Natural Lighting for Refugium?

[Rick]

Anyone have any thoughts or opinions regarding Natural Lighting for the refugium? I assume natural lighting would be adequate however I'm not certain. I ask because my sump/refugium is in a perfect position to recieve light during the day. I know having it lit at night would benefit the pH levels however to what extent will this make a difference? (With my lighting schedule on the tank it would only leave 4 to 5 hours of darkness on both at the same time)

 

Rick

[dsoz]

If anything, it should be good. Unless you have heat issues to start with. Then it could be bad.

 

You may also have just the right amount of light to have a hair algae explosion in your 'fuge.

 

dsoz

[Nyles]

I think its a great idea. Sunlight can promote algae (so they say), just keep your phosphates in check. I have natural sunlight in my display every morning, little more algae on the glass but nothing a scrapper cant fix.

[Eugenereef]

Yes! It is a great idea. The LFS here in Madison has one setup like this. Their DT is 180g and the refugium is 180g. The refuge sits next to windows and gets natural light. I have seen that tank thrive for past 3 yrs.

 

So I say go for it!

[badguitarist]

i have all sorts of macro algae (cheato, halimeda, etc.) growing in my greenhouse under natural light, it grows the stuff great, even in winter. No reason to waste electricity on it if you can do it for free!