How does MUD Work in a Refugium

[eatsomepopcorn]

What is so special about mud, what does it do different from sand and why so costly?

 

[austinsdad]

Got this from an AquaCave website;

Miracle Mud is a product of EcoSystem Aquarium® that has been carefully formulated to include all the essential trace elements, minerals, and components necessary to maintain a successful aquarium.
Miracle Mud will continually replenish your aquarium's concentration of trace elements and minerals to create an ideal environment.
Miracle Mud also contains anaerobic microorganisms that denitrify the aquarium leading to a pristine home for your fishes and corals.

Further proven benefits from the usage of Miracle Mud include:
- Reversal of head and lateral line erosion (HLLE) in fishes.
- Restoration and maintenance of fish and coral's health and vibrant colors.
- Compatibility in various types of aquariums (fish-only tanks, coral-only tanks, or small polyped stony (SPS) reef tanks)
- Natural denitrifier. END QUOTE

I used it in my fuge at about 2" deep with a top layer (about a half inch) of sand, with rocks and rubble. Worked very well for me. The thing is that you must replace maybe 50% of it after a couple years maybe, I forgot. Since it has trace elements and minerals in it, I'd imagine they need replinishing too after a while. I never got to that point since I broke my tank down, but it was something I wasn't looking forward to doing. Can you imagine all that stuff down there that you'd stir up and remove substrate and replace?

 

[melosu58]

I put it in my refuge covered by sand but if I had to do it all over again I would not use it. I dont see where it accomplished anything.

 

[cmor1701d]

I haven't seen anyone on this board that would do it again. A DSB in the tank is one thing. In the sump there is just not enough area to help much.
Now if your sump is a kiddie pool in the basement a remote DSB is the way to go!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I am reading a lot of threads where people are saying they won't use it again, and they didn't see the benefit. Is it like everything else, where it's all in how you use it?

I was planning on adding a 'fuge to this system:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/tank-journal-125-reef-125546.html

And was advised to think again. What I was planning on doing is leaving the 30L sump like it is, and adding a 10g tank fed from a tap off of the overflow piping (custom made just for this purpose, see the pic in the thread) which would control the flow through the 'fuge and then out through a bulkhead (yet to be drilled) and back into the return side of the sump. If I reduce the water flow enough and direct it properly, there should be no stirring up of the mud at all that I would see, and if I stick to 1" like the directions say, why would I need to add a layer of sand over the top? Isn't the purpose of Miracle Mud to interact with the water and create different layers of oxygenated and non-oxygenated zones, while providing minerals to the water?

Also, one person posted on my other thread on the same tank on another forum about a mass outbreak of hair algae after adding MM and it going away within months after removing it. Has anyone else experienced this or something else like it, and what would really cause that to happen?

I could see that adding a large amount of nutrients to a potentially unstable system would cause a mass algae outbreak, and I definitely want to avoid that....

 

[cmor1701d]

Forget the mud as it doesn't add anything. Just use sand. At 1" it's too shallow to provide anoxic areas. That will only happen in a DSB (4"+).

From what I've read over the past few years the hype about the Miracle is just that, Hype! Nothing special in there.