question concerning by passing a UV

[Lynn]

I'm hooking my equipment up now and have the UV unit the last thing the water passes through before the tank. Should I have unions or something that I could disconnect it with?? would I ever wont to by pass it? Could I just plumb it in and then take the bulb out or unplug it to get the same results? sorry, I know these are pretty simple questions to most of you, but to me...well...their big!!
thanks

 

[stdyk]

I plumbed mine without unions, and I regret it! I'll have to move my tank in a few months, and I'm throwing unions on all my pumps and equipment then. I run my UV 24/7, and although it probably doesn't do much, I haven't seen any negative results. And I have 2 tangs, so it makes me sleep better at night The only problem with just pulling the bulb to run without the UV, is that it will add some head pressure to your pump, and at least mine likes to collect crap in the bottom of it, so I need to clean it regularly. This is just my experience, good luck...

 

[naesco]

I have a union upstream of the UV.
If you use a bypass type of arrangement, remember to keep the UV off for 10 or 15 minutes after you allow the water through. Otherwise you risk breaking a hot bulb when the cold water hits it.

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

Are you sure you're not going to exceed the flow rate recommended for the UV unit? I know with my return pump I massively exceed the maximum flow rate for my UV unit. My UV unit is plumbed into a small closed loop running out of my sump through a few external pieces of equipment.

I leave my UV unit turned off - it's there just in case I need it. No point killing all the benfical critters circulating through my sump.