To Plenum or not?

[tigershark]

I am setting up a 60 Gal tank this weekend. I have 45 LBS LR and will have a 4" DSB that I plan to make live after the tank is done cycling. Should I use a plenum or not. I dont plan to use the undergravel filter at all. Have you had problems with or without the plenum?

 

[saltyrich]

I think you'll find that many on this board go with a strait-up 4-6" dsb.

 

[brooklyn johnny]

I agree with Saltyrich. I have never used or setup a plenum, however a properly functioning DSB is easier to setup and will always convert nitrates and yield undetectable levels. When you "make your sand live" make sure you have a good source for live sand, and concentrate on obtaining sand with all the beneficial critters, not just sand coated with bacteria. Good luck.

 

[wamp]

I ran a plenum on my 75.. I had no problems with it. I saw no diffrence between a plenum and a DSB. Basically the same thing, just a diffrent way of doing it.

 

[brooklyn johnny]

Wamp said it. Plenums will work but why go through the hassle? Whatever bad experience you may have with a DSB, having a plenum would not have avoided it. Just dump the sand in IMO.

 

[tigershark]

Ok I wont use a plenum, I think the LFS just wants to sell me more stuff that I dont need. How is the LS from this site? I have oolitic sand for my bed, any idea on how the sand from this site looks and if its full or critters like it says.

 

[brooklyn johnny]

Can't attest to the sand from this site, but what i do is get a bag of sand from everyone I can in my aquarium club to go for biodiversity. If you have local buddies you can do this, or order from different sites on the net. Have you thought about a refugium? This can be simple, cheap, and very effective. Look into it.

 

[tigershark]

Yes I've thought about a refigum but for right now Im just trying to get my tank up and running. I have a sump and that might eventually turn into a refigum/sump or something like that. I dont really know anyone else around here who is into making coral reefs in their houses, none of my friends have the money to do it either. The LFS's around here dont even carry the real LS, they say you dont need it, its just an internet thing and tell me to just use Nature's Ocean packaged live sand and its the same thing. So i'm kinda on my own here but thanks for the advice, i'll see if I can find anyone local to san jose, CA

 

[reefsoe]

Im in the NY area... i just put 200 lbs of southdown in my 75g i seeded it with a little sand from my old reef bout two years old...
Where can i get some different sand in the area besides the LFS id love to add a few more pounds of biodiverse sand to get this sand bed activated.