Questions??

[Nemo]

I have a couple of questions if anybody would like to help. First things is how important is a UV Ster. for you salt water fish tank? what is the best UV ster. for a 44 gal. tank? after buying live rock what is the next things i should start out with if i was going for a reef tanks? if anybody could answer a questions that would be cool and much appriciated

nemo

[Dakota]

i dont use a uv sterelizer. now if i had a fish only tank then i might. it will help u control paraistes? in the tank ick and such but if u properly quarantine your fish i dont think ick will be a problem. Protein skimmer is the next thing i would get for your tank. then lights but that depends on what u are wanting to keep. sps, lps or softies? are u doing fish only or reef tank?

[cheeks69]

A UV sterilizer is good to have to help control parasites, free floating algea bacteria and protozoans but it's not absolutely necessary and as Dakota mentioned if you Quarantine properly you'll be fine without it.

after buying live rock what is the next things i should start out with if i was going for a reef tanks?

You want to make sure your parameters are stable O-ammonia 0-nitrite and low nitrates. Once these parameters are good then you can start adding fish but do it slowly over several weeks so you can make sure your biological filtration can catch up, if you add too many fish within a short period of time you will get an ammonia spike and kill your fish so patience is important. Also keep in mind that the general rule of thumb in stocking your tank is 1" of adult size fish for every 5 gallons, so in your size tank your limited to a few small to mid-sized fish.

What type of lighting do you have and how many watts ?

That will dictate what you can keep in your tank AFA corals go, but I would wait a few months and let your tank mature before adding corals. JMO