Plenum Sandbed Pros and Cons

[steelhead97]

Hi guys, I'm mocing up to a bigger tank and have gone with the average standard 3 inch sand bed. Surfing through some sites I've found some information on plenumn sandbeds. There's some mixed reviews on this type of setup. Has anyone gone witha plenum sand bed and know if it is worth the hassle? Thanks much

 

[Peter Eichler]

This is something that has been covered extensively and is still highly debated along with deep sand beds. I was probably among the first people in the US to use a plenum in a reef system. I was also the first person I know of that employed a drain for the plenum. Whether or not that drain was for the benefit or the detriment of my system is hard to say... The tank did very well and I was keeping and growing SPS corals when they were considered impossible by most people. IIRC this tank was set up for about 8 years and I never had and of the disaterous longterm problems so people assosciate with plenums.

All that being said, I see no need to use them today. It's simple enough to have a system with some macroalgae and an efficient protein skimmer and achieve the same results that we were striving for with our plenum systems. I don't see any real need or benefit to setting up an aquarium with a plenum vs. your typical well setup reef aquarium of today. In short, it's probably not worth the trouble.

 

[LostinTime]

First , what size tank are you using?
Second, are you considering a DSB (5-6 inches)?


I am using a plenum in my tank with a DSB. My plenum is approximately 1.5 to 2 inches. The DSB is approximately 6 inches and I'm using reverse flow(using hagen 802 / 70 s) thru the riser tubes to keep debris from ganging up on the bottom of the sand bed. You should know that its not a good idea to stir up the bottom of the sand bed.

You should probably use a 2 -2.5 inch sand bed unless youi plan on going deep 5 -8 inches. 3-4 inches is kinda in the non recommended thickness. Plenums can cause problems if you stir up the sand bed..reverse flow solves this. But there are very few powerheads that can do this (I only know of three and two are made by Hagen). Be sure, if you use one, to fix it such that NO animals can get into the plenum.

I'm using a plenum for the filtration benefits.

Some people dont like the looks of the deep sand bed, but the biological benefits IMO outweigh the looks. (But in my case, you can only see about 2 inches...so you cant tell).

I built my aquarium out of plywood with a starphire glass front. Its kinda unusual in that it's in the shape of a letter T and its unusually tall (37 inches tall). It holds 97 gallons but with the footprint of a 30 gallon tank. I had built it to mount in a hole that I had in a wall of my old house. But due to a fire about two months ago, I had to get a new house. The new house doesnt have a wall I could mount it in so I'm building a stand and will have it in the living room.

 

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12465678#post12465678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LostinTime
First , what size tank are you using?
Second, are you considering a DSB (5-6 inches)?


I am using a plenum in my tank with a DSB. My plenum is approximately 1.5 to 2 inches. The DSB is approximately 6 inches and I'm using reverse flow(using hagen 802 / 70 s) thru the riser tubes to keep debris from ganging up on the bottom of the sand bed. You should know that its not a good idea to stir up the bottom of the sand bed.

You should probably use a 2 -2.5 inch sand bed unless youi plan on going deep 5 -8 inches. 3-4 inches is kinda in the non recommended thickness. Plenums can cause problems if you stir up the sand bed..reverse flow solves this. But there are very few powerheads that can do this (I only know of three and two are made by Hagen). Be sure, if you use one, to fix it such that NO animals can get into the plenum.

I'm using a plenum for the filtration benefits.

Some people dont like the looks of the deep sand bed, but the biological benefits IMO outweigh the looks. (But in my case, you can only see about 2 inches...so you cant tell).

I built my aquarium out of plywood with a starphire glass front. Its kinda unusual in that it's in the shape of a letter T and its unusually tall (37 inches tall). It holds 97 gallons but with the footprint of a 30 gallon tank. I had built it to mount in a hole that I had in a wall of my old house. But due to a fire about two months ago, I had to get a new house. The new house doesnt have a wall I could mount it in so I'm building a stand and will have it in the living room.

Unless I'm reading what you're saying wrong what you're using is absolutely not the way a plenum is inteded to be used in a reef aquarium. What you're describing it little more than a reverse flow under gravel (sand) ) filter.

 

[LostinTime]

Yes,

I'm not using it in the normal sense. Never said it was the normal way. But still can benefit from it IMO.

(I know of at least one other who is doing their system the same way.)

 

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12465799#post12465799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LostinTime
Yes,

I'm not using it in the normal sense. Never said it was the normal way. But still can benefit from it IMO.

(I know of at least one other who is doing their system the same way.)

There are hundreds of ways to have a great reef aquarium. If you way works for you more power to you. I was just clarifying since your way isn't what is usually thought of as a plenum system and I didn't want the OP to get confused.

 

[steelhead97]

Thank you for all the great input, I didnt' know much about it myself until I stumbled upon someone's 225 build thread and they mentioned the plenum sandbed. It sounds like if done right it could really benefit a system but then a dsb also can do the same thng so a matter of preference. I may go with a DSB of 4-5 inches in the display and put a plenum in the sump??? What do you guys think?? If I do need to clean out the sand in the sump at least it will be easier and I wont have to tear up 200 lbs of rock. :smokin: