UV sterilizer to get rid of algae?

[808]

What kind of algae does the UV sterilizer get rid of? I live in a townhouse and unfortunately, the only place where i could setup my tank is across the room from a window. There is always a curtain over it, but i'm sure it's still getting direct sunlight. I know this fosters algae growth, but will a UV sterilizer help to battle this? The kind of algae that grows is just brown dusty algae on the front and rear glass for the most part. I use one of the magnet scrapers to clean the glass, but if a sterilizer will help then i'll go that route as it seems one to handle a 55g won't be too pricey. I'm still unsure exactly how it kills algae, as most posts i've searched on describe how it kills parasites and the like. Will this be something that could benefit my tank the way i want it to?

 

[melosu58]

UV`s are the great debate of the century. I use them because I believe that they help but only to the point where the parasite or algea spores goes into the chamber. If you have any algea growing in your tank it will do nothing for it. The key to getting rid of algea is to find the fuel source and eliminate it. Here is an article on UV`s

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=31

Also an articles on algea

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=14

http://www.fantasyreef.com/showthread.php?t=478