Hi all. I was just thinking on the use of the UV lights . Are they good if so why? Are they not so good if so why? Reasons : some fish keepers use them and some dont. Im still on the fence about them . I did have one on the 400 ltr setup I had and found it to reduce the likes of white spot. So I looking for some input from the Pros on the Pros and the Cons on the cons if ya know what I mean

Hi there,, i have always used UV sterilization on my tanks and i do believe that it is very important in the control of disease, the alternative to uv is Ozone and it can be finicky the pro`s of using uv sterilization are that it destroys free floating parasitic,bacteria and even algae. The con`s are more about maintenance that anything else, the bulb needs to be replaced every six to eight months or the sterilizer will become ineffective and you must keep the quartz sleeve over the bulb clean from sediment,, also i have noticed that after a few years the plastic on the UV unit can become quite brittle which can lead to cracks and leaks.
CONCLUSION,,,UV does kill good and bad micro organisms and adds a little extra maintenance to your aquarium, but the benefits to me out weight the cons as i have never got disease in my reef tank and if i did i could not use a copper based treatment which is the most effective traetment as this would kill my coral

Hi paul,i agree that it would kill both bad and good but with your "miracle mud" set up any phyto or beneficial spawnings like copepods etc would also be destroyed.In my experience thy create a very sterile enviroment.Anyone keeping a fish only set up would certainly benefit.