Refugium Questions
 

Does anyone use Miracle Mud in their refugium? Are there other alternatives? What are the benifits of Miracle mud in a refugium?

If anyone has an answer to any of these questions please post away.

Thanks

Stan

In my refuge i have sand and plants. Ive never figured out the benefit of miracle mud, it cost way to much to justify me buying.

Re: Refugium Questions
 

i do. i run mud, caulerpa and no skimmer (eco system). the theory is that the mud is a good base for the macro to grow and host pods in. the mud leaches trace minerals so there is no need to supplement additives with the exception of calcium. because of the lack of skimmer (and a true eco has no mechanical filtration) it can be a bit of a tightrope in what you add to bio wise into your system. the system works great for soft stuff that like to grow in "dirty" water but if you were growing stonies or had lots of bio load i wouldn’t consider this system.

if you just wanted a substance for your fuge base and were still planning on a skimmer i wouldn’t spend the extra dough on the mud. i mean i would if i had the money but 130 bucks for 10 pounds is a lot of dough.

heres a pic of my sump, the caulerpa is all i have for filtration. i added it a week ago and just double the amount of light to 36 watts. within a month i will be chopping caulerpa out of there with a chainsaw, within 6 months there should be a ton of pods living in the mud (hopefully). Btw the bio balls in there are just to help trap debris as it comes out of the overflow, this will be replaced with a part time micron bag when i redo some plumbing this week.

http://www.mayberryhq.com/images/otis/sump_a.jpg

http://www.mayberryhq.com/images/otis/sump_b.jpg

Refuge
 

Thank you for the posts they are much appreciated.

Stan

I also Have a question about My Fuge Do I need a heater in their or is the water gonna stay warm enough just from the slow flow from the sump????

I guess it depends on how slow the flow to your refugium is. The only way to find out is to try it, and see what the temp of your refugium is. I believe most people don't have a problem keeping temperatures constant in their refugiums.

-Rich

i have a heater in mine only because my fuge is also my sump.

Willow,

What size is your sump/fuge? It looks good.

How do you like those Coral life mini lights and do they keep your macro happy????

it's a 27 seastar. jack rebuilt it for me when i my eco sump got a bit smashed during a move. i just added the coralvue's last week and i am already noticing an increase in macro growth. if you use them on your fuge get the 6700k freshwater ones. i like them alot better than my old 18watt light, the come in nice little hoods with built in ballasts. i was going to use a screw in type bulb with a clip fixture but it turned out that the coralvues are cheaper and much nicer.

Where did you get the light Willow?
got a link maybe?