UV versus Carbon...

[JimD]

I sometimes run carbon after a water change to "polish" the water, it helps to remove any yellow tint that may be present. Since my tank is mostly sps/clam dominant, a uv sterilizer isnt an option. A sterilize makes better sense in a fish only tank to minimize the possbility of parasitic/bacterial infection.

[brewercm]

Used UV before and my pod population was wiped out, took it off and it came back eventually. Maybe coincidence but don't want to take the chance any more, but that does make since that it would kill anything that would be benificial to the survival of a good pod population. JMO

Run carbon fairly regular.

[StephenA]

I've only used a UV to deal with ich, I ran it for 3 weeks. So far no ich has returned.

[TAXMAN]

Sorry KAJeff. I forgot that poll option. LOL

[mharris7]

I run carbon 24/7 for several reasons. One is that the water develops a yellowish tint within a couple of weeks if you don't. This can actually cut down the ammount of light penetrating the water. I know of one guy who "burned" his corals accidentally when he started using carbon because it made that much of a difference in water clarity and the ammount of light reaching the corals. Two is that corals emmit a lot of very nasty chemicals when in competition(they don't just sting each other). We are, by jamming all kinds of different corals into a small space, doing everything possible to ENCOURAGE this competition to occur. And, unlike in the ocean where you have nearly limitless water volume to dissipate the toxins outside of an immediate area, our tanks can become saturated with them very easily. Carbon will adsorb most of this so I think it's prudent to use cabon quite a bit.

[Instar]

I agree - I run carbon all the time. My reef is a crowded mix with leathers, lps, sps, zoos, palythoa and clams so the warfare is constant. Without the carbon, it doesn't work for long unless I do lots of water changes. The refugium is also a mixed bag of macros, so the carbon keeps the macros growing well too.