UV sterilization

I have been reading up on UV sterilizers lately, and have come to a conclusion. No one has the same opinion. Some people use them, others think they could be a waste of money. Some use them all the time, while others put them on and off every so often. This is all too confusing. I guess my question to this forum is, are they helpful for a marine aquarium? How often does it have to be on, and why do you need such a large one for a larger tank if you allow it to run longer than you would on a smaller tank? I would think you could get away with a smaller one if it had to be on all the time, but I do not know if it needs to be on all the time. Please help with all this confusion. I am starting up a new system after two years, and I never owned a sterilizer before. I know not to use it during the cycling process, but what about after? Thanks.

Welcome to the site. Well your observation is correct as UV sterilizers are used for different things and depending on what the need is will determine the amount of time to run it. Always use the manufacturers recommendations for sizing the sterilizer for your system. I refer you to the helpful articles page 3 for an article on UV sterilization which is a primer and will give you enough information on the process and what it can do for your system, Then on page two, there is an article on which sterilizer is the right one for you. after reading these articles back here for any remaining questions. If you have already read the articles, then you must decide on whom you will follow, if not, then maybe the articles will clear up things a bit. hope this helps. keep us posted and let me know if I can be of any further help. (DO NOT ADD A STERILIZER JUST TO ADD ONE. THEY ARE NOT NEEDED TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL MARINE SYSTEM, BUT, ARE USED TO CORRECT OR CONTROL SOME DIFFICIENTCIES IN THE SYSTEM, I.E. PARACITES, ICH, EXCESS ALGAE, ETC.). happy fishin.

How do you get to these articles you spoke about?

http://www.livingreefs.com/forums/sa...rium-articles/

or you can press the Helpful Articles button at the top of this page.

Hope this helps
Brandon

Sorry for the confusion. as BK said just click on the helpful articles at the top of the page and you will end up in the helpful articles or on the main forums page you will see a forum labled Saltwater articles just click on it and you will arrive at page one. then just scroll down until you find the article on the subject you are looking for. hope this helps. let us know if we can help further.

I agree with jhnrb. read the articles, but dont buy one unless you need one or have the money to waste. If you have a serious problem with parasites or algae blooms then you may want to consider it, but in my opinion those two problems are usually caused by poor water quality or other problems, meaning that a UV sterilizer is only covering up a bigger problem. But if you have the money to spend go ahead and buy one, (but do get what the manufacteror recomends) It wont hurt to plum it in and use it when you have a problem, but I dont think I would run it constantly in a reef enviorment, If it was fish only I would probly run it constanly.
hope things go well for you
Bryan