So both sterile or live systems work when each is done correctly but you cannot do a combination of the 2.
I can’t tell you which will work best for you but I can explain the principles behind them to help you decide.
a sterile system uses products like pool shock or
hydrogen peroxide at a certain dosage that almost wipes out bacteria, fungi and moles. It’s dosed usually every 3 days and temp plays a role in how frequently it needs done. The principal is to knock back harmful and along with it beneficial microbes before they reach a population that may be harmful to the plants. They break down and dissipate quickly due to the fact the chemical reaction destroys the oxidative chemicals when they react with living or organic matter.
a live system generally inoculates the system with a varying array of bacterial and fungal species that are known to be beneficial and highly competitive. These bacteria and fungi produce enzymes and metabolites that process nutrients and are harmful to competing microbes. (Eg many antibacterial compounds we use such as penicillin are derived from metabolites produced by fungus, this specific metabolite kills many species of bacteria) Essentially they are inoculated so they take hold and make a large army of beneficial microbes so when a small army of harmful ones come they will be wiped out before being able to take hold. If maintained well they do not need to be added in high frequency like is done in a sterile system.
on top of this many provide enzymes and metabolites that can have an impact on not only nutrient availability but also compounds that benefit growth, health and can impact quality and yield to a varying degree.
The benefit to sterile is easy to validate and maintain but also more time consuming and slightly more expensive with things able to go wrong fast if not maintained.
the benefit to live is its very minimal maintenance and cheaper providing more benefit to the plants. But parameters and mindfulness or need to be kept up n check when dealing with a living system since if you gravely harm or destroy them you may not know until you see issues.
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens is one or the absolute must have species in a live hydro system and it alone is adequate