How to add coral sand to my refugium?

[chanbi]

I currently has a small 1'x1.5' refugium that is filled up with 1-2" of miracle mud and macro algae on top. My nitrate is still reading ~10ppm. It is too high for me. I was thinking whether it will help if i add in another 2-3" of coral sand (grade# 1) to form a DSB (limited space though)? And how to go about doing it? Can it be as simple as take out the macro algae, scoop out the miracle mud, add in the coral sand at the bottom, add back the miracle mud follow by macro algae? <_

[Achilles Tang]

It is going to be one very messy project. Good luck!

But I think the way you describe is the only way to do it.

How thick is your MM sandbed? If it is already very deep, chances are the bottom layer would be 'deadly'.

I think with a MM layer on top, your DSB could be effectively funtional from as little as 2.5 to 3", as the MM layer would be very fine and mudlike, preventing too much oxygen from reaching the bottom layer.

You have to stop the filtration from going to your main tank for a while to check that no ammonia spike was created.

You will need to wait for the dust to settle first... you have low flow anyway right? coz if not, the MM dust will go in your main tank.

[chanbi]

My MM is only ~1.5" and i think i will need to add in another 1-2" of coral sand (thanks for the reminder that the mud is actually very fine and may not need 4-5"). I think it will be messy too and that why although i have been wanting to do it for quite some time already but still on hold... What do u think if i put MM instead? Can i just top up without moving anything? Will the living things survived when they are covered by another 1-2" of MM?

[hongqixian]

Put a bit at a time and the little critters will move up.

[schnauzer]

hi,

where and how much did u buy for your miracle mud?

thank you