New tank setup, plenum, no sump questions

[hdtran]

I'm setting up a new 120g tank. The local fish store owner (with over 15 yrs experience in marine tanks, opinionated 8) ) recommends the Jaubert setup, with about a 1.5 inch plenum at the bottom, some 1-2mm aragonite sand above, another piece of windowscreen, and the rest of the sand (total of 3-4" of sand, I think). He says that he's had success using this style of tank with a protein skimmer, lots of live rock, and no need for an external sump (unless you want to hide your heater, skimmer, etc.).

I've read the article by Albert Thiel at http://www.athiel.com/lib2/Noplenum.htm, where he measures a dramatic increase in nitrates in the plenum.

One of my friends suggested plumbing one or two small pipes/tubes into the plenum, and capping them off. That way, I can either do a complete plenum water change once in a great while, or do a "trickle" change of the plenum water (something like a few cubic centimeters a month).

What's your opinion on this? Thanks a bunch!

 

[hillbilly]

In 1998, I set up a standard 55gal. reef tank containing a plenum. It was
an experiment. Some people said plenums were the greatest thing ever,
some said the plenum would cause all kinds of problems. This tank is still
running and has always been pretty stable, but so is the other 55gal. I
have with a deep sand bed only. I've never touched the plenum in any
way since it was set up, nor have I siphoned any water from it. In fact I
think that would not be a good idea, IMO. If you want to know more about
plenums than you ever wanted to know, check out the book by Bob Goemans, (The guru of plenums IMO) "Live Sand Secrets". Good luck on
your project!


Darrell

 

[ChrisRD]

If you do some searches on the board on DSBs and plenums I think you'll find the majority of folks today favor the DSB. They denitrify just as well and they're easier to setup.