Refugium Substrate

[LAB]

What do you recommend for substrate in refugium setup. I have heard many good things about Miracle Mud, but it is expensive and the last I looked you were out of 1 gallon containers. There has to be a less expensive alternative that will give good results. Any suggestions would be appreciated immensely. It is only a 10 gallon tank set up as a refugium and the actually area for plant life will be about 12"-14" at most. Also how deep should the substrate be?

 

[eclecticvibe]

Aragamud or mineral mud from Carib Sea seems to work very well. It's similar to the miracle mud. In a 10g tank, I don't think a deep sand bed would be very beneficial. I'd probably do right around 1 inch.