+scubasteve92 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Can you have too much lighting for a refugium? I was looking at fixtures for a HOB refugium and was wondering if 10k is too much? plan on growing algae. Thanks Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Not sure on the too much part. I'd use something closer to 6500K though. The other aspect is what kind of fixture are you going to use and how are you going to keep the light out of the tank and vice versa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scubasteve92 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 The back of the fuge is blacked out, and if the light still pours over I will build something to encase the light a little more. I was looking at an led fixture that is supposed to be for refugiums, but idk? Thats what i was thinking but the led was alot smaller and compact and didnt have a bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I gotta 400W MH I would go with Robb's suggestion, whether it's MH, T5 or LED 5000K to 6500K fixtures will give you more light/watt than the higher K bulbs/leds and I would expect algae to do better with a wider spectral output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scubasteve92 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 ok sounds good, thanks for the replies! Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 On my HOB fuge I used the Coralife Aqualight Normal Output T5 (http://www.marineand..._p/res58020.htm) strip with a 6500k bulb from Home Depot and a 10k bulb from coralife. Both are normal output 14w for the 24" strip I used. Went with this combo because I figure the lower K rating would give better algae growth, and the 10k is normal reef. I picked mine up used off the forums for like $15. Used... because recently I had a little splashing problem and shorted it out. I'm currently looking for a new fixture to replace it with. Might build my own LED fixture, not sure yet. I actually had 2 of them, the second sitting over my 10gal freshwater, but it managed to also somehow short out the same week as my fuge version. Crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scubasteve92 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 I may just break down and buy the one that is supposed to come with it.. but i guess that means it will work for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I may just break down and buy the one that is supposed to come with it.. but i guess that means it will work for it. The light I was using was great for the $15 I paid for it, and sat right across the top. I was routinely pulling out almost a gallon bag of chaeto every 2 months to trade off. I just added an airstone from an air pump on my patio to pull fresh air into the system constantly, that made some bubbles/mist that finally shorted it out. I probably would have been fine if the airstone was in a sponge filter to dissipate the bubble better, or if the light was sitting a little higher off the fuge. The light that comes with it sits a little off the fuge which is good for any splashing, but I think would give off a little "light pollution" outside of the fuge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 With respect to economical refugium lights. I use PC bulbs that are listed as Daylight and Daylight Delux. Until recently Daylight meant 5000K and Dayl;ight Delux meant 6500K. The last PC bulbs that I got increased from 16W to 24W and indicated 5K for the color temperature. Higher Kevin colors were not available. Upon lighting up the bulb, I could tell that it was a higher Kevin color by looking at the color spectrum. It had no yellow tint and showed the same crisp white that I have observed in the 6500K bulbs. These bulbs new cost less than $10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scubasteve92 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 thanks for the info, sadly there was a sudden change of plans for my upgrade to my tank....... 59 in a 45 is apperently frowned upon in the city of Tyler Texas. Thats not even the bad part. i totaled my car in August last year and took defensive driving for that soooooo this one has the possiblity of increasing my insurance. Sad day for josh. But i will just keep truckin with what i have, take care of this issue and then when i move to austin i will probably just upgrade to a different tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 differed judification to avoid the insurance problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scubasteve92 Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 YES! thats what the cop said! What is that? I have only had 2 tickets and have been able to take defense drvinig for them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 my fuge light has always been as simple as it gets, i went to Lowes and bought a clamp on light and screwed a 6500K bulb into it. For like $15-$20 it works great, the bulb has a built in reflector and all. It has worked for the last 5+ years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Basically you go to court, pay the ticket and a bit more for probation and you get put on probation for 1 year. All this probation says is you can not get the same type of ticket in that county for one year. Nothing comes of it, as long as you don't get the same type of ticket. The court house will gladly explain it all out to you if your curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Problem with the cheap HomeDepot setups for myself and SS is that we are using HOB fuge's, so having a clamp on reflector sticking over the top of the tank may be a little uggo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+scubasteve92 Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 sweet, well kinda.. I am going to look into this. And probably will not be buying a fuge.... and by the time i decide to upgrade i may just a whole new system. Any opinions on the red sea maxx 130D?? Joshua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 my fuge light has always been as simple as it gets, i went to Lowes and bought a clamp on light and screwed a 6500K bulb into it. For like $15-$20 it works great, the bulb has a built in reflector and all. It has worked for the last 5+ years. You get good macro growth with this setup? I was looking at some of the LED grow lights online. They are pretty cheap, around 30 bux or so. I just modded my sump to incorporate a fuge and now I need a light for it so wanting something that will work good the first go around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 my fuge light has always been as simple as it gets, i went to Lowes and bought a clamp on light and screwed a 6500K bulb into it. For like $15-$20 it works great, the bulb has a built in reflector and all. It has worked for the last 5+ years. You get good macro growth with this setup? I was looking at some of the LED grow lights online. They are pretty cheap, around 30 bux or so. I just modded my sump to incorporate a fuge and now I need a light for it so wanting something that will work good the first go around. As with anything, things should be qualified. I used ten 16W PC to light up a 55G tank with 6500K bulbs. It grew macro and colorful mushrooms in the same tank. In that particular situation, the tank was a food source to two 4' by 8' by 10" high coral growout troughs that I operated in my garage. There was a 10" DSB that put macro and coral closer to surface and lights were at the water surface. Distance from light source to coral was never more than 12". In one of my present 10G refugiums, I am growing decorator coral and macro customized rock using daylight PC bulbs. Come out and see the results. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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