lighting for algae

[mano]

I am wondering what kind of lighting is best for caulerpa prolifera and racemosa, and also halimeda? There wasn't a lot of growth on my LR to begin with and I don't have a light on the tank now as it gets natural light throughout the day, not direct sunlight though. I couldn't afford a light right away but now I am starting to look around. What would be the best type of light to get for these algae? Is there any algae that will do ok with just natural light out of curiosity? I have seahorses in the tank so I don't need a really high intensity light but I would like to get some macros to grow for the seahorses to hitch to. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Kelmen]

My refugium with 39W PL is making them growing well.

 

[Fredfish]

I have had caulerpa and halameda growing under 40w no fluorescent. Basically, it depends on what you are doing and how fast you want the algae to grow. The more light they get, the faster they will grow.

In my current setup, I have installled a 175w MH and am using a 4300k bulb, basically what I had lying around. This is in a refugium and I am using the algae to suck up nutrients so I want it to grow as quickly as possible.

Fred.

 

[AquaEyes]

if you have 130 bucks Drsfosterandsmith.com have a light with an led lunar light, called a Dual Satellite. It has 2 - 40 watt lights and this led light. (plus the fan to keep it cool) its relatively well priced.

 

[Fredfish]

Thats a lotta $ for a couple of 40w lights. The LED won't do anything for your algae. Does the LED come on at night. If its called a lunar LED, kinda sounds like it does.

Fred.

 

[AquaEyes]

Yeah i can set it up so it goes through the cycles of the moon. say whats your refugium like?

 

[Fredfish]

Right now its mostly empty. I have 1/3 partitioned and am spinning caulerpa in it.

I was originally planning on breeding seahorses and using the refugium to house small fry raising vessels. The idea was to use the big tank as a water source "the solution to polution is dilution".

Unfortunately for me, seahorses were cities listed before I completed my tank setup so now I can't get any of the easier to breed species.

I will probably experiment with maximizing amphipod and copepod populations as they are a good supplemental food for seahorses.

Fred.

 

[AquaEyes]

Thats really interresting. I went to Scripps Inst. of Oceanography last summer and got to see thier sea horse collection. THey are really cool animals. Brendan