Miracle Mud vs. Aragonite substrate

H

hegi

Advantages/Disadvantages of each. I have argonite in my main reef right now and I've heard a lot of good things about miralce mud so I was thinking of using that or doing a mix. Anyone have advice/experience?

EDIT: I should've said this is for a new tank :)
 
Hi,

You can check out this link for the last great debate on this subject. I'm using MM in one of my fuges and a DSB of pulverized limestone on the other fuge.
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=19594&highlight=miracle+mud

Cheers!
 
I won't get into the holy war of if MM is any good (I've got my own opinions on that, but having never actually used it, I tend to stay outta that argument), but regardless I believe it's recommended you not mix it with regular sand, either go with all MM or all sand, but not a combination of the two...

At least, I think I read that bit somewhere... :)
 
I've used Miracle Mud for a few years now in various aplications including using it now in my h.o.b. fuge. It is expensive but I can't say it's not worth it to me. I'll promote the stuff till days are done.
 
I have been using MM for over 6 years now in our 75 Gal tank and almost 1 year in our 200 gal. When it is time to replace I will go with a DSB or something else. I will not pay more for MM than I would for any other substrate. I believe that it is the Algae & critters in the sump that makes the system work not the [MUD] .

In my opinion the only miracle about the mud is that people will pay so much for it. I have come to this conclusion after doing a lot of research on Reef Central.

Ask yourself the question; is this a fad, snake oil, or real? To help with the answer check this like out from RC:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=371103&perpage=20&highlight=mircale%20mud&pagenumber=1

Is it real :?:

The bottom line is that if you feel that it works for you then use it. This is not unlike many things in this hobby. There are several ways to acheive the same goals, a heathy [REEF] .
 
I would tend to think if you mixed the two media, the miracle mud and a fine sand you might be okay. It might not end up mixed as well as when you started, the larger sand particles migrating towards the top. But then again the sand particles being small enough and the m.m. being compact enough they might stay together. I am not a real big fan of m.m. tending to believe the particles are actually too small for a proper dsb. But then again I have never used the stuff, only basing that opinion on what has been written about the best grain size for use in a dsb.
One thought though I can not get away is that possibly with the m.m. being so compact, you might get the benefits of a anerobic area, (that being the processing of nitrates) in a much thinner sand bed than if you used larger sand particles. Thinking that the o2 would not penetrate a layer of 2" of m.m. like it would 2" of regular sand. Just a thought. I do not see any benefits of one over the other based solely on pod production though.
 
We use miracle mud in our refugium; and we also used it on the 'fuge in the small tank. I don't know if it's the mud or what, but we love the results. I searched a while back, when we set up the 105, and found MM pretty cheap online. I can't find the link anymore, but it was around half what you can buy it in the lfs for.
For whatever it's worth, we love the stuff. Don't know if I'd use it in a display tank, because I really like the look of the white sand, but definitely swear by it in a 'fuge.
 
I am using MM as well. It has been working great but I believe the macros and other critters are what makes the sump/refugium work. I am about to transfer MM into a new sump that I am replacing just to try and save the pods that have been produced. I have mixed mine with Garf Lite 6 months ago to seed it as I wanted to see if I could produce pods/critters faster than what MM states it will typically do. This has worked out great for me but as I said I think that if I started from scratch I would just go with LS and seed it with someones established fuge.
 
Fron the article: "What is also suprising is that there is almost 40,000 ppm iron (almost 4%) in the samples. What is the need for iron in a marine substrate???"

Umm.. as any botanist will tell you, plants (even macroalgae) need iron. I've been considering dosing iron because I think it's limiting the nitrate uptake in my refugium. (Also been thinking about dosing a limited amount of phosphate for the same reason - to get the C-N-P ratios right.)

As far as silicon dioxide, some aquarists (even RFH) dose silicon dioxide.. not sure if the article is saying the silicon content is bad, good, or indifferent.

Never having used the stuff, I can't comment on it directly.. but I have used mud from the coast to good result in the past.
 
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