about to start up my old system got a few questions

[EILAT]

HI,
I was told that uv kills al the beneficial bacteria for a reef system.
As far as the system i would like is a mixture of fish, soft and hard corals. I have a 125 that i am about to set up again and I don't want to make the same mistakes the first time around.
What are the negatives of having a uv in a reef tank
What are the benefits?
do uv stop ick?
can i stick in a picasso trigger in a reef system?
& why do they call it a pair of pants when nobody buys just the pant

any answers would be greatly apprecated. also any advice for an old novice

 

[tony]

Im not to the UVs for some reasons as heat, killin helpfull bacteria and decresing the plankton population. For the Picasso I really dont recomend it because he pics on every thing that is in the tank, although there are some triggers that are compatible in the reef tank.

 

[Curtswearing]

Bacteria live in a biofilm on the surfaces of your tank. Very few are motile so only a small amount of them will go through the UV. It's not a big deal anyway. If there is a food source and a surface to live on, bacteria will reproduce and colonize within the day. You have to remember that we count bacteria's life-cycle in hours....not days or years.

UV, if sized properly can remove many pathogens. It can also kill algae spores that float through it.

 

[Angelscrx]

An I have read about UVs is to only turn it on for a couple hours a day or only run it during the night. If you have a bacterial outbreak then turn it on full time until you get it back under control then go back to your normal schedule.