Plenums and the wasting "option"

[DougSupreme]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6863077#post6863077 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by salty joe
Doug,

Will you give as many details as possible? Such as size of tank, tank parameters, frequency and volume of drain, did you ever test the effluent for anything, did the effluent have a color or a smell, any evidence of worms or other macro creatures, depth and grain size of sandbed, was the length of time to draw a certain volume consistant, anything else you can think of would be appreciated.

Joe

Well, let's see. Tank was 120G (60x18x26) Tank was fairly consistent 0 Amm, 0 Nitrites, 5-10 Nitrates. I usually drained about a half gallon with every water change (monthly approx). I never tested the effluent waste, but it didn't smell the greatest, it was clear, and to my recollection had no worms or other creatures in it although it did have some "fine grain sand" that leaked into the plenum. Could have been pods or something similar but I never really looked that closely.
Sandbed was approx 4.5" deep in the rear of the tank and sloped down to about 3" in the front, 100% Southdown sand with about 8 cups of live sand added from several sources from time to time.
My draw time was fairly consistent. It was set up as a siphon, so whatever time it took to draw that volume (1/2 gallon), is what it took nearly every time. About a minute and a half I guess.

Not sure what else you would be interested in, but I'll be glad to help out however I can.

 

[barryhc]

Thanks for the info Doug. The "draw time" of 1 1/2 minutes sounds like rather low flow. I expect it is hard to draw thru "southdown", with the "fines" in it.

Have you set your tank back up yet ?

> Barry

 

[DougSupreme]

yeah, but based on size constraints, downsized to a 44 gallon pentagon tank, and to maximize space, and to try something new, I went barebottom on this tank. When I have the opportunity to "go bigger" again, I will probably set up the plenum/DSB again. I like the look better I think.