Miracle Mud System

i thought it was just another name for a "DSB". or actually any SB made out of oolitic sized particles. another marketing ploy?

G~

I think to some sort yes but not DSB because from what I've seen it is thin. For a 100g like mine it would require two bags with a total of 15 or 20 pounds. It seems to maintain a 0 nitrates level which everyone wants for a reef, no skimmer is used in this set-up but can be an option, I've seem both and both seem to be doing well.

Then that makes sense BW, the finer the grain the tighter the pack, the less you need to block out O2 and create a anoxic or anaerobic zone.

If what your saying is true then will you have the same problems as a DSB later on? Should you maintain it somehow, they claim nothing else is done. Just dump it in and let it go. The ones I saw all three has been up for almost a year with great results, nothing done, not even skimming in two of the three. In two years you suck out half and replace with new mud.

Then why in the heck are we discussing DSB's when this stuff is a Miracle???

LOL you brought it up.

Isn't it just fine mud? I know SueT uses it. That's about it for what I know. LOL

Ahhh MM. this is actually not a bad concept, as the fine mud is to be replaced every years or so. The way it is set up is not as efficient as a DSB. but still works for denitrification. The concept is that water flows through a sump and into a bioball chamber. This are will build up bacteria that will process ammonia down to nitrate and then the nitrate filled water pours inot a chamber cantaining the MM. This is very fine stuff and the anoxic zone is very close to the surface, so at this point the nitrates get processed. Concept is ok because they ask u to replace the MM every year or so, so a build up shouldnt be to much of a problem.
For me thier are a couple of catches. One, the MM is really expensive. the other is that the contents of the MM are really scary. lost of Heavey metals and other contaminants the just scare me away from it. Here is a link to test on what the stuff is really made of.
http://www.inlandreef.com/MManalysis.html

Mike

So you're saying it's a poor mans denitrator?

I guess you could look at it this way, lol. You really have to see the contents though. One of the main contents is Iron and a boat load of it. They incourage the use of macro algaes,I wonder why, lol


Mike

Hmmmm could be. R U concidering the setup of the bacteria in this zone when you are saying creates or the fact that it goes anoxic??

Mike

I just wanted to add the IME Southdown also contains iron. I did a little experiment with a large magnet. I opened a new bag of Southdown sand and poured it through a funnel with a magnet in it. Sticking to the magnet was a lot of small iron or other type of metalic particles. I'm not sure how the iron got into the sand, maybe in the processing?

I looked into Miracle Mud for a VERY brief moment til I saw the price. That particular lfs is very pricey anyway but I didn't look twice. Southdown is the way to go for me. Until I hear numerous rave reviews about it anyway. Then I may consider taking out a loan to put some in my sump.

mojoreef said:

Hmmmm could be. R U concidering the setup of the bacteria in this zone when you are saying creates or the fact that it goes anoxic??

Mike

Click to expand...

In any case you're relying on aerobic bacteria to consume O2 first, it's the resulting low O2 levels that create the environment for the anoxic followed by anaerobic zones. If iron is feeding the anoxic bacteria (which it very likely is), that would allow a larger more stable anoxic zone to be established faster.

Just like it does with metal eating bacteria in ship wrecks.

The only problem I can see with this is, If you are relying on a certain size filter to process a certain size waste, as the iron runs out it will gradually process less and less and you'll need to replace the iron.

Sounds like what they are recommending.

Bob, I don't doubt it. Especially if it's land based and they're using heavy equipment to mine it.

The stuff is considerably cheap when you compare the amount you need to sand, well not really but not so bad. For my 100g I'd need two bags which would cost me around $65, then replace half ever year or two. Regardless more study I think is in order, maybe once I've completed the removal of the remainder of my past DSB, I'll give it a try after things settle down. I wish we had as many people using this as DSB, to give more input on it.

I have a small 10 gallon "refugium" that I have some MM in, I mainly got it because it was cheap at the time and I wanted to try it. I have not noticed any difference but it is small compared to the 135+ sumo.

Jon