Fuge / Sump Lighting

[Antman]

Hello all I had a IN tank fuge ( utlizing the tank lights ) so it was lit from 11-11
I just made a new fuge in my sump with baffles in my 15 Gallon sump -so its 10 " wide & 5 " long & 12" deep with about 4" sand & rock rubble .
I picked up a clip on work light with one of thowes 13W PC (= 60W) lamps BUT it lights up the hole undernith of the sump & is distrating to the main tank
I was thinking of something like this

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8154&N=2004+113176

OR
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4376252867&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEDW:IT&rd=1

How many hours will the fuge need ?? 24/7 ? reverse tank lights ?
Thanks ~

 

[kmk2307]

Antman,

Some people hang a "curtain" behind the sump to keep light out.

I don't think those small PC lights will provide enough light to grow algae. If you are looking for a more powerful and more economical solution, you can get "metal dome" light fixtures (the kind used for shoplights or reptile lights). There are 45w screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs made my lights of america which are 6500K which is a good color temperature to grow algae at. I believe both are available from most hardware stores or probably wal-mart, etc. Just be sure to hang it securely if that is what you decide to go with.

I light my 'fuge 24/7. I grow all Chaeto in my fuge nowadays.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[Willow69]

does cheato need to roll for it to grow and be effective? i have 4 other different kinds of macro's in my fuge and its not high flow. i have no skimmer and this is basically my only form of filtration.

 

[reefD]

no high flow is requires check out my sump...canopy of grape calpura....only have a 32 watt pc bulb on there use to have another plain florence bulb but shut that off a few months ago and the algae is growing better!
http://eshare.hpphoto.com/en/home/welcome.asp?JobID=955da49f-2f60-4384-b391-7b50bc0e3730

 

[reefD]

if the 24 hour light is a problem you can enclose the sump with news paper to reduce light spilling

 

[Drewpy]

this cheapy is going on my fuge...

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=8

 

[reefD]

that'll do it drewpy! youll get good growth with 24 hr/7 use.

 

[kmk2307]

I agree that chaeto doesn't really need high flow to grow well. It seems like there are "dead" zones of no flow in my 'fuge but the chaeto seems to grow uniformally well.

Kevin