So I think I found the Holy Grail in Refugium Lighting

[BobbyV]

Day 1 Installation



20 Days Later :eek2:





The Cheato Growth is cool but that is not what catches my main attention.

What I find to be note worthy is that I don't have any bleached Chaeto. It is all dark green and healthy. Typically from my experience with grow LED's they tend to burn the Chaeto.

Another area of interest is no Cyano. At times I will have some nasty Cyano start to grow in the refugium area. Not in this case - it is all clean Cheato growth.

24 watts each. (or less)

Lifespan: 50,000 - 100,000 hours (I assume heat is the leading variable influencing life span.)

Got the pair on sale for $17. :thumbsup:

40 Gallon Refugium 24 x 24 x 16.

Photo Period 12 hours.

Spectrum: 3 bands

• 460nm
• 630nm
• 660nm

LEDs Quantity: 12Pcs

LEDs Brand: Epistar

Light output is blended and well balanced.

Current Chaeto would easily fill an entire 5 gallon bucket!

No GFO online. 20% water changes every two weeks. Bare bottom 300DD display. SPS only. Running an equivalent SRO 6000 INT Skimmer. BRS Rox Carbon. No Filter socks. (Filter socks and sand are the devil)

Light/Light Medium bio load. 5 Tangs and a few smaller fish. (Keep in mind a 300DD)

Yes those are 6 Marine Pure Media Blocks, I went a little crazy. Found a great deal on them.

Absolutely no sign of algae in main display. (very fortunate) :dance:

Figured I would share my findings to help others looking for a well balanced refugium light solution.

Wishing everyone continued success.

 

[Nwest]

Wish I had an area to grow some Chaeto

 

[BobbyV]

I personally wish we lived in an area with basements. I have seen some really cool dedicated fish room areas.

I would become a mad scientist, if I could expand my water column.

 

[luisagos]

Thanks for this. Great find.

Can you post a link to the LED?

 

[bigzman]

Bobby, thank you for sharing. Can you share where you got it. I need something for my fuge

 

[BobbyV]

A little place I know, The People's Republic of China.

Also known as, EBay.

Search for: Meizhi 24w Led Grow light Hydroponics Bulb Veg Flower Indoor Organic Greenhouse

Of course you will be intrigued by many choices, but again I believe the reason these bulbs do so well is the lower power consumption.

If you do end up going with a more powerful option, be prepared for it grow more than just the Cheato in your refugium.

The bulbs I am currently using have proven to me that they are effective and efficient.

Also note that these bulbs are angled straight down. Depending on your stand height, you can mount them directly to the ceiling of your inner stand ceiling. Appears to me between 90 to 75 degrees. And that is ok, I want to keep those photons directed into one position.

You don't want some wide degree angle big spread low level light. Then you will risk lightening your skimmer partition and causing a bigger mess in the sump. I personally want to control and focus my mess and keep it manageable.

Another cool idea that I did was the physical partition barrier separating my other areas of the sump, I have a black piece of Acrylic.

 

[luisagos]

Thank you Bobby.

Amazon has them, if you want them tomorrow if you have prime its $20.99

Meizhi 24w Led Grow light Hydroponics


Pig Tail Type Rubber Medium Socket 2 Leads 660W 600V

 

[BobbyV]

Thank you Bobby.

Amazon has them, if you want them tomorrow if you have prime its $20.99

Meizhi 24w Led Grow light Hydroponics


Pig Tail Type Rubber Medium Socket 2 Leads 660W 600V

Nice find!

I agree, rather Amazon Prime domestic in my opinion over Ebay and dealing with China Post tracking.

The original deal was two bulbs for $17 and free shipping. So my attitude was, I had nothing to lose. What the heck - cheap fun experiment.

Never expected the impressive performance results.

I think the ultimate way to mount these would be screwed into the ceiling of your stand. Perfectly in the center of the refugium.

Since they are fairly narrow angle, I think them being mounted on average 30 inches high would probably be the perfect spread for most refugiums.

(My stand is purposely built roughly 43 inches tall. So could easily get equipment in and out and fit a big skimmer underneath.)

Keep it clean and out of the way when you need to clean out the refugium or cut back the Cheato. Unfortunately I have a return pipe running through this area.

However if I were to rebuild my return to get it out of the way, I would absolutely use the following:



https://www.amazon.com/Eaton-659-SP...r=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=e26+ceiling+socket+eaton




https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-3193...6195&sr=8-1&keywords=electrical+grounded+cord

 

[BobbyV]

I was randomly inspired by this image I found on the web.

The creator of the idea just needed to change the bulb out to a grow bulb like posted above.

 

[luisagos]

Question, is this passive cooling?

 

[BobbyV]

Question, is this passive cooling?

Yes - they have huge heat sink fins. They are both on now and I they are relatively cool to touch I wouldn't say warm.

You can feel some temperature on them but nothing noticeable.

I will feel them again when they are at the end of the 12 hour daily photoperiod if temperature feels different I will make sure to comment.

Basic efficient engineering design, no moving parts. I researched these type of power output bulbs and average wattage on socket meters read 13.2 watts per bulb.

Which leads me to believe that per LED is 2 watts but only pushing 1 watt power per LED. Which I am ok with for longevity of the LED.

If they can grow cheato and be cheap on electricity - all the better. Less is more on my budget.

 

[luisagos]

Thank you.

 

[cardiffgiant]

Great job. I tried these bulbs and didn't have luck. I have two of them sitting in my garage if anyone wants to give them a try.

 

[BobbyV]

Great job. I tried these bulbs and didn't have luck. I have two of them sitting in my garage if anyone wants to give them a try.

Thank you - yea there are a bunch of similar types out there.

There are a sea of them on Ebay and Amazon. :fish2:

These specific ones randomly worked for me.

I don't know if the "full spectrum" they market is unique technology to these set or what. I do know that the newer grow bulbs have a new LED design where the color's mix together as oppose to simply being individual projected colors trying to mimic a full true growth spectrum. Sort of like a Kessel effect. But we all know Kessel is way more advanced than these bulbs.

No reviews on Amazon however as of yet and the two for one special launch deal I got tells me they may possibly be a newer design/release to try and catch on for popularity.

Who really knows.

I just know - they work for me. So what ever they did to make themselves unique is working.

I also hear good thinks about the "UFO" LED grow fixture.

 

[sirrealism]

I just ordered a set from Amazon. Worth giving them a try. Cant be worse then my curly fluorescent I am using now. Thanks

 

[cardiffgiant]

They look cool and they're lighter on the electric bill than a CFL flood. I experimented with them for a couple of months and found that my old setup had better growth with the CFL floods.

However, the growth that I get with the 3 LED eshopps refugium light is ridiculous. My mangroves sprouted 10x faster than they did in my old system. And I was very doubtful about that fixture going in.

That's why I offer my plant growth par38s up to anyone that gives them a try. There must be some other variables at play and after seeing your results, I'm sure that they'd work out well for someone else.

 

[luisagos]

They look cool and they're lighter on the electric bill than a CFL flood. I experimented with them for a couple of months and found that my old setup had better growth with the CFL floods.

However, the growth that I get with the 3 LED eshopps refugium light is ridiculous. My mangroves sprouted 10x faster than they did in my old system. And I was very doubtful about that fixture going in.

That's why I offer my plant growth par38s up to anyone that gives them a try. There must be some other variables at play and after seeing your results, I'm sure that they'd work out well for someone else.

I already order 2 of them from amazon.

Are yours Meizhi 24w with (5 watt) Epistar LED?

 

[BobbyV]

Hey for what it is worth - this is another way to mount these bulbs so they stick where you want them.

If you don't have a direct line of sight to mount the ceiling E26 sockets.

This is what I am using now. Works well. Only $8 per unit.

You can angle them however you want, tighten them down securely and "throw" light where needed.



https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Delux...d=1490475007&sr=8-35&keywords=e26+bulb+socket

 

[sirrealism]

Thats the same mount I am using. The old clamp on with the hood. The hood can be removed. Didi not look at the Amazon link but the Church "Home Depot" has them for about 5 bucks.

 

[luisagos]

I should get my LEDs in a few hours, of course my sockets will not be here for a few days, and I do not have any Chaeto, lol.