Testing Spider Cob 90w as a Refugium light

[BorealReef]

Hello!

I am testing the COB Spider 90w horticulture light to see if it does better as a refugium light then a 6500K 10w LED that we had earlier. The tank is a 500 gallon mixed reef with about 20 fish, some hermits, urchins, LPS and SPS.

The tank had a biopellet system which kept the nutrients in check, but I got tired of putting money in replenishing the pellets and started looking for alternatives. Refugiums caught my attention because of the free (of course the LED uses electricity but you know what I mean) nutrient management and having a breeding ground for pods.

I have a ball of chaeto about 7" in diameter, which grew only very little under the 10w LED that I mentioned earlier.

At the moment my nitrate is 25 and phosphate 0.5 measured with Salifert kits.

I'll try to remember to post every few weeks about any changes.

 

[vai6921]

Subscribed...I'm testing out a horticulture light as well. It's been 3 weeks now and so far decent results. I'm using it for an ats so it may be a few weeks till I can tell how good it really is


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[BorealReef]

First week update: Both nitrate & phosphate have stayed the same. Some green algae (probably hair algae) has started to grow on top of the chaeto here and there. Also there have started to appear white strands of chaeto on the top layer of the bundle. Since I had a much less powerful light before the new led I suspected that there might be too much light so I lift up the light from 40cm to 60cm off of the water surface.

I'll post an update next week

 

[BorealReef]

Oh and here's a pic of the chaeto

 

[vai6921]

I have a feeling you will need more light for aggressive growth. I cracked my light up to 100% (165watt) and the ats is getting filled each week. I remove about 3 baseball sized algae clumps. I hope ur chaeto takes off with the light without having to add more.


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[jayball]

I would add a small powerhead to get it to tumble a bit.

 

[BorealReef]

Actually the chaeto does tumble

I ended up taking the light off since the chaeto was turning whiter every day. It now has a 5000 kelvin 30W LED floodlight and the chaeto seems to be turning green again. I'll keep you updated.

 

[vai6921]

Nice! Post some pics too


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