Aquariareview February 12, 2003 February 12, 2003 Those of you that know me know that I am a big fan of the Mud based filter system. I have been doing a combination of deep sand bed in the tank and deep mud in the refuge for more than 10 years. Here is a plan to convert a 55 gal tank (that old scratched up acrylic tank you have in the garage) to a mud refuge that works so well that you may find that a lot of the other equipment in your system is unneeded. You can size this system up or down to fit any size tank you wish to use. My past experience has shown that the system/refuge size relationship must be at least tank=100% refuge=20% water. Your refuge is not going be full, a 55gal tank will have about 30-35 gal of water. That will filter a tank of 150-175 gal real well. You can go larger but not smaller. One more factor, a deep tank is not as good as a long tank. You need surface are for the substrate to interface with the water. I am using a 5 gal aquarium as a return chamber to keep mud out of the pump. This is cheap and easy to clean out. If you are doing a very small system you can sub this with a powerhead hung on the side of the tank. Here is a parts list Parts List 1- 55 gal tank 48x12x18 Plexiglas pieces 2- 12'x4' 1- 12'x15' 1- 5 gal aquarium 5 gal Mud. I like the Kent bio-sediment or Eco-System mud Putting it together 1: Clean the tank and glue in the Plexiglas pieces using aquarium silicone as shown in the image linked below. 2: Fill the intake chamber with bio-ball or some other media to break up the flow of water (I use whole oyster shells). 3: Place the mud in the main chamber. 4: Set the 5 gal aquarium in the tank at the far end from the intake side 5: Set pump into 5 gal and plumb to the return 6: Place some Macro algae into the mud 7: Start System 8: light this system 24/7 with white light NO or PC will work 9 Add crabs and snails to keep it clean. You can add a small fish or two to stir the mud a little. picture of refuge link to this article's webpage Interview with Mr. Leng Sy on Mud Filtration With the Kent Mud I run: Calcium levels of 430 mg/l Alkalinity 9.7 dkh Magnesium of 810 mg/L This is without a reactor and with almost no additives. The ocean has no high tech equipment yet the reefs look so good.
chideloh February 13, 2003 February 13, 2003 Nathan, Very interesting article. I would love to get rid of my calcium reactor. David
pez February 13, 2003 February 13, 2003 Based on the information I have read, a Ly's system can not provide enough calcium for a fully loaded SPS tank. Morever, some people have done analyses of the 'mud' and showed that it is basically backyard dirt. Check out reefs.org for *a lot* of information. If it works for you, great, but caveat emptor (let the buyer beware). -Tom
chideloh February 13, 2003 February 13, 2003 Nathan and Tom, That's exactly what I was wondering. I have 180 packed with SPS. David
Aquariareview February 13, 2003 Author February 13, 2003 I have had a much better luck with the kent bio-sediment I have a tank with with some sps, clams and a lot of other stuff. My calc levels stay pretty stable. but I dont have as much sps hard stuff as some of the pics I have seen.
michaelg February 13, 2003 February 13, 2003 David- I wouldn't shut off the reactor. Nathan- It would be interesting to see how long the levels stay with the newer substrate. It must be dissolving more easily, or is not calcium carbonate (likely the latter- it is a mix of carbonate based sand, and supplimented with CaCl2 and some buffers I'm guessing). Do you think it will need addition over 6-9 months? For calcium carbonate to dissolve into the needed components, it requires a pH drop (normally achieved through elevation in CO2). Now with plants there, the CO2 is being pretty effectively scavanged....So how does the pH drop to dissolve the sediment? Is there something I am missing? Michael
Aquariareview February 16, 2003 Author February 16, 2003 I left a message with my contact at kent to get me an answer. If I had a tank full of sps and Clams I think I would run a reactor or drip kallawaser, but with a small amount of SPS, 1 clam and mostly lps/soft/xenia/anomene/etc. I have been fine for ca levels (410+) on this tank for 13 months. I do have a lot of substrate loss in the refuge (20% every 6 months). In my opinion even if I ran a high tech reactor/and every reef gadget there is I would run this as a stablizer for the system. I have owned in the past 15 years a 340gal sps tank, 3 seperate 140gal sps/lps tanks. 5 seperate 90gal mixed reef tanks and many 55gal mixed reef tanks. On most of them I have had a mud/macro refuge. I have never had a tank crash, I have taken in, orphan coral that was dying in other peoples tanks, they almost always recovered. I had a reactor on the 180 because I started the tank with 55 sps frags and I wanted to have strong growth. It broke down and because of cost I tried to run the tank without it for a while 8 months later ( when I had the $$$ to rstart the unit) the ca levels were still strong ( I had been using calc drip additive) but that is the only tank I have felt the need for a reactor. Do I think this is the only way to run a system, NO, this works if you do scheduled water changes (10-20% a month) and if you fuss around a little with getting the DSB loaded with the right critters. Contrary to Mr. Leng Sy. I have always run this kind of system in conjunction with a DSB in the main tank. My version of DSB is loaded with worms, burrowing starfish, snails & clams. I know I sound like an evangelist selling salvation. but I have had great luck with these kind of setups. Revival meetings are at my house
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