Marine Aquarium Sciences
Water Quality Data
for our Tropical Plenum System
The tropical plenum system is a 50 gallon tank and was set up in October of 1999 as a student project. The system is located in our SM greenhouse and was prepared as follows: 2" plenum, 1" coarse coral gravel, screen, 2" aragonite gravel as the filter bed. Circulation is acheived through 2 small power heads on either side of the 48" long tank. There is 1 Biowheel #170, running for mechanical filtration and we have in the past year added 1 SeaClone Protein Skimmer (and no, this is no longer a "true" plenum system!) No additives are added and only 2 - 5% water changes have occured in the past 2 years.
Daylight in the greenhouse is augmented by 2 flourescent bulbs; 80 watt actinics. The light was added when observations of several soft coral species showed signs of stress. Improvement in expansion and color were observed in less than 1 weedk after adding the blue light. The photoperiod of the actinic light is set for 6 hours, 11:00am - 5:00 pm.
This system currently has a chiller and heaters running to stabilize the temperature at 74 degrees Farenheit.
The tank has numerous species of soft corals; Sinularia, Pachyclavaria,
2 species of Xenia, Button polyps, mushroom anemones, 1 large sea anemone,
a
variety of algae (some unknown species)
2 fish; Royal Gramma, Clark's clownfish and 1 sally light-footed crab.
Additional organisms have gradually appeared and are now quite obvious;
Yellow sponges, tube snails, feather dusters and fan worms.
