New Refugium, Advise Needed

Hello! I just added a 10 gal tank below my stand to act as a fuge. I have set it up to over flow from my Sump with a U-Tube. I want to either add Miracle Mud or Live Sand to the tank before starting to add any macro algae. Does any one have opinions on why I should choose one over the other?

Now for the real question.

Do I need to let this fuge cycle seperate from the DT before I can allow my return flow to feed the water to the DT? Currently I have water in there and its just acting as an additional holding tank. I am worried that when I add sand or mud this will cause a spike in my nutes and effect my fish or corals. Does any one have experience with adding either of these to an established tank?

My logic tells me that I should cycle the tank separate from the DT and then allow them to exchange water later.

Any help/opinions will be appreciated!

 

no cycle necessary dont confuse your fuge for a tank instead of plant filter, bacteria will quickly colonize if from the maintank, and as theres no fish theres no addition to the bioload other then dead stuff in your live sand or mud you add.


personally i think both the live sand and the mud are a waste of money, the muds sale pitch hypes it like its the best thing since sliced bread trust me its not. it may create a anerobic zone in less space but it cant do anything else. the live sand, isnt very live if you ask me how much stuff is alive after a year in a unheated bag, maybe some anerobic bacteria, half of that probably dies upon adding it to your tank do to rapid environment change. your better off just buying regular sand and throwing in some live rock of established sand from your display tank. i would even worry about sand if you are doing cheatomorpha since it doesnt need to be planted like caluerpa. thats my $.02