The Simplicity Plus acrylic aquarium an "in tank", internal filtration system (IFS), that incorporates physical, chemical and biological filtration of the aquarium water. It was developed in the early 1980's by Tenecor and is widely used today in small and large aquariums. It is ideal for freshwater or saltwater fish tanks. It is not intended for use in a reef aquarium.

Advantages of the Simplicity Plus are:

• Easy setup and maintenance.

• No external plumbing.

• No water flow outside the tank, therefore no risk of plumbing leaks.

The basic configuration of the Simplicity Plus is shown in this schematic which is drawn as if one were looking through the back of the tank.
 

Following are significant features to note regarding this filtration system:

• Viewing the aquarium from the front the Simplicity Plus filtration system is hidden behind a black or dark blue wall. This is shown in the following picture:

• Water is skimmed, or drained into the filter chamber) through slots at the top of the filter wall.

• Water flows through a three tier chamber providing:
       1) Mechanical (physical) filtration using sponge, reticulated foam, or other filter pad.
       2) Chemical filtration with activated carbon bag.
       3) pH buffering with crushed coral.

• It is important to clean these media so that detritus does not clog them thereby restricting free flow of water to the pumps. Flow in the tank will be impeded and should the water level fall too low in the pump section, the pump(s) could burn out.

• The water "updrafts" through the heater chamber area and then flows or trickles over the drip plate over the bio-media.

• The bio-media section provides biological filtration. It is not necessarily required to clean this section, although if there is a build up of detritus or you are going to change the tank livestock it may be desirable to do so.

• Water collects in the sump area and is pumped through return fittings into tank to circulate water.

• One to four submersible pumps are used depending on the size of the aquarium.

• The "one-sided" configuration shown above is used in tanks 60" or less in length. The water drains into the left side and is returned on the right side of the tank, when viewed from the front. A picture of this "one-sided" configuration is shown below:

• Aquariums 72", 96" in length have filter wall slots and water flow through the center of tank. The filtration chambers are "mirror imaged" on both the left and right sides of the aquarium. These tanks have 2 or 4 pumps.  These Simplicity Plus systems are illustrated below:

• Simplicity Plus is not available for Ultraquariums 120" in length or over 36" in height.

• In corner style aquariums such as the Pentagon and Quarter Cylinder the filter chamber is on the left wall, viewing the fish tank from the front.

• The number and size of pumps, as well as size of bio-chamber is designed to provide adequate turn over and biological filtration capacity for saltwater or freshwater fish aquariums.

• In models where the length of the wall for the filtration chamber is 36" or longer there is a chamber where an air-lift type protein skimmer can be installed.  Tenecor sells the Red Sea Berlin airlift proteins skimmers for this purpose.

• Simplicity Plus aquariums have tank access holes with lids as well as access holes over the filtration chamber.

• Aquaclear power heads are used on most Simplicity Plus aquariums which are connected to "centipede" return fittings that screw into the filter wall.