[Ratpack]

Looking at putting live rock in my sump but wasn't sure if it needed to have light on it or not. The fuge, which is a seperate unit will be lit and some light will hit the LR anyway just because of location, but does the LR need dedicated light? What about live sand?

[Reefland]

Not unless there are some photosynthetic hitchhikers on the liverock that you would hate to loose. However if you are setting up a 'fuge with some liverock and macro algae, I wouldn't worry about adding more liverock in the sump as well. Just use the sump for your equipment and extra water volume.

[Ratpack]

What I was planning on doing is creating an entry chamber for the drain line that would flow through LR rubble and exit at the bottom. That way I get a little more LR and it breaks down the turbulent flow into the sump. Guess I could make that section to hold filter floss for the larger particles. I just don't want the drain water to come rushing into the sump.

And in regards to the lighting over the fuge, I have two normal strip lights for a 10 gal that have a white bulb in one and blue in the other, would that be enough light for a fuge?

[Reefland]

I would prefer to have a stronger light over the 'fuge, like a small power compact.

[Samper]

I keep spare live rock in my sump but I have room to do so. If it hindered the operation and maintenance of any of my equipment I wouldn't have it there. It makes great "seed" rock for setting up a new aquarium and you get different types of life accumulating on it. Since the flow is so strong I have tons of feather dusters down there.

The light I use to light refugiums was recommended to me by Scubadude. I've been using it since and have set up a few other systems with it. It's avalable at Home Depot as are the bulbs. You can drill a ton of holes in the top of it to let meat escape if you need to.

It's a Lights of America 65w fixture. Here is a link to one but I couldn't find it on their website.

Amazon.com: Outdoor Fixture: Home Improvement

[FireEater]

Check out my sig for my sump pics and a link to cheap 65k bulbs you can get at Walmart or HD.

I am going to try to update my pics today. I clean my sump as much as I do my main tank. I love to be able to look at all the life down there also. It has grown out so much more from the current pics I have. The Mango Trees are getting quite tall.

[The R/C Man]

With lighting over your live rock you will encourage the growth of many benificial organisms. Personaly I have rock and macro algae (refugium) with a 50/50 bulb over it and it works great.