Lighting experiment

[chefmur]

I do not have a frag tank and do not like the frag rack in my main display, so I was thinking about using the fugue section on my sump to keep them. The issue has always been lighting it, the small pc light over my fuge will obviously not work and I do not want to drop $200 on a clamp on MH light plus it would get hot Under the tank.

I have been looking at the led spotlights, they fit in a standard clip on light and run much cooler, they still are pricey at $100 bulb. Today I was in costco and came across a led spotlight bulb, 75 watt , par38,Also has the Cree led which are supposed to be the best, it produces 885 lumens and uses only 18 watts and runs pretty cool. It was only $35 so I picked it up and put it in a aluminum clip on spotlight. Obviously it has no blue bulbs so does not bring out the colors in the coral but I am looking for growth. I have it close to the water with the frags just below surface to get maximum light.

If interested I will keep everyone updated on how this works, I still have some macro algae in bottom of fugue section and plan on still running on reverse light cycle, I will probably add a small powerhead to add a little more flow in the fuge section .

 

[dubaygv]

I would definitely be interested in hearing about about you results. Tagging along.

 

[yoda]

I am thinking of doing something similar in my sump, so yea, please give us an update in a few months.

Just a side note: back in my early days of reef keeping, I ran across 2 or 3 florescent tubes that had output spectra similar to URI's sun lamps. One of them was at Home Depot and cost $5 at the time. I ran 2 of them mixed with URI actinics on a 55g soft coral tank with good results. Lesson learned was that there are often cheap solutions out there if you shop around some.