Miracle mud?

IMO, you don't have to use the mud in one of their filter systems.  Their systems are basically a sump with a chamber for skimmer (not all of their systems have this) a chamber for the mud & algae (they suggest calerpa but I use chaeto) and then a chamber for bio balls and then the return pump.  there is no reason you can't use their mud in a DIY sump....just my $.02 worth...

 

Sand and cheato seem to be the choice for sumps. Probably cheaper to get sand and cheato than miracle mud.

 

I would personally use sand. Cheaper I would guess, and easier to deal with. Plus you can put snails in your sump to break down things.

 

I use MM in my sump havent had an issue with it in the least bit. I also built my own sump out of a 20 long so its not a predisigned sump by them.

 

-Box

 

I think you can get more diversity by begging or buying a little sand from established tanks to add to the sand you would put in your sump.   Each tank has it's own little world of diversity and there's really not much that's a "miracle" in this hobby.

 

MM is a great product. But in the end, there really isn't any difference between MM and a 6" deep sand bed. They will do about the same thing. It just taks less MM, but it cost alot more too.