Uv sterilizer , and invertebrate

[Applejaks]

I've been wanting to add a uv sterilizer to my setup and have read that people had problems with them killing there invertebrate. Is there any reason to worry?

[Brian]

How?   Why?  Did these people say how the UV killed the invertebrates?  
I guess anything is possible...   but the animals would need to be exposed to the light....  place a sponge over the filter basket to keep the animals from getting into the filter..

Good Luck 

[Applejaks]

Something about the uv doing something to copper in the water.

[Jungle Fan]

To kill inverts they would have to be directly exposed to the UV light which in most set ups I've seen would be if not impossible, next to impossible because generally the water is drawn into the enclosure by a pump and then streamed past a UV light designed to kill germs and algae spores. I never had an issue with it killing any of my shrimp, or their babies whenever I've used mine. When I ran it it was because I suspected a newly introduced fish that turned sick could spread something to the rest. 

If you are concerned about shrimp being sucked into the enclosure I'd recommend to place  some fine nylon mesh over the intake and hold it in place with rubber bands. The reason that I don't use a UV sterilizert constantly is a. that it changes the chelation of my liquid iron fertilizer to where it becomes unusable to my plants, b. the one I currently have is very large, bulky, and unsightly and an internal UV "filter", and c. the bulbs tend to burn out within a few months when in constant use and are kind of on the expensive side for consumables, and not easy to uninstall, and install.

If you are planning on constantly running a UV sterilizer and have a larger tank the ones I'd recommend are the larger kind you set up in your stand and plumb into the canister filter if you use one, however the high price of initial equipment, spare bulbs, and complicated process of exchanging bulbs remains.

If you have a smaller tank I can recommend my method of only running a UV sterilizer when you need it, it saves UV bulb life cycle hours, you're not wasting money if you use liquid iron fertilizer with it, and your tank looks better without the contraption when you don't need it.

PS: Also forgot to mention the used UV bulbs are hazardous waste and where I live I have to make an appointment to turn them in so they can be disposed off properly, all adding to the hassle, so if I can I don't use it.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Jungle Fan
PS

[Jungle Fan]

@ApplejaksTo my knowledge the liquid iron chelation is the only thing the UV sterilizer affects. It doesn't introduce anything. Shrimp are sensitive to copper but the UV sterilizer has nothing to do with that. I've ran my UV sterilizer with no negative effect on my Amano shrimp, Blue Belvet shrimp, Zebra Nerite snails, Red Nerite snails, Black Military Helmet snails, and Bladder snails.

[Applejaks]

Ok, just didn't want to kill all my shrimp and snails.