[MyColorYellow]

I just put two 20 gal. inline tanks as sump and refugium respectively this last weekend on my 100 gal. reef and all is well - so far! The ref. is 20" tall, while the sump is 16" tall, so the ref. gravity feeds into the sump(they sit side by side) by one of my two drainage lines that is teed off just before it dumps into the sump. That means my return chamber is in the middle of the sump.
I put 1" of LS(bought in bag - 20 lbs.) in the ref. and then 4"(40 lbs. carbsea special reef agr. sand) and then 5-7 lbs. of LS from my 13 month main tank. All looks well. I want to add macro alge(Calerpa(sp)) and a small amount of LR for helpful critters to feed the main tank eventaully - I am allowing a low flow into the ref.
Now my question. Using a reverse lighting on the ref., can I use a spare 55w PC(10k or 71k) on a cheap lighting system to go the calurpa? Where can I get this lighting? $$$ is getting low!
Since the ref. is basicly cycling with sand only for now, how long can/should I wait to add lights, LR, and calurpa?

[clown-t]

i have a 30l sump/refugium with a 15w power-glo bulb i bought at the lfs. for the fixture i went to lowes and spent $7 on it. my algae i bought at pa it is red and green hawaiian which the red grows very fast and my tangs love it.my home page has a picture of my refuguim but every thing else is under construction

[This message has been edited by clown-t (edited 05-10-2001).]

[MyColorYellow]

^^^

[saltjunkie]

Go to Home depot and get the lights of america Flourex model 9266 light. It will cost you less than 30 bucks, you have to buy a grounded cord to wire to it to plug it in also. But that is still in the less than 30 doillar range when you buy it. wire it up plug it in, watch the calurpa grow(when you get it..haha)

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<center>NORMAL PEOPLE WORRY ME</center> rick@reefland.com
visit my micro reef and lowrider page! Saltjunkiesreef
It is always under continuous change

[MyColorYellow]

^^^

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[MyColorYellow]

What wattage should I be looking at? Is reverse lighting ok, cause POWER is a real issue here.

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[Skipper]

The model saltjunkie referred to uses a 65 power compact bulb. A reverse daylight cycle for your refugium is fine: it can help stabilize your ph if you have a good growth of macro algae in the refuge. Since you are adding your refugium to an existing, established tank, then cycling is not really an issue to be concerned with. The order in which you add the lights, LR, and caulerpa is not of any importance unless you add the caulerpa first. In that case you would obviously need some light for the algae. If you are interested, check out my refugium here: http://reefsite.homestead.com/refugium.html HTH



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Skipper's Reef

[MyColorYellow]

More ideas please?