REfugium

[ynnhoj86]

i wanted to add more lighting to my macro algae. i was at home depot today, and i saw this flood light for four dollars! its 250 watts. i hooked it up and i put the small 15 watt light to the side of the refugium so the bottom algae would also get light. What do you guys think. my macro should be growing like crazy!! lol

this is the set up
http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=floodlights3en2.jpg

this is the light on the side of the refugium
http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=floodlights2uk5.jpg

a close up
http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=floodlightsnj2.jpg

 

[adamsky27]

Does that type of light put out a lot of heat?

 

[ynnhoj86]

the ballast is really really hot, but its not transfering to the plants or the water. i keep thinking its gonna burn down my house and tank lol

 

[Colerphon]

that looks really HOT! I would be nervous .

 

[Tanque Verde]

lol. I bought that same lamp to use as a clip-on grill light. I quit using it because it got so darn hot that I couldn't even touch it.

As for your algae: I'm really not an expert, but my understanding is that in addition to brightness, color temperature is important to algae growth. I seem to recall that macro will grow under as low as 2700K but that it grows best under 5000K and preferably 6500K (somebody chime in if I'm wrong). If you don't see the kind of growth you want, you might consider finding a light with a better color temp.

Melev did a cool experiment here:
http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html

 

[SahuaritaMike]

LOL I just realized thats my old tank... How do you like it... The setup with the closed loop is a bit odd but it wroks well...

 

[ZOAKEEPER]

Fuge light

Fuge light

This is the same light. We use them continually.

We have had great growth.