Is UV Sterilisation absolutely necessary for a Wild Discus Tank?

[Redsteveo]

Hi All,

As you can see I am brand new to this Forum so please forgive me if this topic has been thrashed to death in another thread somewhere. I did try searching for the topic but couldn't find anything. If anyone has a link to further information on the topic of UV Sterilisation on this forum please add it and I won't pursue it any further here.

I am a member of BIDKA and UKAPS in the UK and have been keeping tropical fish including Discus in planted tanks for around 25 years. My aquarium is an Eheim Incpiria 400 litre tank, although with the substrate, plants and bog wood etc there are probably only 300 litres in the tank.

On Friday I picked up 9 x Wild Red Spotted Green Discus (Rio Nannay in Peru) and they are now in my tank and so far so good. They seem to have settled in quite well and are eating fine.

Water Parameters are:-

PH - 6.8
KH - 5DKH
GH - 8DGH
NO3 - 15 PPM
TDS - 170
Temp - 28 degrees
Low tech LED Lighting on 7 hours a day
Plants: Amazon Swords, Crypts and Anubias Barteri

Feeding Beefheart every other day. Other foods include Tetra Prima, Tetra XL Flake, PISCINE Mysis Shrimp, and Freeze Dried Californian Blackworm.

Water change is twice weekly around 50% using a combination of HMA Filter and a RO Water.

I am told by the so called 'Wild Discus experts' that UV Sterilisation is essential so I have been looking at the 20 watt version from the D-D UV Range which use Quartz bulbs and sleeves which are supposed to be more efficient with less UV transmission loss than standard glass bulbs and sleeves. Because of this the 20 watt version is supposed to be the equivalent of a standard glass 40 watt type of UV. See link below for details.

http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/products-type/uv-sterilisers

I also watched the video on Youtube of the presentation by SimplyDiscus but I think the guy omitted the bit about UV Filtration even though it was on his slide.

My question really is before I go and splash out £124.99 on a UV unit, is it going to make a difference in the maintenance of the health of my discus?

Here are some photgraphs of the tank and the Wld Discus, I hope you enjoy them.

This was the tank before I put the Discus in taken a few months back

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/WP_20160427_14_18_44_Pro_zpsdd5jzek7.jpg~original

Now with less plants and a sandy substrate.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160909_182021_zpsta6zr5rk.jpg~original

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160909_181942_zpsdq6nomtp.jpg~original

Slightly different lighting

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160909_181600_zpsyjwdwx5y.jpg~original

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160914_153530_zpszhwzy0cg.jpg~original

Thanks for looking, and any thoughts or advice most welcome on the UV question or anything else about the tank and the discus.

Regards,

Steve

[Larry Bugg]

I have never used a UV with wilds. I have never heard anyone say you needed to either. Must be something from over there on the other side of the pond.

Your tank and wilds look excellent!!

[Redsteveo]

I have never used a UV with wilds. I have never heard anyone say you needed to either. Must be something from over there on the other side of the pond.

Your tank and wilds look excellent!!

Hello Larry,

Thanks for the reply and the kind comment about my tank and my Wild Discus. Over here everyone seems keen on the use of UV for Wild Discus tanks. I am not totally convinced but as they say there's no smoke without fire. I have a feeling that curiosity fuelled by paranoia might get the better of me, so I finish up getting one anyway to see if there is any difference.

Thanks,

Regards,

Steve

ps not sure if I posted the photographs correctly by copying the URL to Photobucket into the post. Most forums you can already see the photo in the post. Have to do a bit of research on the forum before posting next tme.

[discuspaul]

I agree with Larry - I've not heard any comments, not even a suggestion, that UV sterilization is necessary to keeping wilds.
A fairly large number of members here keep wilds, and to my knowledge not one of them uses a UV in their discus tanks.

Your wilds look superb - "if it ain't broke, why try to fix it...." as they say.

[Redsteveo]

Here is a reply I got to an email from Aquarium Solutiions in the UK.

Dear Steve,

Thank you for your email.

I also keep wild discus and use a DD uv system on my aquarium. I have 11 discus, six heckel and five green/brown and other fish in a 600 litre system.

Wild discus are usually very hardy once settled and can be more resistant to disease than captive raised fish, but they are wild fish and can still become stressed in a captive environment.

I am a firm believer that prevention is better than cure and as we both know wild discus are not cheap to buy, so I always want to protect my fish from any possible disease or stress. Fitting a uv system does help in disease prevention and for me is just peace of mind. You invest heavily in livestock so it is good practice to provide the best environment for them to be in. Problems can occur when you mix wild fish with mass produced or captive raised fish as diseases that normally the wild fish would not get can be introduced to them and this is where the problems can start. I mix my wild discus with F1 Rio Nanay Angel fish ( bred from wild stock) and captive bred cardinal tetras plus corydoras sterbai. I have had no disease issues but do use Ro water and run a uv and the fish are well fed.

You may end up mixing your discus with captive raised fish yourself so I would certainly consider fitting a uv. I have a group of ten corydoras in my tank and they are a fantastic clean up crew and feed on all the food particles the discus leave behind. I never have to clean my sand as the cory's do it for me. As you are keeping your discus in a planted aquarium you will need some fish to help keep the tank clean. It is really hard work keeping a planted discus aquarium. I know as I ran one and the additional fish help keep things in order. I also have otto catfish as well to keep on top of any algae and all the fish live together without issues.

I also run Rowa Carbon as this helps to keep the water clean as well as I have a fair amount of wood in the system.

You could get away with the 10 watt unit but if you went for the 20 watt uv then it would be fine if you upgraded your aquarium. I usually over size my equipment just incase I upgrade plus it is more than ample for the aquarium it is running on. The 20 watt is better suited to your sized aquarium.

I am sure there are many people running without uv and say they have had no issues but
I think it is worth fitting one to prevent possible future issues. If the people who have kept wild discus for a long time recommend using a uv and understand the benefits of running one then I would certainly consider their advice.

Good luck with your new wild discus. They are an absolute joy once settled and can be easy to keep if you give them what they need.

End

So why is it opinions in the UK differ from those in the USA?

Thanks,

Regards,

Steve

[Redsteveo]

Hi All, (From Peru to North Wales via Northants and Hull)

Just thought I would share some photographs of my Wild Red Spotted Green Discus from the Rio Nannay in Peru.

These were bought from Chris Brampton at Northants Discus by Prapasn 2 (Stuart) and about a year later have finished up in my tank in North Wales.

They have been in the tank now for about three weeks and have settled in well and are eating a very mixed diet of Tetra XL Falkes, Tetra Prima, Freeze Dried Australian Blackworm, Tropical Discus Gran D-50 Plus, Discus Gran Wild pellets, a bit of Yorkshire Beefheart and some Mysis Shrimp.

After much pfaffing about I finally installed a 25 watt TMC Vecton 600 UV to one of my filters last night and did a 60% water change at the same time.

All the fish are looking good except one, which has a white spot / lump on the side of its head just above the eye. It had been doing a bit of flicking and darting over the last few days. I am hoping whatever it is the UV will help it, was thinking of treating the whole tank but the instructions on the meds say to switch off the UV during treatment, which I don't want to do because the UV will hekp eradicate any Ich or Whitespot. I am thinking of giving it a medicated bath in some tank water and salt or a generic White Spot Treatment instead.

Enjoy the photos assuming they all load up, if not I will put the link up to the Photobucket page.

Cheers,

Steve.

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160924_220716_zpshc0lupey.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160924_222357_zpsohxu3xpn.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160924_220728_zpsdtp1txtp.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160924_221846_zps8r7yxlv1.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160924_221816_zpsc3tkamzw.jpg%7Eoriginal

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk57/REDSTEVEO/IMG_20160924_221846_zps8r7yxlv1.jpg%7Eoriginal