Live Mud

Enough said, What is the deal with live mud?

 

The "live" in live sand and live rock is primarily speaking of the nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria that lives in it. Live mud is going to provide living space for these same bacteria. There's also a couple of expensive mud products out there that purposely leach Iron into the water to help macroalgaes grow quicker.

 

would you reccomend it? Does it work that well? If so, what brand?

 

I have used it before. I used Miracle Mud years ago. EcoSystem Aquarium

I haven't used it since nor will I ever use it again. It's quite expensive and I don't see the need for it. One of my friends used it successfully for years only to have it turn on her like a rabid pit bull last year. (You can see her tank in Ultimate Marine Aquariums by Michael Paletta pages 99 to 103 or there's also a few pics here sue truett pics ). She had to pull it all out to stop RTN losses last year. To this date, we don't know exactly what happened.

I'm personally not a fan of biological control for anything other than nitrification so I'm probably not the best person to be asking this question of. Just so you know, Dr. Ron hates my guts and I don't particularly care for him either. I respect his knowledge in certain areas but I don't like it that he encouraged people to keep waste in their tanks as opposed to removing it before it broke down.

 

So from your friends experience it doesnt seem that good. I was thinking that it was just a bunch of expensive hub-bub :

 

The way I look at it is there is no "mud" near a reef so why should we need it. Mud has the potential to break down nitrates into less harmful products. By having very low water flow and limiting light you encourage another kind of bacteria to grow. However, I believe it is easier to maintain and cheaper to simply run a refugium. And with refugiums, make it as big as you can. If your alkalinity is high enough it has a low chance of causing PH swings and the more macro you can grow the less other algae will grow. Plus, macro is always a currency. It seems people are always looking for more macro. You can use it to trade for frags (nothing fancy of course) in the future. Heck, a good refugium can actually be quite pretty with red algae and maybe a mangrove.

 

I use Fiji Mud(refugium Booster) from Walt Smith! It contains actual live mud collected from rare patches in cool clear uncontaminated sea water! These patches occur in 40-50 feet of water and just off the coral reef.
this mud releases beneficial nutrients and minerals into the water. It contains all the major and minor trace elements and also contains 5-100 micron sized organisms crucial to the success of Acropora and other small polyped stonies!

 

wow that was pretty much right off the little black cup. ;D lol

anyway ive been running mud for about 3 years on the same filter and it has run just fine. i have never heard of the rtn developing from it, but i trust inwall75 on what he says. honestly i only use this mud in refugium apps. only. i dont put it directly in the tank and i have not had a problem in three years and 3 tanks. but the final decision is up to you.