crude question

[allykahn]

I just ordered some crude for the refugium which was empty. I also ordered a bag of arag-alive. Which of the following should I do?
1. Leave the crude as is and add some rubble rock
2. mix aragalive with the mud and add rubble
3. lay aragalive on top of mud and add rubble
4 any other suggestions

Also, is it possible to split the refugium? I mean the front half of the sump has sand and the back half has mud.

 

[Jeremy B.]

The crude is great for seeding any sandbed, which is what I would recommend doing with it. It will be nasty/dark/unsightly, so you probably wouldn't want a bed with nothing but crude, but it will mix in with your existing sandbed just fine.

You could try splitting it up, but I think it would eventually just all mix together, and you'd be better off doing that from the get go.

Thanks,
Jeremy