vodka and miracle mud

[burnah]

hey there!

used the search function but nothing turned up.

i plan on adding a caulerpa fuge to my tank which depends on vodka for nutrient reduction. i plan on reducing the dose so both "systems" can work side by side. has anyone experience with miracle mud and vodka dosing? i fear slime buildup on the mudbed...

also i would like to know whether its true or not that with miracle mud you do not have to dose trace elements?


greetings and thanks in advance,
martin

 

[huckphinn894]

I use rock pool crude instead of mud for my elements and have seen wonders in my coral growth. but have only just started to learn about vodka so sorry no help there.

 

[tmz]

The algae will likely wane with very low levels of PO4.<.03 The ethanol could get into anoxic areas in the mud leading to sufate reduction and hydrogen sulfide issues. I do not personally use the mud.
. I do run chaeto refugia , a deep sand bed ,and cryptic zones along with vodka and vinegar dosing . All does reasonably well with PO4 at around .04 .

You should get plenty of trace elements from water changes and feeding.

 

[Ram Jr]

I have run miracle mud for almost a year now. I do NOT dose trace elements or vodka and have cheato in the sump. The salt that I use is Tropic Marine Bio Active and maybe maybe have to add some alk , cal once a month. I have had miracle mud from day one and the tank is stocked with over 18 fish and lots of corals etc. Not so many sps but that is ok by me because the tank is not over a year old yet. I cant compare it to a deep sand bed in the sump set up because I only know the Miracle Mud system. But if you ask me its worth it because I dont have to dose and things stay stable. I have a thread going if you want to take a look at the build and the video's feel free.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1892028

 

[burnah]

thanks for your answers, ramjr your tank looks good, nice selection of fish! thanks for sharing your setup.

tmz, thanks for posting. what you describe is almost what i want to do. caulerpa in sandbed, cryptic LR zone and vodka dosing. i want to do this to keep my tank more diverse, as with the vodka it seems its kinda getting more sterile. as for anoxic zones and vodka, wouldnt you get that with dsb too? my idea is to mix sand and mud 1:1 in a 5 inch ( i know, no dsb) bed with caulerpa.

how does this sound?

 

[tmz]

Yes, perhaps . Just seems flow through the sand bringing oxygen and nitrate offsetting anoxia might be easier to achieve than the mud . I know it has not been a problem for me but I have live rock piled on the sand to enhance advective flow.

 

[thebanker]

I use miracle mud with chaeto above it, and biopellets for organic carbon, rather than vodka. I've had great success with this. Just remember you need a skimmer if you dose carbon, like biopellets or vodka.

 

[thebanker]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1846321

Here is my tank. I do not change the miracle mud periodically per the mfgr reccommendation. I don't see the reason to do this. For trace elements, I dose Seachem Reef Trace, sparingly.

FWIW, I hardly do ANY water changes, not that I advocate that.

 

[burnah]

thebanker, thanks for posting this tank! its fantastic!

thats what i was looking for, a low maintainance tank with algae/miracle mud and carbon dosing thats working good, and yours is even the same size as mine! i hope my plan of the refugium works out, will post pics..

 

[thebanker]

No problem burnah. Thank you for the compliment. I won't say my tank is "low maintenance" though!!

 

[burnah]

i didnt mean it that way, it was a wish for my tank

 

[sellmecorals]

The banker, do u use mud in the display only and have a layer of coarse sand on top?

 

[thebanker]

I was using mud in a refugium, hang-on-back style. I don't use it any more.