should I use sand plenum?

[sauer]

Wondering if this would be a good idea for a 10 gal setup with carib sea seaflor.

[sauer]

plus I want to add some GARF grunge

[anthony812]

a 10 gallon??? its useless to use a DSB in a 10 gallon and you are thinking of a plenum?? don't waste your time and money...save them for some nice corals..or better equipments..

[rickjg]

anthony812 are you full of it or what?

A sand bed w/ plenum will work in most any size tank

[anthony812]

BUT WHATS THE #$%# POINT? ITS NOT LIKE THE SURFACE AREA OF A 10 GALLON GUNNA MAKE A DIFFERENCE...AND YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT FROM ALL THE POSTS AND THREADS OF THIS TOPIC..DO A SEARCH ON RC IF YOU HAVE TO..JUST BETTER TIME AND MONEY SPENT ELSE WHERE ... BESIDES..ITS ONLY AN ADVICE..TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT..

 

"anthony812 are you full of it or what?

A sand bed w/ plenum will work in most any size tank"

 

keyword: MOST any tank..30 GALLON OR ABOVE!

[ross76053]

That's it....

 

GO TO YOUR ROOMS! BOTH OF YOU! :woot:

[sauer]

anyone else have an opinion?

[Physh1]

Originally posted by Rick J G

anthony812 are you full of it or what?  

A sand bed w/ plenum will work in most any size tank

I'n nano tanks (~20 gallon and smaller IMO) plenums/DSB really are a realistic thing to do. Let's say you have a 10 gallon tank that is 12" tall. By the time you add a plenum or a DSB 4-6" you taken out half your volume!?!?! That makes no sense since in nano's the more water the better. They simply aren't realistic. Surface area also comes into play.

 

I agree with Anthony is saying that it's a better idea to spend your cash on nice rock/corals/filter/light etc.

 

Cameron

[SteveC]

Originally posted by Physh1

I agree with Anthony is saying that it's a better idea to spend your cash on nice rock/corals/filter/light etc.

 

Filter?

 

Filter!?

 

You didn't really mean that, did you? ???

[Dave ESPI]

Myself being a long term user/ advocate of Plennumns, I will (as usual) go against the grain and say "try one". I have a 1/4 inch rise and 1/4 inch eggcrate with nylon mesh in the bottom of 2 10gal tanks. they work flawlessly. One recently was brokendown and upon taking a watersample after exposing the anaerobic areas read a 0 for nitrate and the mulm was nonexistant. Use a 2 inch deep mixed bed of particle sizes including Aragonite and oolitic sand, but go lighter on the oolitic. In small tanks a 2.5 inch SB and lift will be more than sufficent.

 

Oh and Anth, the statement, The POINT IS that it does make a differance It may be small, but it does when it comes to anoxic zones and phoso-calcic bonding from anerobic bacteria that cement the sandbed into a solid brick.

Bad Bad Bad.

 

HTH.

[sauer]

Originally posted by anthony812

 

..JUST BETTER TIME AND MONEY SPENT ELSE WHERE  

 

I've got the egg crate material and as far as time, it takes 10 minutes tops. I don't see either of those as significant investments

 

thanks for everyone's input

[anthony812]

DAVE - HAHAHAHAHAA..u lost me on this one..but I have to agree that what you say may be true..but so is Cameron on agreeing with me..but i guess this is another issue that has no real answers or solutions..

 

Sauer - Go ahead and try it..I am crossing my fingers that you know what you are doing..and not some newbie, whom are often get hung on a new term or methods and disregard whats the real imortant things, ie. Lighting, water quality, water changes, LR etc etc...good luck

 

out!

[sauer]

I appreciate the concern.

[loganj]

I agree that the DSB in a tank this size takes up a lot of room. I can only speak from my limited experience here. I have a 10 with 3 1/2" of Carib Sea Seaflor (no plenum) and it's working great. Never had any measurable ammonia or nitrite (the rock was in really good shape when I got it). Nitrates were a problem for a little while, even with water changes, then they slammed to 0 and have stayed there. I let it go a couple of weeks to see if they would start to rise...nothing. If it's not the sand bed, then I don't know what it could be. Remember, there are no rules in aquariums, only guidelines. And there is always an exception to the norm. JMHO .

Logan J

[sauer]

Originally posted by loganj

I have a 10 with 3 1/2" of Carib Sea Seaflor (no plenum) and it's working great.  

 

How many lbs did it take for 3.5"?

[loganj]

I don't really know. They had several bags of the stuff come in at the LFS that had burst open. They had put it in a 5 gal bucket and I gave them $20 for bucket and all. If I had to guess at it, I'd say about 25-30lbs. That's just a guess though.

Logan J

[Hinecken]

I would like to make a suggestion here. I too am a huge proponent of plenum beds. If you only have 20" to work with and really want a plenum, why not purchase a 15 gallon, the extra 4" the tank gives you in height you could use to make your Plenum DSB. Asking oppinions on this site will give you a great look at things from other perspectives, but remember, there is NO ONE RIGHT WAY to create a succesful reef. If you really want to try something, I say go for it! Remember, the largest advances in this hobby were discovered through experimentation. Good Luck!

[Physh1]

Originally posted by SteveC

 

Filter?  

 

Filter!?  

 

You didn't really mean that, did you? ???

Sure I did....a little Aquaclear Mini or 150 would be cool on that tank. Whether he used it merely for circulation like I do or puts a sponge in it's better than taking 1/2 his tank up with sand....

 

Cameron

[sjwalton]

I am with Dave on this one. Try it. It wont hurt anything thats for sure. The DIY eggcrate version in my 7g minibow and 10g have caused zero problems.

[SteveC]

Oh, OK! When you said "nice filter" I was envisioning something like the Eheim canister I have on my freshwater tank. I'm sure that would be a seriously sucky thing to have on a reef tank.

 

But yeah, powerhead-in-a-box, I gotcha now.

[sauer]

walton, what is the depth of your bed?

[sjwalton]

2 inches by my trusty ruler

[BCOrchidGuy]

I'm with Dave, a 2 - 2 1/2 inch sand base with some egg crate or other type material will give excellent results. Remember that the finer the substrate the better the isolation of the areobic areas and the anoxic area in a shallow DSB.... (shallow DSB?... oh well)

[Chromis]

I say if you have the cash and the time give it a try, but it definately won't be the deciding factor in your tanks sucess or failure.

 

I have had a few conversations with Bob Gommans about plenum systems and still decided not to go along with it but I would for sure with a larger tank or if I ever connect a refugium to my setup.

 

If anything, I recommend picking up a copy of Bob Gomman's book/pamphlet called Living Sand Secrets (I think that's the name).