A video physically showing the set up would be much appreciated.

I did it , with DIRT, WOW IT’S works GREAT!! Thanks DOC

Seen this done in many ways, another interesting thing I seen is using pvc with small holes drilled in the side spaced out through out the tank and push flow under the sand gently.

Thank you I just bout a 75 gallon tank and I'm definitely settling it up using a plenum

You are so right with it...This is my recipe... Aquarium 50 G with homemade plenum, the back pierced at the two corners at the bottom and in the center at the top "water outlet" , connected directly to (the principal homemade inverted filter "powerhead aquaclear 70 in the center box" foam block with lava on the left an right box) which is mounted at the back of the aquarium, PH controled simply by limestone. Only one water change and cleaning 1 side at a time of the filter every 6 months.

Thank You Dr Novak! I have a question, do you put anything under the gravel plates such as kitty litter/ laterite mix, or do you leave it empty with just water. You have never specified either way, and you have video where you set a plenum up in a small tank and you did put bio balls under the plenum lid (though it was not connected to a filter at all). I am a couple weeks out from moving my large tank to a different part of the house and I will be doing a filtration upgrade to the system. I currently run a Fx4 on the tank now and want to add this plenum system on the tank as well as adding a 20 gallon sump to put one large BCB anoxic filter with my heaters. Thank you for your informative videos I know you are helping a lot of people in the hobby change the way we look at maintaining our systems. Have a great day!

I would like if you gave us a close-up of your air lift set up for this tank as I am confused about what goes where - and how do I know if the air is too much or too little? Also, this design is different to the other video showing the plenum setup with the bio balls, kitty litter and laterite in the small tank. That one seemed to have no airlift and you did not go into if it needed one or not. You say in that video that you cannt believe that more people are not using plenums. I am sure they would if the information wasn't so confusing.

I want to do this exact thing and even have the same fish. I'm hoping for live plants and low maintenance. I don't quite understand how it's going to work, but your video is a great start. Do I divert the canister filter to run through the skimmer slowly and the rest of the canister filter water going into the tank? Or do I need a dedicated canister filter for just this set up and a separate filter to filter that tank?

Dr. Novak can you eliminate the landscape ra Ric and use 2_3m.m. travel instead of the sand because the sand tends to compacts too easily. Also need a video to show modification of undergravel filter short tube to "tom" unit. Video mentions you will show it in its final form but never did. Thank you for many informative videos. I look forward to seeing more of them!

Hi Kevin. Thanks for the videos. I have just built a 225g system with sump and I'm using your plenum but I have made it differently as i don't want the co2 gassing off with the air lift tube version so i have all the undergravel filters underneath and i have a 3/8 ro tubing looping underneath the filter plates and little holes drilled in it with the end capped. i then ran the ro tubing up the back corner and connected a very small 12v pump which exhausts into the water column. this pumps capacity is 70gph so I have it running through a 12v timer and a battery. It turns on for 2 minutes every 2 hours. which should be similar flow to yours for size being that my tank is 5ft x 2ft6in wide. It seems to working perfectly. I have 6 bcbs in the sump after a roll filter. My phosphate is 0ppm and my nitrates are 3ppm with heavy feeding of growing ,peaceful SA cichlids and large angelfish. Do you have any advice for me?

Thank you Dr. Novak. I will be using an undergravel filter for my tank as you suggested and using an airstone at an appropriate height (through trial and error) to control the flow of the water. I think this will work. I want to add the Kitty Litter-Laterite-Kitty Litter and then my normal aquarium substrate. The only clay scent free Kitty Litter available here in Panama are quite fine, like 2-3 mm granules and I worry it will pack too tight. Hence my question: Can I use the reverse flow method as long as I can control the flow to the undergravel filter? Thank you.

Now I'm confused how to make a plenum.

Is this would be like undergravel filter? Do u recomend to set up the undergravel filter as it cames?

Does the canister filter still work as a conventional filter as well as the plenum.

Is the price the only reason you say not to get a pen-plax? i already have on that will fit my tank and id very much like to use it.

Do we need to use bio balls for sand plenum?

Have you considered this same basic approach but in reverse-flow?

Hello! Thanks so much for the video. I just did it in my tank. I took a few pictures I would like to share.

Hey Doc can I use dirt instead of sand?

Thanks, Doc. Q1; How deep sand to achieve anoxic conditions? Q2; How long to achieve enough anaerobic bacterial growth to achieve denitrification in lightly stocked tank? BTW; No live plants.