Best Leds for Chaeto?

[Pete1968]

I have been powering my 40 gal breeder refugium with 3-5000K Eco Smart floodlights from Home Depot for years!!! They work incredibly and only cost < $10 dollars a piece ! ! Sure, you can spend as much as you want although, spending any more on refugium lighting is just plain foolish...it's algae not coral! Save your money for your display tank. My Chaeto grows very well when I add nutrients to the water. If there are no nutrients it doesn't grow much...keep it simple.

I have been growing SPS coral exclusively (and very successfully) for many years and need impeccable water quality.

No doubt you can grow cheato with any 6500 k bulb , my first fuge light more than 30 yrs ago was just that, but the difference between a 10 bulb and a good quality light is night and day, i am speaking from my own experience owning both, its like they mentioned in the brs video, most reefers spend thousands on lights for there tanks and then expect a 10 light fixture to out compete it ! Not going to happen, watch the video let us know what you think, thanks and merry Christmas

 

[BigJohnny]

I have been powering my 40 gal breeder refugium with 3-5000K Eco Smart floodlights from Home Depot for years!!! They work incredibly and only cost < $10 dollars a piece ! ! Sure, you can spend as much as you want although, spending any more on refugium lighting is just plain foolish...it's algae not coral! Save your money for your display tank. My Chaeto grows very well when I add nutrients to the water. If there are no nutrients it doesn't grow much...keep it simple.

I have been growing SPS coral exclusively (and very successfully) for many years and need impeccable water quality.

I mean no need to call it foolish. I strongly disagree with you but I've explained my point of view pretty clearly so I'm not going to go through all that again.

 

[BigJohnny]

The par number brs came up with on there test was like 1600 from the kessil h380 i had the trigger 36 ruby before and the kessil grew cheato like mad,so from you par readings I figured the par would be like around 600 to 800 at top of sump as far as light overspill i think its the same size light just more leds, plus its the trigger 34, its colored acrylic to avoid overspill, your is a homemade sump i think so of course mad overspill, its a hard call i want to make sure the light is big enough, but of course not to big, i coukd always limit the run time to avoid burning the cheato, its a tuff call , I just was going by your par numbers they looked alittle low compared to the kessil, so with that being said, you still believe the 150w light is big enough?

Do you remember if the 1600 was actually hitting the chaeto? I don't remember. Regardless, the Kessil h380 is a more powerful, focused, and optimized light source. That is why it's $300. Having said that, if you lower the 150w to 4" you can get 1200 par if you desire. If you have splashing in your fuge that might be an issue but my refugium is not in the same section as my returns so not a problem for me.

My refugium baffles are actually black, the light spill comes from above the sump not through the baffles. The 300w is a larger fixture, 10.6" to the 150w 6.9", so you will definitely have more light spill, but if you lower the 300w far enough and your chaeto can handle the par your good.

Do you own a par meter? I do but I don't know the average photoinhibition point of chaeto so I'm looking forward to dana's tests and will adjust my par based on that/how it performs as is. Even though the 1600 par performed well for brs, they wouldn't know if the chaeto was actually shutting down photosynthesis at some point and that they could have better growth by reducing it slighty. Also lighting duration matters as you stated

The 600-800 over the whole fuge with better spectrum is a significant improvement for me, so I'm going to start there.

Good news:

"Worry-Free Warranty: 100% Money Back Guarantee, 2 Years Warranty Plus 30 Days Satisfaction or Return Guarantee without reason if light had any problem"

So you can always switch it out for the 150w if you want. Let me know how it works for you!

 

[Pete1968]

I mean no need to call it foolish. I strongly disagree with you but I've explained my point of view pretty clearly so I'm not going to go through all that again.

We will have to agree to disagree! The results speak for themselves watch the video! Its in a very controlled environment

 

[BigJohnny]

We will have to agree to disagree! The results speak for themselves watch the video! Its in a very controlled environment

You accidentally quoted my reply to charterreefer instead of his post

 

[mdd1986]

Bigjohnny thanks for the PAR readings update. I wish I had a par meter to measure my setup. I was able to find some pond liner at my local lowes to use. works perfectly and really cuts down on the light spread. I cut it up and used zipties to attach to the side of the fixture. Don't worry its not blocking any airflow. My fuge section is about 16"x 7-1/2" x 12" which equates to approximately 7 gallons (this is on a 40 gallon breeder).

One thing I wanted some opinions on is what is the best way to keep the chaeto growing. Right now my tank is just finishing up cycling (dry rock and sand) and has 1PPM nitrites and about 50 PPM of nitrates. Should I add corals or clean up crew? I have some fish In QT that won't be ready for another 30 days to go into the display. I just don't want my chaeto to suck up all the nutrients in more water and stop growing since there isn't anything producing nutrients in the tank right now. Also what should I do for light schedule for the chaeto?

 

[Pete1968]

Tool you

You accidentally quoted my reply to charterreefer instead of his post [/QUOT

Bigjohnny thanks for the PAR readings update. I wish I had a par meter to measure my setup. I was able to find some pond liner at my local lowes to use. works perfectly and really cuts down on the light spread. I cut it up and used zipties to attach to the side of the fixture. Don't worry its not blocking any airflow. My fuge section is about 16"x 7-1/2" x 12" which equates to approximately 7 gallons (this is on a 40 gallon breeder).

One thing I wanted some opinions on is what is the best way to keep the chaeto growing. Right now my tank is just finishing up cycling (dry rock and sand) and has 1PPM nitrites and about 50 PPM of nitrates. Should I add corals or clean up crew? I have some fish In QT that won't be ready for another 30 days to go into the display. I just don't want my chaeto to suck up all the nutrients in more water and stop growing since there isn't anything producing nutrients in the tank right now. Also what should I do for light schedule for the chaeto?

took your advice big John ordered the 150w

 

[BigJohnny]

Bigjohnny thanks for the PAR readings update. I wish I had a par meter to measure my setup. I was able to find some pond liner at my local lowes to use. works perfectly and really cuts down on the light spread. I cut it up and used zipties to attach to the side of the fixture. Don't worry its not blocking any airflow. My fuge section is about 16"x 7-1/2" x 12" which equates to approximately 7 gallons (this is on a 40 gallon breeder).

One thing I wanted some opinions on is what is the best way to keep the chaeto growing. Right now my tank is just finishing up cycling (dry rock and sand) and has 1PPM nitrites and about 50 PPM of nitrates. Should I add corals or clean up crew? I have some fish In QT that won't be ready for another 30 days to go into the display. I just don't want my chaeto to suck up all the nutrients in more water and stop growing since there isn't anything producing nutrients in the tank right now. Also what should I do for light schedule for the chaeto?

Hey bud, multifaceted question. I'll send you a pm for the sake of others because my response is very long.

 

[P-Dub]

I agree! In almost every post I always try to say how everything in this hobby is relative.

But what I mean by sufficient is doubling my growth in a few days. Any light is capable of that if your chaeto has enough nutrients at it's disposal. If doubling your quantity of chaeto in 3-4 days isn't sufficient than I'll concede my point. But I'd wager most would be happy to double their chaeto twice a month, let alone twice a week. For me, chaeto was an unmanageable nightmare of constant growth, and caused my SPS to pale. On the other hand, my colors and growth have never been better -- I'm currently running no3 at 40, and po4 at 0.80 (not a typo, 0.80, NOT 0.08)



For me, it would be removing macro.

As I said above, my colors and growth have never been better than running no3 at 40, and po4 at 0.80 (NOT 0.08). Macro was a big problem. it stripped my water bare with minimal light, and all my corals began to pale and stunt. Removing chaeto, dosing phosphates, and getting my nutrients higher helped all my SPS improve greatly.

Did you ever consider controlling nutrient uptake by altering the duration the fuge light were on?[/QUOTE]

 

[Pete1968]

lol

 

[Monti34]

Just checked my par on 138w ufo 10” above fuge I’m getting 311par at surface and 87% pur. Algae seems to be doing well feed twice a day w reef frenzy and reef chili. Sustaining 2ppm nitrate haven’t checked phosphate because I’m lazy yea I know. But it’s been weeks now.

 

[P-Dub]

If I may interject... There are so many factors that contribute to a successful fuge, lighting being just one element to consider. It is by no means a panacea for unsuccessful nutrient reduction. Keep in mind the quantity and types of available nutrients and their appropriate concentrations for good macro growth are varied and numerous. If you are lacking certain nutrients necessary for good growth despite sufficient target nutrient. the fuge will be falling short and not be reducing your target nutrient due to deficiencies of other complementary nutrients necessary for good growth. Additionally, you must consider what you are trying to accomplish for your particular DT based on the livestock you keep. What type of light, how long you run it for is just one seemingly endless controllable variables to consider. I so wish it was as simple as just choosing a particular light for success. Look at what your parameters are, what you are keeping, what you are trying to accomplish, what your fuge consists of and then start working the problem. Everyone will have different needs, equipment, and results. Cherry pick what you need by knowing what you want to accomplish and no matter what the Jons's have running your system is not the same, not even close. You have to keep all variables and the big picture in focus. Merry Christmas everyone.

 

[BigJohnny]

If I may interject... There are so many factors that contribute to a successful fuge, lighting being just one element to consider. It is by no means a panacea for unsuccessful nutrient reduction. Keep in mind the quantity and types of available nutrients and their appropriate concentrations for good macro growth are varied and numerous. If you are lacking certain nutrients necessary for good growth despite sufficient target nutrient. the fuge will be falling short and not be reducing your target nutrient due to deficiencies of other complementary nutrients necessary for good growth. Additionally, you must consider what you are trying to accomplish for your particular DT based on the livestock you keep. What type of light, how long you run it for is just one seemingly endless controllable variables to consider. I so wish it was as simple as just choosing a particular light for success. Look at what your parameters are, what you are keeping, what you are trying to accomplish, what your fuge consists of and then start working the problem. Everyone will have different needs, equipment, and results. Cherry pick what you need by knowing what you want to accomplish and no matter what the Jons's have running your system is not the same, not even close. You have to keep all variables and the big picture in focus. Merry Christmas everyone.

I'd rather you not, i started this thread and im really trying to keep this only about the best led light options for chaeto. If someone doesnt wrangle this in it's very close to turning into a debate/argument about refugium theories/opinions. Don't get me wrong, that has its place, just not here. What light do you use on your refugium, do you like it? Have you tried others? That's the stuff I'd like to see. Thanks!

 

[BigJohnny]

Just checked my par on 138w ufo 10” above fuge I’m getting 311par at surface and 87% pur. Algae seems to be doing well feed twice a day w reef frenzy and reef chili. Sustaining 2ppm nitrate haven’t checked phosphate because I’m lazy yea I know. But it’s been weeks now.

What brand is that 138w? Roleadro or something? Are you using seneye for PUR?

 

[Matthew Frost]

I run the Roleadro UFO, have several friends that run them. They grow chaeto faster than fat kids eat birthday cake. For $30 on Amazon its a no brainer. Just have some shielding that keeps th I light from spilling out over the refugium into the rest of the sump or you'll have algae growing everywhere.

 

[BigJohnny]

I run the Roleadro UFO, have several friends that run them. They grow chaeto faster than fat kids eat birthday cake. For $30 on Amazon its a no brainer. Just have some shielding that keeps th I light from spilling out over the refugium into the rest of the sump or you'll have algae growing everywhere.

Haha nice, agreed. How high off of the fuge do you have it and how many hours is your photoperiod? What shielding are you using?

 

[Matthew Frost]

Haha nice, agreed. How high off of the fuge do you have it and how many hours is your photoperiod? What shielding are you using?

I built my own shield and I still have some spillover but its not bad. Its 6" off the water and it runs about 10 hours a day.

 

[P-Dub]

I'd rather you not, i started this thread and im really trying to keep this only about the best led light options for chaeto. If someone doesnt wrangle this in it's very close to turning into a debate/argument about refugium theories/opinions. Don't get me wrong, that has its place, just not here. What light do you use on your refugium, do you like it? Have you tried others? That's the stuff I'd like to see. Thanks!

Roger that. Respect brother. Just noticing that the thread was, in fact, getting off topic and away from your original reason for posting and was hoping to dial that down by helping folks realize the stray from topic is warrantless. So I'm backing you here. Sorry if that came out wrong.

 

[Rakie]

I'd rather you not, i started this thread and im really trying to keep this only about the best led light options for chaeto.

Yeah I misinterpreted it too. I thought you guys were just talking about light from an increased efficiency standpoint, meaning you're talking about lights but with the goal of X, not just talking about spectrum's ideal for chaeto in and of itself -- So I said some of the same stuff @P-Dub is saying.

Sadly I didn't catch that part until after you said it specifically and told me it was detracting from the thread -- Which totally wasn't my goal (oops)

 

[BigJohnny]

Roger that. Respect brother. Just noticing that the thread was, in fact, getting off topic and away from your original reason for posting and was hoping to dial that down by helping folks realize the stray from topic is warrantless. So I'm backing you here. Sorry if that came out wrong.

No problem, do you use leds to light your fuge? Thanks

Big J