UV sterilizer

[Namscam]

wut do uv sterilizers do??? i have one tank in my garage but dont know how to hook the darn thing up....does n e one know how to hook one up...and wut are the disadvantages of having on for a reef tank

[Aquattro]

UV sterilizers kill everything that passes thru them. The problem is they kill all the plankton that your corals could/would eat. Some people use them, but most don't. I'd sell it and put the money towards a skimmer.

[BCOrchidGuy]

UV sterilizers kill organics that pass through them as long as they are moving slow enough to be killed, if you use a powerhead that forces the water through to fast for the critters to get a fatal exposure to UV light they won't all be killed.

As Brad says, it's not selective though, good as well as bad gets done in. If you have a hospital tank with a sick fish, UV is great, in a reef that's well maintained I wouldn't bother with one, again like Brad says, Skimmer .

Doug

[BCOrchidGuy]

If you are still going to set it up I can show you how to do it, it's not difficult, basically water goes in one end and flows out the other end, the slower the better.

Doug