Has anyone here used the Plenum System successfully the saw the display tank at Beyond the Reef in Hoffman Estate and it was beautiful. The owner said they never change the water in the display tank for years they just use an auto top off for the evaporation. They use the calcium reactor and some additives as needed , they feed daily too and nitrate is zero, seven fish in the tank I think it's a 250 gallon "¦.
Plenum System
- Thread starter polka
- Start date
3seconds2live
New member
What is the plenum system i found very little reading and dont think i've grasped the concept?
Pufferpunk
New member
I bet Menard does WC. I don't believe in never doing WC.
Stuart60611
New member
Check out I believe pages 2-3 of the below thread where pleniums are discussed in detail.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1818967
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1818967
ptr13
New member
I have the same plenum I built for my 225g and it is starting to stabilize the tank,look up jaubert and also read on reef aquarium by julian sprung,he explains it well. It is a good way of filtering nitrates and phosphates,0 supposedly after a few weeks according to sprung and delbeeks studies,they are both marine biologist.
3seconds2live
New member
sully is that your main sps tank or are you setting up another tank?
I had a plenum on my first reef tank back in '03. A guy at a LFS told me the same thing and I set one up exactly according to the Jaubert method, with a large grain layer and a small grain layer of sand divided by screen and lots of open space. A lot of people are anti-plenum now for a few reasons.
First, they work by turning the entire display tank into a supercharged bacteria factory. This keeps the nitrates low but increases acidification and depletes the water of oxygen. If the power goes out on a plenum tank, you have about 30 seconds before fish start dying because the bacteria uses up so much of the available oxygen in the water column (that is an exaggeration, more like 4-8 hrs depending on tank size). Also, most plenum users don't siphon their gravel, which is harder since the rock structure is set on top of the gravel bed and not on the tank bottom. This is ok with a light fish load, but eventually there will be so much accumulation of waste in the bed you will have nitrates in the tank, and likely a never-ending slime algae problem. Another problem is that a thick bed of detritus in anaerobic conditions promotes not just beneficial bacteria, but pathogenic bacteria as well, if you happen to introduce something into your tank. It will also act as the perfect culture medium for ich if and when you deal with that. Finally, a true plenum system requires something like 70% of the bottom to be open space and takes up about 5 inches of top to bottom depth, which is a lot of room to give to a questionable biological filtration concept when a refugium works just as well. Also, the same biological process will occur in a regular 2 inch sand bed, just on a smaller, and safer, scale.
Man, I love long posts.
First, they work by turning the entire display tank into a supercharged bacteria factory. This keeps the nitrates low but increases acidification and depletes the water of oxygen. If the power goes out on a plenum tank, you have about 30 seconds before fish start dying because the bacteria uses up so much of the available oxygen in the water column (that is an exaggeration, more like 4-8 hrs depending on tank size). Also, most plenum users don't siphon their gravel, which is harder since the rock structure is set on top of the gravel bed and not on the tank bottom. This is ok with a light fish load, but eventually there will be so much accumulation of waste in the bed you will have nitrates in the tank, and likely a never-ending slime algae problem. Another problem is that a thick bed of detritus in anaerobic conditions promotes not just beneficial bacteria, but pathogenic bacteria as well, if you happen to introduce something into your tank. It will also act as the perfect culture medium for ich if and when you deal with that. Finally, a true plenum system requires something like 70% of the bottom to be open space and takes up about 5 inches of top to bottom depth, which is a lot of room to give to a questionable biological filtration concept when a refugium works just as well. Also, the same biological process will occur in a regular 2 inch sand bed, just on a smaller, and safer, scale.
Man, I love long posts.
Sullyman
Premium Member
30 seconds and fish start dying, what are you talking about? Where did you get the most plenum users info, is there a book about us plenum users???????
Yes I have a plenum in my sps tank, it's over 4 years old now and thriving. You can use normal sand for the top surface and have plenty of life in it to stop those darn Detritus build ups.
Yes I have a plenum in my sps tank, it's over 4 years old now and thriving. You can use normal sand for the top surface and have plenty of life in it to stop those darn Detritus build ups.
What's up Sullyman. My fish like your food--way chunkier than Rod's. You of course read that I was exaggerating about the 30 seconds. But without circulation, asphyxiation does occur very quickly with an established plenum. You have a large tank and if I remember correctly run a refugium, which mitigates this problem, but I think you would find this to be true if the power shut off for a day or so while you were on vacation or something.
Ultimately my reason for being against plenums isn't that you can't be succesful with one, it's just that there are a number of small problems they can create, as listed above, as well as an aesthetic aspect (how much more space would you have in your tank with a standard two inch sand bed?), and there is ample evidence that you can be successful without one too.
Ultimately my reason for being against plenums isn't that you can't be succesful with one, it's just that there are a number of small problems they can create, as listed above, as well as an aesthetic aspect (how much more space would you have in your tank with a standard two inch sand bed?), and there is ample evidence that you can be successful without one too.
