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Refugium Lighting

Just curious as to what lighting people use over their Cheato. I am currently using the Coralife ColorMax 10 watt self ballasting PC. Makes my tank look like it has pink neons at night :-[.
 

Brian

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I use Phillips bulbs (Natural Sunshine) from Home Depot. 2 - 40 watt NO bulbs, works great!
 
I use the coralife standard T5 on one and current USA 24 watt Power Compact fixture on the other, both tanks get great growth. I run a 10K and a actinic bulb in both fixtures.
 

RichT

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I use a Lights of America 500W equivalent 65K form Home Depot. Stuff grows like crazy.
 
Rich thats alot of watts in a refugium haha
I don't have lightss down there yet but i was planing on doing what Brian did i heard alot of good stuff about that type of stuff and it's cheap :)
 
They run about $45 plus shipping unless you can find them local

"The housing either white or bronze plastic (pictured), so it will not rust over time. The lamp is a 65 watt compact fluorescent lamp, rated to deliver 4550 lumens with an expected lifetime of 10,000 hours. They are damp-rated, so they can be used in just about any exterior location."
http://www.energyfederation.org/loa/default.php/cPath/25_174_241

It has a 6.5K color temp which is just about perfect for cheato. Anything in the 6-8K color range is good for quick growth.

This is a nice model IMHO since it's made for outdoor use and you don't have to worry about water splashing on it.
 
I noticed you said that earlier Rich. I tried doing a search on both HD and Lowes and they didn't show up. Of course there is way more stuff in the stores then on their sites.

Carlo
 

RichT

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
They are definitely at Home Depot Carlo. I've purchased two and was snooping around the lighting the other day and saw them. They are back by the motion detector lights.
I would bet you could grow corals with them as well. I can no longer see through the side of my fuge due to the coralline.
HTH
 
Is there any benefit to using that light over the regular fixtures I use? I do get good growth... the T5 cost $25 and the Current USA cost $50, Sorry for the hijack but I'm curious if using that one listed above is better than what I'm using ???
 

RichT

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Probably not better Tom, the LOA is just a compact fluorescent fixture at the right K
 
Thanks Rich, do you think I should change out the 10K & actinics for 6500K's ??? Like I said I do get good growth having to do some garding once every week or two...
 

RichT

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
the 65k is the best for growth (photosynthesis) but the worst visually (opinion). If your fuge is not a display then color doesnt really matter. I'm no expert but I'm not sure what the actinics are doing for you in your fuge. As far as I know, the actinics are basically for human viewing pleasure (fluorescing) and don't really do much for the animals. So, IMO I would change out the actinics for 65k (or 10s) and leave the existing 10K's in.
 
Yeah I don't think the actinics do anything either, maybe when it's time to change the bulbs I use the 10K and try the 6500k and see if there is a difference.
 
Thanks for all the input everyone. I think my light is in the "just enough to keep it alive" section. I will look into the flood light maybe this weekend. I will say though, I have pods and worms going crazy in my fuge as is.
 
If you're anywhere in the 6-8K range you'll be fine for a refugium. In those Kelvin ranges it's more about the PAR then anything else for growth.

Ideally, you want to be smart and not over spend on the lights while getting a water-proof light like RichT got. Actually the lights RichT picked up would probably be pretty good for coral growth too. They may not look great to the eye but I bet they would work well since they are "daylight" bulbs.

Carlo
 
How did you install them? Do they come with a hanger? If not I would guess HD sells one that would work with them.
 
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