UV Sterilizers

[Grey Legion]

I started a plant grow out tank setup and it is working very well, actually a little to good, the growth on my plants is AMAZING. I have noticed however that I am starting to get a bit of brown algae, which I don't want growing on my plants as I plan to see/trade them, so I was wondering if what they claim about UV units is true. Will they kill off unwanted algae and such or is it just a bunch of bunk, do they kill off just the bad or do they kill everything?, are they worth the investment ??

If anyone has some knowledge on these items in a planted tank please pass it along to me..

Thanks

 

[andywg]

I haven't found them to be good at killing off algae as they only really kill off free floating pathogens (like Ich). Unless the algae physically passes through the flter then it is unlikely to affect it.

If you are suffering from algae then there will be an underlying cause which should be addressed. If you look in planted tanks you should find the answer.

 

[Grey Legion]

I don't have a algae problem at all, what I want to do is keep the water as clean as possible and free of any algae spores. My plan is to sell plants so I want to ensure them to be in the best possible condition when sale time is here..

Thanks

 

[rdd1952]

UV Sterilizers won't do anything for algae. They will kill free floating bacteria as well as diatoms that cause green water. If you are having problems with green water, it will help but won't do much otherwise to combat algae.