i am trying to get some stuff together for a metting and was wondering if anyone eles in the club or on the form has ever used this system i have used it in my 75 for two years before i tore it down and i liked what it did for my corals and fish and info good or bad would help thanks david
The only thing close to this I have used is a plenum system. I can say that I believe anything you can add to your system that comes close to natural conditions is always best. That being said, each system has it's good and bad points or everyone would use the same system. I think the success of the system you use is related to how much you believe in that system. As we have discussed before, decide on your system and stick with it. Your tank will acclimate to that and do well. It's people who always change their routine and let their parameters fluctuate that have a hard time. Sorry, back to the topic. I know people who have used products like "live sand", "Miracle Mud", and others with good results. I'm sure "eco mud" is in that same category and will perform well also. If you do use this system please start a thread and keep us up to date on the progress.
thanks for the feed back norman i was gonna try and do it on miracle mud theres a video on youtube were mike paletta talks about the guy who started using the miracle mud and talks about lateral line disease and how it helps cure it and keeps other fish that would normaly lose there color it helps them keep there adult colors longer and after all that is way most people buy fish is the color that they have
You might want to read this analyisis of Miracle Mud. Most alarming were the high silica, aluminum and titanium levels plus the fact that it doesn't appear to have anything in it that's natural. I think it's snake oil/junk science but I know some swear by it. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...igxK0N&usg=AFQjCNGY8kPuddJ-YrSPVa_vDW_zJHRfUw There are other links there to read about it. "The analysis indicates that Miracle Mud is 30% silicon. This mostly likely exists in Miracle Mud as silicon dioxide, which is most commonly found in nature as quartz. As pointed out by chemist Randy Holmes-Farley, the molecular weight of silicon makes up less than half the molecular weight of silicon dioxide. So if the silicon present is all in the form of silicon dioxide, then Miracle Mud is more than 63% quartz sand. This seems to be confirmed by the photos. "The high levels of metals (especially Aluminum, Iron and Titanium) are also a point of concern. In addition, no traces of any marine sediment were found in any microscopic examination - no oolitic sand grains, no shell fragments, no diatoms or any other remnants of marine life. An acid test conducted by Shane Graber indicates that no carbonates are present in Miracle Mud. It is difficult to reconcile these facts with the manufacturer's claim that "Miracle Mud is 80% oceanic mud."
thanks for that feed back on that david i need to do some more looking in to that did not even know that it contained all that bad stuff in it
shawn from what im seeing most of the other muds are just about the same way looks like it would be better to put live sand and crushed coral or something eles that would be better for a refugium
I don't think any of the others have been analyzed like that. Right now I just have live rock/rubble in my refugium. Can't grow chaeto for squat! It would be interesting to see what everyone on RRMS has in their refugium.
I have live sand, live rock, crabs, a couple of snails, zoas, Kenya tree and a ball of chaetomorpha in my refugium.
I have all live rock in my refugiums. I think the reason you can't grow cheto is your tank is very nutrient poor, which is exactly what you want for an SPS dominated tank. The purpose of the macro algae is to consume the excess nutrients in the water. No nutrients-no growth. You may also change your lighting to a more red spectrum and see if that helps. I chose the Par14 bulb from Coral Consumption and the macro I have in one refugium is doing very well.
Thanks Norm! I've got a 6500K Cree led bulb now. I'll try that. I also wonder if I have too much flow in the refugium? I have about 1100 gph through there. What kind of lighting do you have John? Your sump sounds likea pretty nice display!
If anyone is interested I can bring back a bucket full or two of the real ocean bottom next time I go to FL. I'm thinking about trying another sea grass tank with an ocean mud and sand substrate. Will stock it with all Fl {gulf side} collected fish and inverts from the panhandle area.
I used to have just a pc refugium lamp with a 10k bulb which I changed every 6 months. I recently switched to an LED fixture from buildmyled that is for growing a combo of red and green macroalgae. They make ones for red only and green only macro refugiums as well.
