Refugium lighting

jer77 · 04/12/2006, 03:53 AM

What kind of lights do you have on your refugium. I'd like to know this because I'm interested in learning what everyone does to grow macroalgae in a refugium. I'd like to know if you keep macro algae and what kinds. If its growing or not. How lond the lights are on for, and the flow through the fuge. Also what substrate if any is used. Pictures to descibe or show off your huge fuge or your tiny bug shelter are welcome.

Thanks

ZOKU · 04/12/2006, 05:25 AM

Still workin' on mine... but there's a few that are made for refugiums. Check out Odyssea refugium lighting. CPR makes one, too.

jer77 · 04/12/2006, 06:44 AM

I'm using just plain NO flourescents, like a 50/50 bulb and an actinic over my sump with chaeto and caulerpa in the sump with low water flow. The chaeto however doesn't seem to want to grow for some reason. I was leaving the lights on for only 12 hours but now they're on for 18 hours.

wojo · 04/12/2006, 07:20 AM

50/50 is not good for cheato, mine died everytime i bought it under that light. get a regular flood light from Home Depot or even better 5100k flood light, compact fluorescent

tompg · 04/12/2006, 07:39 AM

HD sells a fluorex flood light that many use and love on their fuge. I have one on my display tank that I'll put to use on a fuge when I upgrade the display tank light. Len's lights is a guy who mods the HD light. At HD they're about $30. Len sells them for about $70.

wojo · 04/12/2006, 07:44 AM

get this light, $12, great one, recommended by Melev

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page...yStar/1P381951

jer77 · 04/12/2006, 09:20 AM

How can I set this up on top of my refugium though? Whats this mod look like for the flood lamp?

jer77 · 04/12/2006, 09:46 AM

Has anyone tried to keep shaving brushes or halimeda? I have both under 20000k and 10000k MH's and they seem to like it, but are not growing as much as I have seen before. I looked at their roots and they seem to be growing especially on the shaving brushes. How much light should they be getting under MH's, I mean is this too much light?

jer77 · 04/12/2006, 10:09 AM

What place would sell this bulb, and for the Home Depot bulb does it come with a reflector?

jer77 · 04/12/2006, 10:10 AM

I mean what store around me?

jer77 · 04/12/2006, 10:24 PM

Does anyone know about this bulb. It looks like a flourscent flood lamp. I don't know where I could get one from around here.

Nano_reeflover · 04/12/2006, 11:19 PM

I'm using the coralife aqualight I believe its called. I just have a 6700Ã‚ÂºK/10000Ã‚ÂºK 65W compact in there. My chaeto grows pretty fast.

nemofish2217 · 04/12/2006, 11:24 PM

caluerpa puts out a toxin that inhibits any other macro algea growth, from what i have heard....IMO, ditch the caleurpa and just go with chaeto....one day your caleurpa might go sexual and that would be no fun...chaeto has a lot less likely chance to go sexual.... as far as the halimeda goes, it is a calcium based algea, so the more calcium you have in your system, the better it will grow i believe.....i am just using a screw in powercompact bulb with a built in reflector(like on melev's site) and it works great.... i just bought the big tin reflector thing and took off the reflector so i just had basically the guts.... hope this helps...

bergzy · 04/12/2006, 11:54 PM

this light i got from costco a while back grows chaeto better than any bulb i have ever seen. got it for $8.50 for the bulb, ballast and enclosure. they dont have it anymore but i heard that walmart may be carrying them for $11

here is my bucket fuge which took a softball size piece of chaeto 3 weeks to grow and fill the bucket.
note the light filling the entire bucket...that means very little chaeto to begin with!

here it is 3 weeks later...filled to the brim with chaeto. whoever says that a fuge needs to be x% of the aquarium volume and is useless if it is too small really have not seen my fuges work. oh yeah...you want fast turbulent alternating flow (not violent or laminar flow) through your fuge.

plumbing for this fuge couldnt be simpler as well. a couple of uniseals...a little rigid pvc and flexible tubing with a mj 1200 for a pump gives me about a 60x turnover for the bucket fuge.

those who say the flow needs to be slow through a fuge...well, i guess my fuges just dont seem to listen to that way of thinking.

also dont put sand in your fuge...it turns out to be a disgusting settling chamber that will become a smelly mess. of course, if you dont believe me...you can always try and prove me wrong!

Bret61081 · 04/13/2006, 12:13 AM

Homedepot by me has a bulb that says natural sunlight on it. if you call the 800 # on the back, they will tell you the Kalvins on the bulb your looking at. Thats what I did and it was 6500K. so far the cheato hasn't done too well for me....caluarpa and the red stuff that starts with a G(forry I forget what its called!) has done much better....I just picked up one of the work lamps homedepot sells for 5$ and the light was 8....

ste6168 · 04/13/2006, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bret61081
so far the cheato hasn't done too well for me....caluarpa and the red stuff that starts with a G(forry I forget what its called!)

I think you may be referring to grassaleria (sp)?

Lageo04 · 04/13/2006, 02:01 PM

I've been running PAR38 Reflector 19 Watt / 5100K bulb with a cheap reflector from HD. Bulb link is

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page...ctors/1P381951

Light cycle is 24/7.

Pump through spray bar is a quiet one 296 gph.
Macro is growing well.

New sump pic (DIY)

Refugium up and running with sand bed.

Up and running two months later

jer77 · 04/13/2006, 07:50 PM

Ok so I tried to look for the PAR 38 CF bulb/ 5100K at home depot and found something just like it, but it just said natural daylight not 5100K. I did however find the flourex flood lamp with the same ballast/reflector as bergzy. I'm gonna hook it up tomorrow. It has a 47 watt CF bulb at 5100K. It was around $30. I've heard chaeto likes tumbling in the current. Is this true?

jer77 · 04/13/2006, 07:56 PM

Lageo04, nice fuge. I like the spray bar. What size tank did you use? How big are your main pump and tank?

bergzy · 04/13/2006, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jer77
I've heard chaeto likes tumbling in the current. Is this true?

yep!

Refugium Tips

jer77 · 04/13/2006, 09:01 PM

Thats a nice link. It starts me wondering what could make my flow stronger through my sump. I add carbon in my tanks in a filter sock on the drain. I'm thinking this could lessen the flow, or influence the kind of flow through my sump.

jer77 · 04/13/2006, 09:55 PM

I was wondering about caulerpa bothering other algae like chaeto. I know about it going sexual, but I think I can keep it long enough by keeping the lights on 18 hours. Here's a pic of some of my caulerpa in one of my sumps.

ZOKU · 04/13/2006, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lageo04
I've been running PAR38 Reflector 19 Watt / 5100K bulb with a cheap reflector from HD. Bulb link is

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page...ctors/1P381951

Refugium up and running with sand bed.

Great looking refugium!!

bergzy · 04/13/2006, 10:40 PM

i do not keep caulerpas anymore for it creates more problems and potential problems.

- need to keep light on it 24/7 to keep it from going sexual
- it can go sexual regardless if light is on 24/7 (ie when it feels it needs to release its gametes due to it feeling like it needs to for survival
- thus - caulerpa can go sexual regardless of having it lit 24/7 or not
- grows into rock crevices and it a pain (read near impossible) to try and get all of it out
- some will make it to your main display from your fuge (read above problem with it growing into rock crevices)
- grows into sand (not really a problem and more annoying than anything...but why would i need another annoyance when there are better and easier ways of doing things?)

other than that...caulerpa is a fast growing macroalgae that is great for nutrient export...this is the only good point i could think of. of course...chaeto already has this feature and grows even faster than caulerpa in my fuges anyway.

jer77 · 04/13/2006, 10:49 PM

Here's a pic with the new light. They have a flourescent 65W one in a fixture that I might get for the bigger new sump. I'm gonna see how this works. The only problem with this fixture is there is no ground wire I believe because its supposed to be mounted into a metal box. So I need to make sure the wire never gets wet with electrical tape.

04/12/2006, 03:53 AM	#1
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Refugium lighting What kind of lights do you have on your refugium. I'd like to know this because I'm interested in learning what everyone does to grow macroalgae in a refugium. I'd like to know if you keep macro algae and what kinds. If its growing or not. How lond the lights are on for, and the flow through the fuge. Also what substrate if any is used. Pictures to descibe or show off your huge fuge or your tiny bug shelter are welcome. Thanks __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/12/2006, 05:25 AM	#2
ZOKU Resident Ninja Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Oshkosh, WI Posts: 560	Still workin' on mine... but there's a few that are made for refugiums. Check out Odyssea refugium lighting. CPR makes one, too. __________________ - SCOTT. Check out my homepage to see my build! Current Tank Info: 40B / Super Reef Octopus SRO2000INT / 35-gal. acrylic sump+refuge / 120W LED lighting / Water Blaster 3000 Return... IN PROGRESS!

04/12/2006, 06:44 AM	#3
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	I'm using just plain NO flourescents, like a 50/50 bulb and an actinic over my sump with chaeto and caulerpa in the sump with low water flow. The chaeto however doesn't seem to want to grow for some reason. I was leaving the lights on for only 12 hours but now they're on for 18 hours. __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/12/2006, 07:20 AM	#4
wojo Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Bartlett, IL Posts: 752	50/50 is not good for cheato, mine died everytime i bought it under that light. get a regular flood light from Home Depot or even better 5100k flood light, compact fluorescent __________________ "you work to live, you don't live to work" Current Tank Info: 75g Reef, 100lbs LR, 20g Sump/Fuge, (2)250W 12k Reeflux MHs, (2)110W Actinic VHOs, Dosing DIY 2-part w/ Aquamedic Twin Doser, all controlled by ReefKeeper2

04/12/2006, 07:44 AM	#6
wojo Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Bartlett, IL Posts: 752	get this light, $12, great one, recommended by Melev http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page...yStar/1P381951 __________________ "you work to live, you don't live to work" Current Tank Info: 75g Reef, 100lbs LR, 20g Sump/Fuge, (2)250W 12k Reeflux MHs, (2)110W Actinic VHOs, Dosing DIY 2-part w/ Aquamedic Twin Doser, all controlled by ReefKeeper2

04/12/2006, 07:39 AM	#5
tompg Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Hawthorne nj Posts: 116	HD sells a fluorex flood light that many use and love on their fuge. I have one on my display tank that I'll put to use on a fuge when I upgrade the display tank light. Len's lights is a guy who mods the HD light. At HD they're about $30. Len sells them for about $70.

04/12/2006, 09:20 AM	#7
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	How can I set this up on top of my refugium though? Whats this mod look like for the flood lamp? __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/12/2006, 09:46 AM	#8
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Has anyone tried to keep shaving brushes or halimeda? I have both under 20000k and 10000k MH's and they seem to like it, but are not growing as much as I have seen before. I looked at their roots and they seem to be growing especially on the shaving brushes. How much light should they be getting under MH's, I mean is this too much light? __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/12/2006, 10:09 AM	#9
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	What place would sell this bulb, and for the Home Depot bulb does it come with a reflector? __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/12/2006, 10:10 AM	#10
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	I mean what store around me? __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/12/2006, 10:24 PM	#11
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Does anyone know about this bulb. It looks like a flourscent flood lamp. I don't know where I could get one from around here. __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/12/2006, 11:19 PM	#12
Nano_reeflover Reefer Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Seattle Posts: 449	I'm using the coralife aqualight I believe its called. I just have a 6700Ã‚ÂºK/10000Ã‚ÂºK 65W compact in there. My chaeto grows pretty fast.

04/12/2006, 11:24 PM	#13
nemofish2217 Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: South Carolina Posts: 1,606	caluerpa puts out a toxin that inhibits any other macro algea growth, from what i have heard....IMO, ditch the caleurpa and just go with chaeto....one day your caleurpa might go sexual and that would be no fun...chaeto has a lot less likely chance to go sexual.... as far as the halimeda goes, it is a calcium based algea, so the more calcium you have in your system, the better it will grow i believe.....i am just using a screw in powercompact bulb with a built in reflector(like on melev's site) and it works great.... i just bought the big tin reflector thing and took off the reflector so i just had basically the guts.... hope this helps...

04/12/2006, 11:54 PM	#14
bergzy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: OC CA USA Posts: 5,299	this light i got from costco a while back grows chaeto better than any bulb i have ever seen. got it for $8.50 for the bulb, ballast and enclosure. they dont have it anymore but i heard that walmart may be carrying them for $11 here is my bucket fuge which took a softball size piece of chaeto 3 weeks to grow and fill the bucket. note the light filling the entire bucket...that means very little chaeto to begin with! here it is 3 weeks later...filled to the brim with chaeto. whoever says that a fuge needs to be x% of the aquarium volume and is useless if it is too small really have not seen my fuges work. oh yeah...you want fast turbulent alternating flow (not violent or laminar flow) through your fuge. plumbing for this fuge couldnt be simpler as well. a couple of uniseals...a little rigid pvc and flexible tubing with a mj 1200 for a pump gives me about a 60x turnover for the bucket fuge. those who say the flow needs to be slow through a fuge...well, i guess my fuges just dont seem to listen to that way of thinking. also dont put sand in your fuge...it turns out to be a disgusting settling chamber that will become a smelly mess. of course, if you dont believe me...you can always try and prove me wrong! __________________ The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it. H.L. Mencken Ben. Current Tank Info: 180g sps, 90g cube clam biotope.

04/13/2006, 12:13 AM	#15
Bret61081 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 2,078	Homedepot by me has a bulb that says natural sunlight on it. if you call the 800 # on the back, they will tell you the Kalvins on the bulb your looking at. Thats what I did and it was 6500K. so far the cheato hasn't done too well for me....caluarpa and the red stuff that starts with a G(forry I forget what its called!) has done much better....I just picked up one of the work lamps homedepot sells for 5$ and the light was 8....

04/13/2006, 02:01 PM	#17
Lageo04 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Orange Park, Florida Posts: 135	I've been running PAR38 Reflector 19 Watt / 5100K bulb with a cheap reflector from HD. Bulb link is http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page...ctors/1P381951 Light cycle is 24/7. Pump through spray bar is a quiet one 296 gph. Macro is growing well. New sump pic (DIY) Refugium up and running with sand bed. Up and running two months later __________________ George NFMAS President Current Tank Info: 150 gal reef and 46 gal bowfront freshwater aquarium

04/13/2006, 07:50 PM	#18
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Ok so I tried to look for the PAR 38 CF bulb/ 5100K at home depot and found something just like it, but it just said natural daylight not 5100K. I did however find the flourex flood lamp with the same ballast/reflector as bergzy. I'm gonna hook it up tomorrow. It has a 47 watt CF bulb at 5100K. It was around $30. I've heard chaeto likes tumbling in the current. Is this true? __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/13/2006, 07:56 PM	#19
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Lageo04, nice fuge. I like the spray bar. What size tank did you use? How big are your main pump and tank? __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/13/2006, 09:01 PM	#21
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Thats a nice link. It starts me wondering what could make my flow stronger through my sump. I add carbon in my tanks in a filter sock on the drain. I'm thinking this could lessen the flow, or influence the kind of flow through my sump. __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/13/2006, 09:55 PM	#22
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	I was wondering about caulerpa bothering other algae like chaeto. I know about it going sexual, but I think I can keep it long enough by keeping the lights on 18 hours. Here's a pic of some of my caulerpa in one of my sumps. __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD

04/13/2006, 10:40 PM	#24
bergzy Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: OC CA USA Posts: 5,299	i do not keep caulerpas anymore for it creates more problems and potential problems. - need to keep light on it 24/7 to keep it from going sexual - it can go sexual regardless if light is on 24/7 (ie when it feels it needs to release its gametes due to it feeling like it needs to for survival - thus - caulerpa can go sexual regardless of having it lit 24/7 or not - grows into rock crevices and it a pain (read near impossible) to try and get all of it out - some will make it to your main display from your fuge (read above problem with it growing into rock crevices) - grows into sand (not really a problem and more annoying than anything...but why would i need another annoyance when there are better and easier ways of doing things?) other than that...caulerpa is a fast growing macroalgae that is great for nutrient export...this is the only good point i could think of. of course...chaeto already has this feature and grows even faster than caulerpa in my fuges anyway. __________________ The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it. H.L. Mencken Ben. Current Tank Info: 180g sps, 90g cube clam biotope.

04/13/2006, 10:49 PM	#25
jer77 Phish Lover Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2,642	Here's a pic with the new light. They have a flourescent 65W one in a fixture that I might get for the bigger new sump. I'm gonna see how this works. The only problem with this fixture is there is no ground wire I believe because its supposed to be mounted into a metal box. So I need to make sure the wire never gets wet with electrical tape. __________________ - Jonny -, 120g 5 Year Old Reef w/ SPS, BTA, Zoos & some Softies. 40g Frag Tank. 40g Sump. Super Reef Octopus XP 3000 External Cone Skimmer. 250W Radiums. TaoTronics LED. PanWorld 200PS w/SQWD