacteria, pods, plankton, etc. that go through the UV unit. Some people put their UV's on timers, so that they 'knock down' the bad guys without wiping out the good.

 

[musicalocean]

Thanks for the good advise as always! If it were you what kind of time scedule would you put it on?

 

[grouper therapy]

musicalocean;585826 wrote: Thanks for the good advise as always! If it were you what kind of time scedule would you put it on?

24/7 You want need the beneficial bacteria if the fish are dead from the ich. Seriously all you beneficial bacteria will not go through the uv as most of it is on and in the pores of the rock.

 

[musicalocean]

That makes sense as well definitely love the water quality & it's well worth never having a outbreak again. I've found no dead pods so far!

 

[ichthyoid]

First, remember turning any flourescent bulb on and off rapidly shortens it's life. So avoiding this is important. By reducing the 'duty cycle' (percentage of time the bulb is on) will lengthen bulb life, as long as you avoid short cycling, as above.

I would try 12 on/12 off, and see how that works. Alternatively, running it for 1 or more days each week might work, as well.

Some considerations are-

"The time it takes for a bacterial cell to grow and divide in two is called the doubling time. When nutrients are plentiful, the doubling time of some bacterial species can be as short as twenty minutes. However, most bacterial species show a doubling time between one and four hours."

Read more: http://www.biologyreference.com/Ar-Bi/Bacterial-Cell.html#ixzz16bXCG7Pu">Bacterial Cell - Biology Encyclopedia - cells, body, human, process, animal, system, different, organisms, chromosomes</a> [IMG]http://www.biologyreference.com/Ar-Bi/Bacterial-Cell.html#ixzz16bXCG7Pu">http://www.biologyreference.com/Ar-Bi/Bacterial-Cell.html#ixzz16bXCG7Pu</a>

For cryptocaryon (major marine parasite encountered-IME)-
<span style="color: black">"The free swimming tomite has less than 12 hours to find and invade a host fish, otherwise it will exhaust its energy reserves and die."</span>
<span style="color: black"></span>
<span style="color: black">[IMG]http://www.fishvet.com/Cryptocaryon.htm">http://www.fishvet.com/Cryptocaryon.htm</a></span>
<span style="color: black"></span>
<span style="color: black">This why I would choose 12/12 cycle.</span>

 

[grouper therapy]

Of course in all scenarios we are assuming that 100% of the water volume passes through the uv. That assumption is my reasoning on the 24 /7run schedule(increasing the opportunity for such). Now that said I have not measured the beneficial bacteria levels in the tank(not sure if if that could be done ) If it is low I have not experienced any visible effects of a low level.

 

[musicalocean]

So far I've seen nothing but positive effects in my tank since adding the UV. You could read a book on the other side of my tank the water is so clear

 

[ichthyoid]

Good point. Statistically, there is some minute portion of tank water that never passes through a recirculating type filter (part of the reason for the 99.99.....% efficient).

I'm not disagreeing that UV 24x7 works to prevent disease. I ran it that way for years.

I am just saying there is one school of thought, used successfully by some, that says you don't have to run UV 24x7. Plus the bulbs last longer.

The thought is that your beneficial organisms will fare better. These <u>include</u>: bacteria, pods, algae and other various plankton.

FWIW- I am of the opinion that bacteria in the water column contributes to coral nutrition. I found evidence for this in the literature and posted it a while back.

 

[grouper therapy]

ichthyoid;585870 wrote: Good point. Statistically, there is some minute portion of tank water that never passes through a recirculating type filter (part of the reason for the 99.99.....% efficient).

I'm not disagreeing that UV 24x7 works to prevent disease. I ran it that way for years.

I am just saying there is one school of thought, used successfully by some, that says you don't have to run UV 24x7. Plus the bulbs last longer.

The thought is that your beneficial organisms will fare better. These <u>include</u>: bacteria, pods, algae and other various plankton.

FWIW- I am of the opinion that bacteria in the water column contributes to coral nutrition. I found evidence for this in the literature and posted it a while back.

Now I have noticed that i never see pods anymore burt I'm not sure why exactly except 3 wrasses, uv and ,ozone lol