do i need a UV sterilizer?

[saltwaterdude]

i have a reef tank i purchased a UV sterilizer last month, but i havent set it up yet because i heard that in a reef tank you don't need it?

what do you say?

[trust-e-man]

its entiraly up to you a UV sterilizer will kill alot of the bactieria but on my salt water tanks i dont have a single one

[Shawn D]

UV sterilizer's are not necessary, but I do not see how adding one to your tank would do anything but help. I hear they are great for water polishing

[ahill3780]

Few people need a UV Sterilizer. It is not something you really want to run on a reef tank unless you need to. They are primarily designed for eliminating free floating pathgens in order to reduce disease. They also destroy helpful microbes in the process so its kind of a 50/50 exchange. They are much more useful in Quarantine Tanks than on live systems. After all, the basic concept to promoting good health in your main display is to not introduce bad things in the first place. To do this you have to Quarantine new arrivals and keep up with your maintenance.

You can use it on your tank if you want, it will help a number of conditions, but I would not suggest using it as a mainstay of your filtration system, just every once in a while for a few days. After water changes would probably be the better time to run it.

HTH,
Aaron