UV Light yes or No?
 

I'm just curious.. Do you use a UV light in your Reef tank?
I am still new to all this and learning...
I have Soft Corals and Fish system and wonder if I should be using this to cut down on algae?.. I have been told by some that it helps and others say no.. so I am a bit confused??

Thanks all
Steve'o

I plan on running UV anytime I clean the glass. I am thinking about a timer that runs it for an hour or two after I clean to try and kill the algea before it settles.

I have never ran a UV on my tanks. I just did not feel the extra expense and maintenance was worth it. However if I had a few $1000 invested in fish, I would probably use one just for the extra piece of mind.

If your just looking to cut down on algae growth, a UV is not the best option.

There are far better methods for reducing algae for much cheaper.

A UV will really only deal with a suspended algae bloom.

This may help you as well straight from my favorite source:
Down the Drain, Exports from Reef Aquaria by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

No

Only way to keep uglies under control is low nutrients. IMO a uv light will do nothing for algae. Uv uses a combination of intensity and dwell for effectiveness and neither of these are high enough in the off the shelf lights to eradicate multicellular organims. Even unicellular is debatable. IMHO they are a useless placebo for the reefer.

If setting up a diy led setup, you can buy a few uv leds to the mix...Also i believe you can buy a ecoxotic led strip that has uv leds and just use thAt to whatever you have. Some corAls do need uv for optimAl colors and growgh.

Msjboy