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Longhairedgit (or anyone knowledgable in them)
Being new to UV Sterilzers and having installed a couple in 2 of my tanks...the question came to mind about them interfering with the beneficial bacteria culture imbeded in my Bio-Wheel filters.

Does the UV Sterilizer affect the benefitial functioning of my Bio filtration? (Marineland Emperor 400 Dual Bio-Wheel and fiber mechanical filtration filters)

Please?

The sterilizer should only affect the water being pumped to them. The bacteria on the wheel would not be affected.

then if there is beneficial bacteria in a new tank being setup that would being Killed by a UV Sterilizer, should the UV Sterilizer not be run at first and kill waterborn bacteria until the Bio-Wheel has been run a month or so to collect it and get "seasoned" with that bacteria, before using the UV Sterilizer?

Not a bad idea to give it a month or so.

Taken from Drs. Foster and Smith:

"While UV sterilizers usually do no harm, do not use one when you first cycle your aquarium, as it may kill beneficial bacteria before they attach to the bio-media or gravel. Also, many medications can be "denatured" by the UV light, so the sterilizer should be turned off when using medications, especially chelated copper treatments. The UV light will "break" the bond of the chelating agent, and the aquarium will have a sudden, lethal concentration of ionic copper.

Once you introduce a UV Sterilizer into your system, carefully monitor your aquarium's temperature. Depending on your aquarium size and flow rate, a UV Sterilizer may add heat to your aquarium water. If this occurs, you may wish to consider installing a chiller. "

Relevant part was in bold, but the rest is useful information so I included it.

Yup, they could drag a cycle out to many , many months, and they do destroy most meds, but in an established aquarium with good media colonisation they should cause no problems and can be added post cycle at any time without harming the balance of the aquarium. If your raising fry though, it helps to turn them off so that infusoria can grow again and provide food for the babies, and if your filter ever crashes out or breaks for any reason, you'd turn the UV off to ensure it can recolonise in a reasonable timeframe.

Thanks guys,
I thought so...I appreciate you confirming it for me.
The question WAS related to a brand new tank I'll setup soon.
I won't fire up the sterilizer until the bio-wheels are well seasoned...and I'll watch the temp too.

Thank you very much
(It just didn't seem right that the sterilizer could be "selective" as to benefial or harmful bacteria it killed)
I appreciate your confirmation, guys