GARF Plenum

zelie_dad · 02/04/2016, 09:15 PM

I stumbled upon GARF.org, and started looking through the Bulletproof Reef. It mentioned building a plenum under the sand. I looked for the items it mentioned and all of them were discontinued. It doesn't appear that anyone has really mentioned this in a while here on RC, so I was wondering if it is still viable. Does anyone still use them, or have us as hobbyist moved on?

dendrite · 02/04/2016, 09:24 PM

based on the Garf website I built a plenum into a 180 gallon reef and a 39 gallon reef. Both tanks are quite successful but honestly who knows whether or not the plenum has anything to do with it. The plenum in the two tanks are completely covered with live rock and totally out of view and I have to assume they are functioning as sites for anaerobic activity

CStrickland · 02/04/2016, 10:15 PM

There are a few around, and a few folks ran them for a while to good effect but for one reason or another didn't bother to instal one after a tank reset. But you're right that it's not common at all anymore.

I also wonder if there are more tanks like that than we realize because the reefers who keep them aren't online. When plenums came on the scene, the Internet was a baby. The few reefers who were online were chatting in, like, listservs and aol dialup boards. There's no way to know how many happy oldtimers are chugging along with 20 year old tanks using pennies as a copper source for ich treatment, trickle filters, and Rube Goldberg closed loop systems for flow.

IMO you don't need a plenum to have a thriving reef, and it's not really something to do if you don't have to because of the scale of the project. NB the skimmers back then were crap, and a powerhead that pushed as much as a modern mp10 was about 5" square. So it'd be fun to run a plenum like it'd be fun to build a Commodore 64 to play 8-bit games on.

TimeConsumer · 02/04/2016, 10:26 PM

One of my LFS used to use them. He eventually pulled it all out as it was trapping detritus.

02/04/2016, 09:15 PM	#1
zelie_dad Always bring a towel Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Zelienople, PA Posts: 363	GARF Plenum I stumbled upon GARF.org, and started looking through the Bulletproof Reef. It mentioned building a plenum under the sand. I looked for the items it mentioned and all of them were discontinued. It doesn't appear that anyone has really mentioned this in a while here on RC, so I was wondering if it is still viable. Does anyone still use them, or have us as hobbyist moved on?

02/04/2016, 10:15 PM	#3
CStrickland Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: New England, U.S. Posts: 4,595	There are a few around, and a few folks ran them for a while to good effect but for one reason or another didn't bother to instal one after a tank reset. But you're right that it's not common at all anymore. I also wonder if there are more tanks like that than we realize because the reefers who keep them aren't online. When plenums came on the scene, the Internet was a baby. The few reefers who were online were chatting in, like, listservs and aol dialup boards. There's no way to know how many happy oldtimers are chugging along with 20 year old tanks using pennies as a copper source for ich treatment, trickle filters, and Rube Goldberg closed loop systems for flow. IMO you don't need a plenum to have a thriving reef, and it's not really something to do if you don't have to because of the scale of the project. NB the skimmers back then were crap, and a powerhead that pushed as much as a modern mp10 was about 5" square. So it'd be fun to run a plenum like it'd be fun to build a Commodore 64 to play 8-bit games on. __________________ If you're havin tank problems I feel bad for you, son. I got 99 problems but a fish ain't one Current Tank Info: 3/2016 upgrade to 120g. Chalk bass, melanurus, firefish, starry blenny, canary blenny, lyretail anthias, engineer gobys, kole tang. Softies / LPS / NPS. <3 noob4life <3

02/04/2016, 10:26 PM	#4
TimeConsumer Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: New Orleans, La Posts: 1,919	One of my LFS used to use them. He eventually pulled it all out as it was trapping detritus. __________________ Steve - Retired from reefing, for now.

02/04/2016, 09:24 PM	#2
dendrite Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: denver Posts: 493	based on the Garf website I built a plenum into a 180 gallon reef and a 39 gallon reef. Both tanks are quite successful but honestly who knows whether or not the plenum has anything to do with it. The plenum in the two tanks are completely covered with live rock and totally out of view and I have to assume they are functioning as sites for anaerobic activity