how should i have my miracle mud in my refugium?

well i currently have a 20 gal. tank sump/refugium running from my main 75 gal. made some baffles and such into three compartments as follows:

1st) water from main tank drains into hear, where i have my skimmer intake and heater

2nd) refugium area, LSB with little live rock, some caulerpa, and cheato, and a korilia 1. lighting above the refugium is a small compact flouresant 5500k (closests i can find at home depot for sunlight)with a aluminium dome reflector.

3rd) skimmer reurn outlet, and return pump

now for the question:

i have about 2 inches of live sand in there and i have ordered some miracle mud online. i wanted to know what should i do with it. place it directly over the live sand i have? or mix it in? or take out the live sand and replace it with miracle mud? or place miracle mud first, then lay live sand on top of that?

just want to know what are some ideas, for best results, hope you guys have had some experience with what im talking about.

-thanks

 

I guess the real question is what are you trying to get from the addition of the mud? did you order it for a specific reason or just because you thought you were supposed to have it?
I have seen and heard of both substrates being used with great success so unless you have a specific reason to switch them i'm not sure I would go thru the hassle of disturbing the refugium.
If you do decide to add the mud I would take out the sand and maybe mix in a cup of it just to kickstart the mud.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do and how it comes out.

 

im trying to get it to boost the growing of my macroalgae, and remove nitrates, as i heard that its a great denitrafyer.

i have had high nitrates for the longest time... and yes i have done water changes, cant afford a RO/DI filter, and constant buying of RO water is a not for me, im just trying to get them down around 20-30 ppm, as of now, they're over 100 ppm i believe its because i use tap water.

 

Ouch! ok,
I would remove the sand and add the mud, the light you have is fine - leave it on 24/7 to prevent the caulerpa from going asexual on you and causing a larger issue. You should see noticable growth in a week and your nitrates will start to drop.

I would seriously look into an RO/DI unit, this is the one I have -AQUARIUM RO DI REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM - eBay (item 380142894441 end time Jul-30-09 19:07:39 PDT)
It is the cheapest I have seen and it comes with everything you need, and it works as well as the $400 models

 

alright then, ill remove the sand, and add the mud. can i rinse the sand well, clean it, and put it back in after on top of the mud? or even mix it? i just dont want to waste the sand.

i forgot to tell you, i have a RO/DI unit in my house, but my step father hasnt done any maintence to it in years, so im sure it doesnt work properly. i have tested the water that comes out of it for nitrates, it around the same as tap water.

so would you know who to call to come and check out my RO unit? maybe my water company?

 

You can mix some of the sand into the mud, it wont hurt it, but you only want about an 1 1/2" to 2" bed of mud.
you could place some of the sand into another section of your sump, just be careful you dont get it sucked into the returns and blown all over the main DT!

As for the RO/DI it sounds like you need to change all the cartridges. I have never heard of a company that will come check it for you, maybe your LFS if you take it to them, they should be able to help get the correct replacement cartridges as well.

Good luck

 

Hello Chris,

When I first read your tag line “how should I have my miracle mud in my refugium?” I was thinking…..”on the bottom?”

Anywho….I am an old man so that’s the type of humor I got…

Onward –

First, Put out your left hand and smack it good and hard with your right (thanks). Start to save up for that RO/DI. What is the nitrate level on the house water? Might still be beneficial to do water changes if its lower than the tank.

Can you also share what Macro’s you are growing, how well they are growing, water flow per hour in fuge, light timing data.

As for the mud – absolutely do NOT mix it. Please do not disturb your refugium, that’s the worst you can do. The fuge must be left to sit and do its thing. Add the mud slowly (turn off the flow when you do and let it settle). I have several inches of live sand in my fuge, several inches of Mud and then several inches of live sand, I am very pleased with it.

<j/k about the slap tho – I realize dumping money into an RO/DI is not the easiest thing to do>

 

Culligan will come out and check the unit and replace the filters -- I spend several hundred a year on my house RO maintenance. But its no where near the fish tank quality of RO/DI.

Again...please do not remove that sand in your fuge, you will do more harm than good. BTW, how old is your fuge?

 

.....and just for poops and giggles you might as well read here:

Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com

 

thanks for the reply Crimson,

hahaha, slaping myself wouldnt solve the problem, and your type of humor, well everyone has their own

im currently growing some caulerpa, which i can see grow, i also have some cheato, but can't actually tell if its gotten any bigger from when i bought it. i have it curently on opposite photoperiod to my DT, but some tel me to keep it 24/7 so my caulerpa doesnt go asexual. but then again there's the people that tell me to go half and half because they need dark time as well. water flow, not sure i have a good size overflow, not sure on the gph, but i do have a korilia 1 in the refugium area to circulate the water, and the macroalgae.


i believe last time i checked the nitrate levels from my tap, they were around 20-30 ppm.

curious... how well have your nitrates been kept by doing the sand/mud/sand set up in ur fuge? or how have you macros been doing since this set up? if you dont ,mind elaborating on

"im very pleased with it"

-thanks