i read this but the thread is old: does this still hold its value?
I have read that you can use clay kitty litter it comes in the red bag at walmart for like 5 bucks in the place of the mud, its alot cheeper and might help if you were wanting to save some money.
A lot of people read info and look at this hobby as a cookie cutter hobby that you just do a and b and c and whala... you really need to understand what it is you are doing and why you want to do it.
"Supposedly"... MM has trace elements that leach into the water and keep trace element levels up. However, nobody can say what there trace element levels are, what is deficient, and what is excessive. Nobody can say when the MM bed becomes depleted. So you buy some expensive mud, then have to keep relacing it. You constantly stir up your bed and replace it... for what?
Most people do use a sand cap over it because it will be swept away. So if you use MM, you do need to put sand over the top of it. Some people do use Kitty litter made from clay and only clay... same thing, trace elements, cheap, you need to replace from time to time.
A DSB has other benefits of low oxygen zone to process nitrates. The sand bed itself is home to micro fauna. Many critters inhabit it. You want a healthy bed that does not get chocked with ditritus. It needs flow and circulation. The critters will tend it. You could put a sand sifter star in it... but they have HUGE appittites and will more than likely starve in a fuge DSB. I had one that I would throw in there from time to time, but it lived in the main tank.
"Kits" are a waste of money. Period.
Do not put rock rubble in a fuge. Pods do not need the habitat. Algae and the sand bed are plenty. All it does is become a detritus trap and chokes out your sand bed. It is worthless as far as a bio filter for the main tank... that is what the live rock in the tank is for.
Calurpa and cheato are fine... but you do not need both. They will compete and one will loose. I found cheato to be much less hassle. I had calurpa originally, but it did not grow well because I did not have a lot of nitrients... but even still... the whole point is nutrient export and when it came time to export nutrients by removing algae... cheato was much easier to deal with. You want calurpa to root, but then you wind up pulling it out. Just stick with one, the pods don't care.
Variety is good, but these "things" we put in our glass boxes have specific purposes and provide specific roles. Stick with using the right tool for the right job. If you are concerned about trace elements, you can always spend plenty of money on magic potions in bottles... but then again, nobody can say what you need or don't need... and that is the purpose of using quality salt mixes and doing regular water changes. Regular meaning what ever is regular for what your system needs. More is not always better in this hobby, but more is always more expensive.
Hope that helps.
