Lighting for a refuge

[Jim Cannon]

The previous owner of my 12G JBL DX, had a DIY refuge in the middle chamber. It wasn't included when I bought it. Now I am thinking of reviving it. I am totally new to his. I have one question. What kind of light needs to be used? Actinic? White fluor? Grow light?

I was thinking of maybe a one of those mini-halogen lamps I see at Lowes that people use for accent lighting. Maybe modifiy the hood to place it directly over the middle chamber. Or stick it on the back of the tank where the previous owner had his.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Jim

 

[ghrays]

I use this one from nanocustoms, it fits perfectly. There is a little light spillover into the main tank.

 

[Jim Cannon]

Very interesting solution you have there. Doesn't it reduce the amount of heat exhausted though?

And I don't even profess to know anything about how to wire such a mod.

I still don't know what kind of lighting I need to grow the chaeto. Just a plain incandes light? Special plant light?

 

[DiverDownBrian]

Much simplier ... just drop an egglite in there ... it's been working for me for just about a year now ... you can find them on ebay or just google them

http://cgi.ebay.com/Complete-Cal-20...yZ103440QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Jim Cannon]

Another good suggestion. Thanks. I would have never thought of and Egglite. Dang! $40? for light? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I guess I'll have to bid on it.

Any more ideas?

 

[Agu]

This is a wild guess but could you mount two 8 LED lights on either side of the fan ? They're 1.75" in diameter and .75" thick. I use the three LED in blue as moonlights and they hold up in a moist environment.

The lights with a transformer would cost about $20 , use minimal power so you could leave them running 24/7, and wouldn't create much heat.

You have to scroll up and down this page to find the choices,

LED


fwiw,

 

[Agu]

BTW, the mini halogens create a lot of heat.

 

[Jim Cannon]

Excellent catch on the heat and halogens. I wasn't thinking of heat, just light.

Those little LEDs look like a solution. So you don't need any special lighting for the chaeto then. Just regular light? No actinic, no special 'grow light' or stuff like that. Right?

Thanks