plenum

[emonemo420]

So I was reading in a book about a plenum but it seems really hard to make....I just wanna make my 125 (which I'm getting tomorrow!!!!) perfect and I know ken loves his plenums....so how do u make one ... is there an eas way

[a1amap]

You should have come to the November meeting Ken showed us how.
Also a great website for plenum building http://garf.org/
Once there select DIY pages, then plenum building.

[emonemo420]

my question is would it look stupid...like would it show and look dumb?

also is there something i can get besides this "seaflor" crap..thats like cheap....around here....cause i dont really have to much money for that stuff...cant i just use regluar sand and it still work or no....or better yet...how about some kind of like gravel??? that could work right? same principle i would think

[scubadoo2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11851421#post11851421 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by emonemo420
my question is would it look stupid...like would it show and look dumb?

Personally, I don't think plenums look good in a shallow tank.
I had a plenum in a tank several years ago, and the tank was only 15 inches high. The plenum took up about 5 inches, so it was visually unappealing. You can disguise the lower part of the plenum to hide the pvc pipe and egg crate (if that's what you use), by making the plenum slightly smaller than the bottom of the tank on the front and sides, and then fill that space with sand.
The plenum was wrapped in nylon window screen material to keep the sand at the front and sides from migrating into the plenum area.
I finally settled on a standard for my tanks of just 2" or slightly less of sand in the bottom. I just don't add critters that dig deep into the sand. I found this to be the most visually pleasing (to me), and it still allows an active sand bed.
Doug

[Gordonious]

If you decide to use a plenum that may influence your choices of sand as you can't get something too fine which will fall through the screen. Most plenums used by hobbyist are placed under the sand bed and not visible at all. As an added bonus the plenum takes up space where more costly sand would typically be.

Sand is another debate you may want to post separately and you will get a ton of opinions on. We can talk about it a the meeting if you want. Ken is probably a good person to answer the question. You'll want to figure out the difference between silica sand and calcium sand. Talk to me and Ken at the meeting and/or post a new thread about finding sand locally.

[russellqueen]

I also did a plenum in a 55g as per the GARF setup. A very stable system, but visually unappealing esp in a shallow tank. Also they have a finite life as the sand can get very dirty if you do not have an appropriate sand stirring crew.
Then there is the dreaded "acid" that they say may be able to accumulate in the dead space of the plenum base. I would not use it in a large display, only a frag tank or something that you can tear down easily. Go with a regular DSB, works just as well IMO>

[emonemo420]

^^ yea DSB it is..i was doing some late night research and i pretty much came to the conclusion a plenum isnt worth the time n money... it dosent help ur levels that much

[kaptken]

The chemistry of various types of sand beds ls a hot bed of discusion. as far as i can tell, most of the many forms can perform to reef standards, as long as they each are kept to their own particular required set up and maintenance to keep them functioning in the desired manner. I prefer Plenum DSBs because they seem to be the least maintenance intensive. a no brainer. But they aree not fast to react to a new tank set up . they take up to 6 months to stabilize and perform. it is a bio system and the microbes have to find their sweet spot to perform..

There is lots of info on plenums on the net. GARF and stuff written by Bob Goemans. all based on the studies of Lee Eng? It's all a passive bio process. nothing involving pumps or motors.

In other words, energy free.