new lights for refugium

[bongobrian]

What kind of lights are you guys using on your refugiums? for the last year or so I have just had a 2x 9w power compacts on my fuge and I'm thinking of upgrading to something a little stronger. I was considering this Coralife Unit which would basically give me double the wattage that I am running now (2x 18w) and it would fit nicely on my sump.

A long time ago I put a 2x 65w pc retrofit on the refugium and I remember the macro growth was insane. I still have that light kit, the only problem is it doesn't fit very well on my 15 gallon refugium which also houses my skimmer and I also have a gallon bucket sitting on top that I use to drip kalk, so that's basically why I'm trying to use a smaller light set up. I dunno, maybe I should go back to the 66w set up, but it kinda seems overkill to me. What do you guys think?

also, how often do you guys replace the bulbs for your refugium? for people who run their lights 24/7 what is the rule of thumb? I'm assuming that the spectrum gets out of range twice as fast since the lights are always on. So I think every 3-6 months would be ideal?

[scooterman]

I've seen the CF lights you get at home depot up to 150W mh in the refugium, all depends on how much growth you want or need, probably you just needed to replace your lamps to get that growth again, or maybe your tank is so clean they don't feed enough to grow faster, which is a good thing.

[Poseidon]

I run 2x54W T5's, but I have a 100 gallon tub too. I will be switching this up to 3x24W soon though, I have to run the bulbs across the tank, instead of the long way.

I found my Chaeto grows better with an off period, so I run it reverse of my main lights.

As for replacing them, I do that every 12-18 months.

[bongobrian]

Thanks for the input guys-

Yeah basically I would like to see a little more growth than what I have been getting. I've been replacing the 9w compact bulbs quite often, so that's why I think I just need a little more wattage than what I'm currently running. I guess the other topic to bring up is spectrum. Right now I'm running a 10k daylight and an actinic. I'm curious if maybe a 6700k bulb would be better for plant growth.

I found my Chaeto grows better with an off period, so I run it reverse of my main lights.

Yeah I think I'm going to try an off period as well. I've been running mine 24/7 for a while now, but I'm starting to think an off period is a good idea. Do you run yours on a reverse cycle? so in other words sump lights on when the tank is off and sump light off when the tank is on? Is the main purpose of this just for respiration of the algae? I'm assuming that's what the logic is there.

[scooterman]

Yea you will get better growth with lights off half the time, they need to rest as all living things, time to process.
The 65K lamps will give you better growth also, go for it!

[Samper]

Go to Home Depot and buy their 65w Lights of America Fixture. The Fixture is around $50.00 and the bulbs around $12.00. They work great and can be drilled around the top for ventilation.

[golfish]

Go to Home Depot and buy their 65w Lights of America Fixture. The Fixture is around $50.00 and the bulbs around $12.00. They work great and can be drilled around the top for ventilation.

My local Costco has these LOA fixtures for less then 10.00...Its a good idea to drill a hole or two in the top to keep the moisture from building up. For the money these are about the best bang for your buck when it comes to lighting a fuge or saving corals on LR when curing.