To UV or not to UV

[flfireman1]

So Ive had a couple people tell me that a UV sterilizer would be very beneficial to your fish population. Yet others have told me that the UV would kill beneficial organisms that corals use as food. I was thinking about picking one up since big als has the turbo twist rated for a 125 on sale for 84.99. My question is what is everyones opinion about them here. Do you use them in your reef tanks???
Eric

 

[racermike27]

I thought about getting one for a while, but then I ended up not.
I don't use one and have never used one, I think it is totally a preference kind of thing. I have seen successful tanks use them and others that don't.

 

[TorryRx]

I have one on my FOWLR, but I don't use them on my reef.

I had one on my reef a while back, and didn't notice much of a difference when I put it on, nor when I took it off to use on the FOWLR.

 

[illal]

i dont use one only cause theres always other things i want more

 

[pedromatic]

I bought one when I first set up my tank because the LFS guy said I needed one, along with my wet/dry and SeaLife Systems skimmer. I ran it for a while, then turned it off for a while. Then turned... well, anyway, I didn't notice any difference. But I figure, with a fuge, I don't really want to kill the stuff that's getting blown up into my tank anyway. I'll probably remove it when I get around to re-doing my return lines.

 

[Lifes A Beach]

I had a turbo twist about 4 years ago when I was having a problem with red velvet algae on the advice of a LFS (learned my lesson). I didn't notice any differnce at all. Waste of money in my opinion. Like Illal said there are other things to buy!

 

[chinoxl3]

I have one and noticed the water a little clearer after a few weeks of operation. Also I haven't seen any of my tangs with black ick anymore. I'm not telling you to get one but it wouldn't hurt getting one either.

 

[jdhuyvetter]

I love em. Put one on my freshwater tank and cleared up a gill fluke problem I was having with my discus. Have one on my smaller reef tank. Have a turbo twist on my larger reef tank too. but this one sucks. I just put my 5th bulb on it in a year. I'm on my second ballast too. Best part of it all, Corallife won't return my phone calls or e-mails. Not only is it a stellar product but the customer service is phenomenal! (A great deal of sarcasm is intended)