headjigger
New member
What does everyone use to light their refugium?
Lights for refugium??
- Thread starter headjigger
- Start date
saleen00814
In Memoriam
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9638634#post9638634 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jefathome
a search
Alot of the times the serch doesnt work on this site. And if your going to bother replying might has well do your best to answer the question insted of wasteing yours and others time with "the serch"
Anyways i also will be useing the clamp on with my fuge. But im gonna put two 24 inch t'5s over it just to do the over kill on lighting that i love to do!
waterfaller1
New member
29 gal refugium, 2 X 6500 K power compacts. No actinics...macro does'nt like actinic.
Im using the Compact Fluorscent that they used on Melves web site. It seemed to work great for him so I ordered a few bulbs in. Heres the link. http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html
cschweitzer
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9638634#post9638634 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jefathome
a search
How exactly do you light a refugium with a search? Do you mean a search light?? A search is not a viable light source, in fact, it's not a light source at all. You might use a light source for a search, but not the other way around.
Funny how someone from CA comes into an ORCA board to disregard a question asked by one of our forum followers...to each their own I guess.
I use a regular N.O. flourescent fixture that comes with the tanks at PetSmart. I leave it on 24-0 cycle, no night cycle. Everything seems to do fine in there. Keeps overgrowth down also as most macro growth is done during the night.
jefathome
New member
OK...
There are plenty of threads on this board that go into great detail on how to light a fuge.
Some people use CF lights from Home Depot, some use regular Power Compact lights designed for a tank, and some use mini 70W MH's. It all depends on how much you want to spend and what you are trying to grow. You also have to factor in depth...
Try the Depot bulb first and see if it works. If not, use it elsewhere in your house... No money wasted (except maybe $5 for the clip-on fixture)
IMO the MH's are a waste unless you are also putting a frag rack in the fuge.
There are also some "underwater" fuge lights that only use about 5W and b/c they are only millimeters away from the macro, they work pretty well.
Haha... It isn't like I went specifically to your forum. I usually use the "View New Posts" button to see what the latest is. About 10min before this post, I was in a thread where some long time members (not me) were complaining about the same questions being asked over and over... IMO this qualifies.
I apologize if anyone really took this too serious. Yes, there is a grain of truth to this still, but I didn't mean to get anyone riled up.
Please note the next to my post, not a 
or even a 
This was just some friendly advice.
There are plenty of places to get this info without the search... Equip forum, Marine Plants and Macro forum would be my first stops.
There are plenty of threads on this board that go into great detail on how to light a fuge.
Some people use CF lights from Home Depot, some use regular Power Compact lights designed for a tank, and some use mini 70W MH's. It all depends on how much you want to spend and what you are trying to grow. You also have to factor in depth...
Try the Depot bulb first and see if it works. If not, use it elsewhere in your house... No money wasted (except maybe $5 for the clip-on fixture)
IMO the MH's are a waste unless you are also putting a frag rack in the fuge.
There are also some "underwater" fuge lights that only use about 5W and b/c they are only millimeters away from the macro, they work pretty well.
Haha... It isn't like I went specifically to your forum. I usually use the "View New Posts" button to see what the latest is. About 10min before this post, I was in a thread where some long time members (not me) were complaining about the same questions being asked over and over... IMO this qualifies.
I apologize if anyone really took this too serious. Yes, there is a grain of truth to this still, but I didn't mean to get anyone riled up.
Please note the
next to my post, not a or even a This was just some friendly advice.There are plenty of places to get this info without the search... Equip forum, Marine Plants and Macro forum would be my first stops.
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cschweitzer
New member
Sorry, no apologies necissary. It's good to have someone actually come back and defend what they say. I do understand completely that everyone(including myself) should be a premium member and help out RC. If this question were in the main discussion forums, I would understand completely that he should have searched instead of asked, but he was just asking us locals how we do our setups...
Man, you should check out the clownfish and anemones forum...people will ask questions answered in the FAQ's over and over and over all day. Why is my clown looking bad? What is wrong with this anemone? What should I feed this? What is this? Etc...many times without posting any pictures for anyone to understand what's going on...it does get frustrating trying to answer the exact same question 10 times a day.
No disrespect meant...I really thought you were one of those guys who drops in to say a smart-alec comment and disappear forever.
Great info for him, thanks. My caulerpa and chaeto seem to do absolutely fine under normal output on a 24 hour cycle, but it does definitely depend on what you're planning to do down there. If you do have a night cycle, make it opposite to your main tank's night cycle to keep ph and temp more stabalized.
Man, you should check out the clownfish and anemones forum...people will ask questions answered in the FAQ's over and over and over all day. Why is my clown looking bad? What is wrong with this anemone? What should I feed this? What is this? Etc...many times without posting any pictures for anyone to understand what's going on...it does get frustrating trying to answer the exact same question 10 times a day.
No disrespect meant...I really thought you were one of those guys who drops in to say a smart-alec comment and disappear forever.
Great info for him, thanks. My caulerpa and chaeto seem to do absolutely fine under normal output on a 24 hour cycle, but it does definitely depend on what you're planning to do down there. If you do have a night cycle, make it opposite to your main tank's night cycle to keep ph and temp more stabalized.
ben&bobbi
New member
i bought and was going to use this, one bulb is about 6 months old, other is brand new 6500K, will sell if interested.
but i am using 2 24" VHO's (1 super and 1 actinic) running with my 2 72" in the hood on a 660 icecap. my refug and return are next to each other, and the lights hang over both. i want to put a frag rack inthe return area.
jefathome
New member
Haha.. I'm back.
Personally, I'd go bigger than 10g. When the power goes out, you would typically have about 5g of water drain from the main into the sump, so to leave enough space for "overflow" you will have to keep only about 5-6g in there... and that might keep the water level too low for most equipment.
With a bigger sump, this 5g is less of a % of overall volume, so you might only raise the water level about 1-2in. Thus, you can keep a higher "normal" water level for your skimmer and stuff.
I'd say a 30G sump is about the minimum (with about 20g of water in normal opperation + your safety margin)
Plus, the bigger the sump, the less affect evaporation will have on the water level... and the more consistant the water level, the better your skimmer will run.
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jefathome
New member
Ditto...
My 30G has a filter sock on the drain pipe, a BM200 skimmer, 2littlefishes Phosban reactor, heater, and a fuge in the return section, and space is TIGHT. I can't see going any smaller without seriously limiting what you can put in it.
Return pump is external via a bulkhead.
With a 10g "tank" as a sump, you would probably have to use an internal return pump (thus taking up more precious room) and there would be no space for baffles between the skimmer and return... thus micro-bubbles.
Not saying that it can't be done on a 10g.. just that going a bit bigger will have huge benefits if you can fit it.
cschweitzer
New member
Yep, I agree, the bigger the sump you can do the better for everything(including yourself). I ran a 10G sump/fuge for about two months before just losing my mind. It had to be topped off 1-2 times per day and even then would sometimes run dry. This harms the pump severely reducing its life, and it shoots microbubbles into the tank. 30 is a perfect size for a 55G tank. Any lower and you'll be battling with evaporation all day and night.
