Will be using a plenum--not sure what to put in my 'fuge

[SeaGirl]

Hi guys,

I'll be using a plenum in my main tank with a 4" deep sandbed, thanks to Bob Goemans, who's really helped me decide it's something I'd like to do. It's really cool that he e-mails you, too! Anyway, I have an approx. 12-gallon refugium, and I'm not sure what to put in it or how deep to make the sandbed. I kind of like the idea of using plain kitty litter. I'm hoping to use the 'fuge to grow some macroalgae. What do you guys think?

[amcarrig]

Tangster and I use calurpa in our refugium. Alot of people prefer cheato but we've always had great luck/success with calurpa.

[MILLERTIME]

what is plenum?

[SeaGirl]

Thanks for the advice, amcarrig! What substrate should I use, though--and how deep should it be, considering I have a plenum?

Hi, Millertime, a plenum is sort of like an undergravel filter without the riser tubes--it's made out of eggcrate covered with window screen material and covers the bottom of your tank. You put the plenum in your tank first and then put 4 inches of your substrate--and it creates a void under the plenum and helps with denitrification. You can Google it, too, there's lots of stuff online about how to make plenums. Hope this helps!

[amcarrig]

You can use either fine sand or 100% clay cat litter. As for depth, I'll let Tangster answer that question as I don't have any experience with plenums

[Tangster]

There is far more to this methoed then some screen and sand . I mean Where you informed about a method to remove Bio Sludge ? A plenum is a great deal I like them and what makes them far far better if properly constructed you can actually remove the bio sludge from under the plate unlike with a DSB and prolong the systems life indefinitely if removal of the sludge is preformed correctly..

Again all that glitters is not gold and all element break down to carbon base and i a little glass box of Poo and food it will at some point reach critical mass there is nothing that eats what the carbon end product becomes .. NOTHING! and like with all septic tanks they need to be pumped out from time to time. But I'll admit a Plenum is a good system for certain applications But not in the main display system.

[SeaGirl]

Thanks, guys, for the advice! I think I'll reconsider putting a plenum in the main system and maybe put one in the refugium instead, although it's only 12 gallons and the main system is 150 so I'm not sure how much good it'll do there. Thanks, Tangster, for your honest advice--I really appreciate it!

[Iraf]

if your really worried about nitrates being an issue you may want to look at a denitrafying coil instead of the plenum, way less work in the long run

Also if your running a sump + fuge you can sustain a pretty big bioload already without chances of to bad of nitrates if it's setup properly

[SeaGirl]

Cool--thanks, Iraf! Although what's a denitrifying coil?

[SeaGirl]

Never mind! Found some stuff on it--looks interesting!