Shannon O'Rourke (Old Bridge, NJ) writes...

Hi Bob,

I'm brand new to marine fishkeeping and I'm setting up my first saltwater tank, which will be a future reef. The tank is a 150 gallons, with a three-sided internal overflow in the center back wall. I've been taking my time doing my research on different aspects--it took me six months before I finally decided on my light fixture--and now I'm looking into filtration. So far all I've got is my protein skimmer--it's an H&S A150 rated for a 210 gallon tank. I've been reading a lot about the plenum system, and I'm very interested in setting one up for my tank. I had read in FAMA about using one in a sump versus the main display tank, but unfortunately this won't work in my case for two reasons: one being that I don't have the room in my aquarium cabinet stand for a large sump or a basement to set one up remotely, and the second reason being that the tank is in the living room, so I couldn't put a second tank beside it, without there being objections from family members.

Anyway, my question is this--can I still use a plenum system in the main display? I love the idea of the plenum; I'd like to minimize gadgets around the tank and go for a more natural approach. I decided I'm going to have a sump/refugium custom made to fit inside my cabinet as it's tight in there. Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

Shannon O'Rourke

Old Bridge, NJ