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Any Recommends for Refugium Lights


BeasileyBub

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I ran a 6500 compact florescent for a long time, worked fine.  You just put them in one of those clip on reflectors.  Cannot beat the price.  The LED equivalents are quite cheap now as well.

 

These days I have so many spare LED fixtures from various experiments I just run those.

 

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I was wondering about the nutrients vs growth of chaeto. I'm not knowledgeable about how much light it needs, but it seems like a basic light would work. A friend offered me a eshopps curve that has cree LED's for $40, but that seems pricey for something that's not completely necessary. I also don't want a light that will overheat and cause issues. 

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On 5/13/2017 at 6:28 AM, Trailermann said:

BRS recently produced a video of a refugium lighting test.  It was interesting that they measured the uptake of nutrients which was not necessarily proportional to the growth of chaeto.

This was amazing!  Thanks for the tip.  I will be getting a grow light for my fuge most likely, that kessil grow light killed it!

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/brstv-investigates-do-refugiums-work/

 

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Ah nice.  Did you see Jorge?  This bulb did quite well in the video / test also.

I took my mars aqua D120s and cranked it way up to 100% on both channels for now.  Seems like the more light, the harder the chaeto was working.

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I did not catch that Jeremy. I can say I'm happy with results though. I didn't go with fresh water one because I didn't want other algae growing around the fuge. Just wanted a focused light directly on the chaeto. I like the gooseneck option too!

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I purchased one of these...http://www.ebay.com/itm/54W-Full-Spectrum-E27-LED-Plant-Grow-Light-Bulb-Hydroponic-Indoor-veg-Flower-/351641594651?hash=item51df78eb1b:g:iewAAOSwzhVWqz5U

 

It works fantastic and my chaeto is growing like mad.   The bulb actually has a really great spectrum, lots of reds in the wavelength that algae likes. 

As with anything, you can spend a BUNCH more money.. but you should maybe ask yourself  "am I getting completely ripped off here?" 

I have a spare if anyone wants to try it,...

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7 minutes ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

I purchased one of these...http://www.ebay.com/itm/54W-Full-Spectrum-E27-LED-Plant-Grow-Light-Bulb-Hydroponic-Indoor-veg-Flower-/351641594651?hash=item51df78eb1b:g:iewAAOSwzhVWqz5U

 

It works fantastic and my chaeto is growing like mad.   The bulb actually has a really great spectrum, lots of reds in the wavelength that algae likes. 

As with anything, you can spend a BUNCH more money.. but you should maybe ask yourself  "am I getting completely ripped off here?" 

I have a spare if anyone wants to try it,...

You didn't happen to get any extra of those did you?  I would be interested in trying out a different light arrangement for mine as I am definitely under-driving it right now (although it grows coraline apparently).

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I used that same Chinese bulb once. I was sitting in my living when I heard a loud pop. The bulb exploded into pieces. I'm glad I was there to shut it off. Use with caution lol..

If you're looking to get something inexpensive check out your local warehouse. Phillips makes a 5500k led bulb that grows chaeto very well and was reliable for a little over 2 years. As a matter of fact it's still growing chaeto over at cuttlefish!

GL!!

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2 hours ago, Jorge said:

I used that same Chinese bulb once. I was sitting in my living when I heard a loud pop. The bulb exploded into pieces. I'm glad I was there to shut it off. Use with caution lol..

If you're looking to get something inexpensive check out your local warehouse. Phillips makes a 5500k led bulb that grows chaeto very well and was reliable for a little over 2 years. As a matter of fact it's still growing chaeto over at cuttlefish!

GL!!

C'mon... exploding bulbs make life more exciting! (said no one ever)  That BRS video is pretty interesting.  Surprised how well all of the chaeto setups worked given the amount of nutrients they were loading in there.  Will be curious how well they hold up over time and if they start upping the food supply.

 

2 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

I do actually... I thought the one i bought broke so I emailed the seller and he sent me another. Turned out it was my clip on light that was bad.

So now I have an extra..

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

I would actually - assuming it isn't already spoken for.  BTW - I think I may be going blind...  I completely missed that line in your original post.  Been a rough few weeks.

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18 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

I purchased one of these...http://www.ebay.com/itm/54W-Full-Spectrum-E27-LED-Plant-Grow-Light-Bulb-Hydroponic-Indoor-veg-Flower-/351641594651?hash=item51df78eb1b:g:iewAAOSwzhVWqz5U

 

It works fantastic and my chaeto is growing like mad.   The bulb actually has a really great spectrum, lots of reds in the wavelength that algae likes. 

As with anything, you can spend a BUNCH more money.. but you should maybe ask yourself  "am I getting completely ripped off here?" 

I have a spare if anyone wants to try it,...

 

Thanks for the recommendation. That looks to be more of what I was considering price wise. I don't want to go hog wild for some macro algae. 

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29 minutes ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

Sean and I measured the par coming off of it last night and i was shocked! Right at the bulb it was throwing 1k par. About 8" away and 2" under the water surface it was 400. The light is very focused but way bright enough.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

I was pretty shocking to be honest.  I am testing one out in my refugium now so we can get another take on it but it certainly seemed to be doing a fine job in Brian's sump - really nice thick healthy mat of chaeto in not a very long time.  Given the bioload in that tank, I am guessing it might even be nutrient limited.

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  • 5 months later...
4 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

sean... are you still using that bulb??   looking at fuge light options for the new tank 

I am actually - never solved the intermittent flicker problem. Grows chateo like crazy though. Glad you ressurected this thread though as I should order another one to try and couldn’t recall the link. Is yours still running?

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31 minutes ago, shaywood said:

Zoneebok, Any reduction in nusince algae?

I threw it in shortly after my tank was cycled, and the rock in the display became covered in long, thick hair algae.  It died off over a couple of weeks, and there is no discernible algae in the display now.  

My nitrates after the cycle were 80-100+.  I have not done a water change at all, but nitrates are now 0.  I also feed pretty heavy.

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