Miracle Mud

[dirtyclownfish]

I am in the process of building my 55 gallon system. I am designing a Mangrove, Mud, and Caulepra filter to fit an a 29 gallon tank beside the main tank. It will be some sort of a refugium, with maybe a few snails and a nice Pajama Cardinalfish.

I have several questions about the system though:

1. Will the mud compromise clarity? If so, how much?

2. Should I still run a skimmer? If so how often, when, and before or after the Mud-Fuge?

3. How should I light it for the caulerpa and Mangroves?

4. Can I expand the Mangrove growth into multiple plants from one propagule?

5. Is it true that Caulerpa reduces heavy metals and toxins?

 

[sjj80]

I use miracle mud and have no complaints. It does not cloud up the water, however when first placing it in the fuge you have to be careful not to let any of the mud in your display tank. What I did is I removed all but 1" of water in my fuge, then placed a foam plate where the water would enter in, then I added the mud. Once the mud had absorbed some of the existing water I slowly added water to the fuge. It's very important that your return pump from the fuge to the tank is off while you put the mud in and several hours after. I'll post a pic of my setup shortly.

 

[dirtyclownfish]

Thankyou sjj80, your avatar is lovely and a picture of your setup would be appreciated.

 

[dcombs44]

I use the mud and don't notice any ill effects, but I'm not sure it has any additional benefits either.

You would probably be just as well off to use sand and live rock rubble in your fuge IMO.

Again, no ill effects, but I've seen tanks look better than mine using sand and rock in the fuge or other media for that matter.

 

[sjj80]

Pics of my setup

Skimmer should always be before fuge, but with miracle mud isn't always neccessary. I use mine just in case but will cut back on it's use as the tank matures. Also notice how the mud slopes down to the slots where the water comes into the fuge chamber.

 

[sjj80]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12532532#post12532532 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dcombs44
I use the mud and don't notice any ill effects, but I'm not sure it has any additional benefits either.

You would probably be just as well off to use sand and live rock rubble in your fuge IMO.

Again, no ill effects, but I've seen tanks look better than mine using sand and rock in the fuge or other media for that matter.

The difference between miracle mud and sand is that MM slowly releases trace elements whereas sand does not. That's the main benefit as well as the reduction/provention of HLLE.

 

[dcombs44]

I read that when I purchased the stuff as well. I want to say I saw a study done on the makeup of the mud once, and it turned out to be mostly quartz. I want to say that it was also suspected to release silicates into the water column. Mine did hit the 2 year mark in September. i didn't change out half of it, and now I've got a small algae bloom. First algae I've seen in this tank since I built it. All water and rock was from established tank when I put it up. I wonder if it may have something to do with the depleted mud?

Don't quote me on that. I'll see if I can find the article.

 

[dirtyclownfish]

I had read that It will prevent HLLE, all the better for my Mr. Chocolate.

 

[dcombs44]

It supposedly will even help reverse HLLE in some fish as well as brighten them up and help them produce a better slime coat.

Again, I'm searching for some studies done on the stuff, and I'll see what I can come up with.

 

[dirtyclownfish]

How about the Caulerpa reducing toxins?

 

[dcombs44]

I actually just read that Miracle Mud is proven to be high in silica, and some people actually use it to feed diatoms to help feed corals. I've had steady blooms of diatoms on my glass since starting this tank. Maybe that's the cause. It was stated that the silica will help sustain pod populations and feed corals.

Take it w/ a grain of salt, but that was from a Team RC member.

 

[dcombs44]

here's the thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1373943

 

[sjj80]

I def. would like to read that article, was the testing done on eco system's miracle mud or another brand?

I've read articles online, in coral magazine and eco system's website before I decided to use it.
dcombs44, my guess would be that not doing the 50% mud change is what caused the algae bloom.

 

[dcombs44]

I also moved my tank across town right before the bloom

The amount of stuff that got stirred up may have help the cause.

Ill keep searching for the article.

 

[dirtyclownfish]

Could I have a link to this article?

 

[dirtyclownfish]

Any marine plant experts out there?

 

[dirtyclownfish]

bump

 

[sjj80]

If by toxins you mean nitrate and phosphate, then yes caulerpa and chaeto will help reduce those, as far as anything else I'm not sure.

 

[chrismunn]

caulerpa can easily go sexual and foul up your water. that will affect clarity by yellowing the water. cheatomorpha is a better choice.

mangroves arent all that great for nutrient export due to thier slow growth rate. the're cool to look at though

 

[sjj80]

one way to avoid having your macroalgae go sexual is to run your fuge light 24/7, that's what I do. Also, I only use chaeto.