Miracle Mud®

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Warr7207

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Miracle Mud is comprised of up to 80% oceanic mud, harvested from deep underwater and then dried on land. The remaining 20% is a scientific formulation of minerals and trace elements that make Miracle Mud a true "MIRACLE". The minerals and trace elements composition is as follows:Aluminium, antimony, barium, beryllium, bismuth, boron, bromine, cadmium, calcium, cerium, caesium, chromium, chloride, cobalt, dysprosium, erbium, europium, fluorine, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, gold, hafnium, holmium, indium, iodine, iridium, iron, lanthanum, lithium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, neodymium, nickel, niobium, osmium, palladium, phosphorus, platinum, potassium, praseodymium, rhodium, rubidium, ruthenium, rhenium, samarium, selenium, silicon, silver, sodium, strontium, sulphur, tantalum, tellurium, terbium, thallium, thorium, thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc, zirconium.

Source: Miracle Mud®


What are your thoughts on this product ?


Noticed they condone the usage of bioballs and Caulepra this correct ?

set_up.jpg


For a 500L system you would require 30lbs of mud, with 50% exchange every 2 years.

Price of 30lbs with shipping - $ 330 = R 3,333.00 (19 October 2008)
 
It's very expensive IMO. Basically, the biggest users of Iron and Iodine in a typical reef tank would be your macroalgaes. Mostly what this product does is leach Iron and Iodine into the holdfasts and thallus of the Caulerpa to get it to grow faster. Faster macroalgae growth means more exporting of the algae is needed which removes nitrogenous compounds and phosphorus. Additionally, the pruning of the algae causes it to grow faster too. If your macros aren't growing fast enough, you could simply use an Iron and an Iodine supplement for much less money.

The Bioballs are there on purpose. That's the way the filter is designed. MM is MUCH finer than sand and is probably the equivalent of the bottom of a DSB in terms of how anaerobic it is. Since macroalgaes can become Nitrogen limited (i.e. growth won't happen without enough of it), he wanted the conversion from Nitrite to Nitrate to happen right before the mud fuge. Remember, a cycle is not something that only happens when you set up a new tank......the Nitrogen cycle is going on 24/7....it's just that Nitrification happens very quickly in a well run tank and you don't ever read Ammonia nor Nitrites when testing. However, it's there and the bacteria that allow us to even keep reef tanks are doing their jobs very well. Unfortunately, de-nitrification is a very slow process and requires specific conditions to occur.
 
Jeez Mantis, big words you using there- you sounfd like a Professor, but nothing wrong with it. At least I also understand it now- Thank you ;):thumbup:
 
Warr7207 said:
Miracle Mud is comprised of up to 80% oceanic mud, harvested from deep underwater and then dried on land. The remaining 20% is a scientific formulation of minerals and trace elements that make Miracle Mud a true "MIRACLE". The minerals and trace elements composition is as follows

What are your thoughts on this product ?
Click to expand...

It's a very fine "mud", similar in filtration action to that of any estuarine "mud" - it will become anaerobic in quite a thin layer, and as such will aid in the breaking down of nitrate into nitrogen gas.

As for the other claims, here is an analysis which was done in early 2004, if I remember correctly, which shows that it is approximately 63% quarts, with NO carbonates, and NO shell fragments - thus HIGHLY UNLIKELY to be "80% oceanic mud" as claimed.

The long list of "minerals and trace elements" is also very misleading, IMHO, as an analysis of your garden soil would show the same "minerals and trace elements"...

In my opinion it's a waste of money - you can achieve the same by using any fine dust/silt, at much less cost.

Hennie
 
sean_koekemoer said:
Will the mud we find in our Estuaries also help Hennie???
Click to expand...

Yes, it should work much better than Miracle Mud, as it will contain life forms actually living in the mud, AND be of actual marine origin...

One should obviously keep the mud in a low-flow area to prevent the water from becoming cloudy.
 
Woah Hennie, see you have transcended our rep system...
 
Thank you Hennie. Will definately try it, as I am "literally" surrounded by these mud. How thick do I need to make it???
 
Sean if you go collect mud please let me know as I also want to get some...thanks
 
Did not get time to go yet as well as the fact that when I wanted to go, it was high tide (afternoon after work). Will see this week
 
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