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View Full Version : Is My Mud Doing Anything? Should I Save It?


Kengar
01/14/2009, 11:56 AM
I have had Walt Smith Fiji mud in my sump for about a year and a half, since I set up my latest system. The sump has a central compartment that contains it nicely, and all flow through the sump passes over the mud. I had been running lights over it and had chaeto in there, too, for a refugium. However, I removed the lights six or eight months ago and the chaeto died off.

I will be getting a new in-sump skimmer (Bubble King Mini 180), and the only place it will fit in the sump is in that central section. I had been planning to remove the mud so that the skimmer sits flat on the bottom of the sump.

Here's the questions:

Was that mud really doing anything for me, what with no lights, chaeto, etc.? Would it be worth salvaging it and trying to locate it in the sump somewhere else? Or is mud really just snake oil?

Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.

Ken

jim.l
01/14/2009, 06:28 PM
I have never used it, but didn't the advertising say that you should replace 1/2 of it every 6 mos?

bertoni
01/15/2009, 01:02 AM
Mud is a good substrate for growing various plants. I don't think it has any other value, on average. If they spike it with iron, that might be useful, but iron supplements aren't all that expensive.

Kengar
01/15/2009, 09:04 AM
Thanks, John, for the 411

David Grigor
01/15/2009, 11:51 AM
How deep is the mud ? 2.5" or greater then there is likely some sort of de-nitrification processes going on at the very minimum.

Kengar
01/15/2009, 11:56 AM
maybe on the order of 2-3 inches

bertoni
01/15/2009, 03:42 PM
There's likely a bit of denitrification, but I don't believe that it's going to be significant.