Some aquarists believe they help eliminate bacteria, parasitic, fungal, viral, algae, and other unfriendly pathogens in an aquarium, others believe that they are a waste of money. Here is a description of what they are and what they are "supposed" to do.

More:UV Sterilizers won't be effective for what you are trying to accomplish (parasite, disease or algae control) if your watts/gallon flow rate in not right. Here is how to tell if your watts/gal. flow rate is right.

More: Read Top UV Sterilizers and Compare Prices.

Forums: UV's - Anyone using them? I have heard they are a waste of money because the dwell time ...

Forums: UV Sterilizers I have a UV Sterilizer that I will be starting up in a week or so and I am wondering how long ...

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Contrary to popular belief, a vast majority of corals are not autotrophic, requiring only light to survive. Autotrophs produce their own food from inorganic material they extract from their surrounding environment, usually using sunlight to synthesize it with the aid of zooxanthellae algae. Giving your corals some extra food can really perk them up and increase their reproduction rate.

More: Exactly What Do Corals Eat?? Corals, for the most part, are carnivorous, feeding mostly on small animals (zooplankton) suspended in the water column of the ocean ...

More: When Do Corals Eat?? You might be surprised... While you are sleeping, guess what your corals are doing?

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Some aquarists believe a QT is a waste of time and money, thinking that fish can stave off disease, parasites or infections on their own. Most experienced aquarists would disagree, having seen entire aquarium systems wiped out by the introduction of a new critter which brought a disease with it. You can decide for yourself if a QT is worth it.

More: Cheap, Easy DIY Quarantine Tanks. QT's don't need to be fancy or cost a lot of money, they just need to work.

More: DIY Aquariums are terrific Quarantine Tanks. Inexpensive, easy to build and they can be designed to any size you want.

A refugium is nothing more than a refuge from predation. Sessile inverts, macroalgae and other delicate species need a place to call their own and the advent of the refugium was just the ticket! Isolated, but connected to the main display tank, the refugium allows for common water filtration while at the same time keeping more aggressive fish from impacting it. Refugiums have been found to be an excellent platform for cultivating high quality food sources (amphipods, copepods and macroalgae) in a separate but still attached system.

There are a number of macroalga (seaweeds) species which consume Nitrates (NO3) and Phosphates (PO4) at an astonishing rate. Macroalgae also make great food for fish and invertebrates in your saltwater aquarium. These seaweeds are perfect for cultivation in a refugium.