Refugium... Mud or Sand??

[mrp2g]

I have seen it set up both ways. I personally have sand, but has not been as succesful as I thought. I am leaning towards mud at this point.
What plants would work best with mud??

 

[jessp]

i'd say neither. just use rubble and chaeto

 

[thesaent14]

use sand + rocks + chaeto it will worck really good

 

[mrp2g]

my plants right now look like crap. The rock that was covered with calurpa is almost bare. The cheato is covered with this brown algae. I thought the mud would give those essential nutrients that maybe lacking right now.

 

[loyalrogue]

Algae growing on your chaeto?
What is the turnover rate in your fuge?

 

[Abengochea]

I would leave it bare. just have some cheato and thats it, if not u will have detrius filling up the sandbed/mud in the sump. Itll be easier to clean with nothing there

 

[mrp2g]

There's not much water movement in the sump area. I added a small 96 GPH powerhead in the sump, shooting across. There is still alot of debris in the sump area, on the powerhead and on the sand.
The refugium is made by Precision Marine. It is being pushed by a Little Giant 3MDXQ-SC. I was thinking upgrading to a Sequence Dart. Will that help issues like this?

 

[Abengochea]

well if u use a stronger pump u will have to worry about microbubbles getting into the display tank. I would leave it as it is and use the sump as a settling tank and just clean it out every so often

 

[mrp2g]

No substrate whatsoever??

 

[Abengochea]

yeah leave the sump without a substrate. that way itll be easier to clean up

 

[mrp2g]

is this the only form of filtration you have?

 

[Abengochea]

the only filtration u really need is a skimmer(mechanical) and live rock(biological)

 

[Bullredchaser]

The mud will work as a denitrator.But mud like Mineral Mud tend to cause a red slime fest. If your going to do it do it the right way and go with the Ecosystem Miracle Mud.It will time release minerals which will also help with lateral line disease and in some cases even reverse it.Because the mud is super fine you dont get detritus penetrating the mud like sand so it makes for easy removal and also allows for the use of a thinner sand bed.Leng Sy only recomends a 1inch layer for denitrification.Most of the systems that I service with Miracle Mud systems have a nitrate level between 0-5.Also of note if you read Mike Palettas book or Julians new book they discuss how aquariums that run Miracle Mud systems have unbelievable polyp extension especially on acros.

 

[mrp2g]

Where can I get some of this mud? Liveaquaria, LFS ? The systems I ve seen running on mud look great. Not to take anything away from anyone else's great tanks that run diff.
What plants would work well with the mud? Calurpa, gracillia, mangroves, cheato?

 

[Ryanqk]

You know i was having the same problem with algae growing on my caulerpa and chaeto, and tons of organic sludge in my sump, even with my skimmer down there and the return, it wasnt keeping clear and still is a bit dirty. I use DSB and rock with macro in my fuge. I find more flow helps keep it suspended and easier to remove. Plus trimming the algae every once in a while....
In my new tank i will have a chance to try new methods out, maybe ill follow this forum and use ideas in my new setup.
I was wondering about using mud myself but i dont want it to cloud up everytime i stick my hand in the sump.

 

[Bullredchaser]

The biggest problem I see with people running refugiums is that they tend to run the flow slower in the belief that the longer dwell time will allow the plants to absorb more nutrients but the opposite is true .

 

[mrp2g]

How do you control flow in your refugium? Powerhead, pump that runs your system?

 

[loyalrogue]

I've seen two basic ways.

One is to run a branch off your return pump with a ball valve to control the flow.

The other is a dedicated PH/pump running a set flow from the sump.

I've got mine setup both ways.
I have a PH pushing water from my sump thru a UV sterilizer to my fuge, and I have a branch off my return pump w/ a ball valve to a spraybar in my fuge that I can open up for more flow.

 

[Sailor_jon]

Try using an incandescent bulb - a screw in halogen..etc, works great on Macro - grows it like weeds. I tried PC's and no growth at all...changed over to Incandescent..and Im pulling clumps of caulerpa prolifera out every week. The spectrum of incandescents is what the macro needs for growth. It will outgrow any cyano...and I have the full flow of my 1206 Eheim running thru my fuge....then into my sump.

 

[mrp2g]

Pc's have worked well for me. What I have seen at the begining was growth, but a ton of bad algea growth too.
The bad has destroyed the macro !!
Update- the situation has gotten a bit better, but not totally. I put a few snails in there and some progress. We will have to see!!