Re: water sprite in refug
Greg , since you are about to use the watersprite as a nutrient sucker in your refug chamber you don't have to worry about duckweed taking over.More fastgrowing duckweed and watersprite in your refuge , less nutrients in your water column , which is your original goal at the first place .
As for sterilization method I allways use Bleach water 19:1 solution for dipping plants prior use with my discus fish . I'm not 100% sure that it will kill all the snails , but this is considered to be effective method to keep potentially harmful pathogens off your pricey discus stock.
Re: water sprite in refug
That stuff grows so fast all you needed was a leave.Less plant would have been easier to treat.