Is my refugium light okay?

reeferfoxx · Sep 23, 2016

So I decided to start a refugium in the back chamber of my All-in-one JBJ 30. I went ahead and purchased this LED Submersible Light -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/25222062526...49&var=551053538879&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I bought the smallest one since the back chambers are kind of tight. It comes with a remote to change the RGB colors. However, the "white" setting is a mix of the red, green and blue lights. Sort of giving a pink hue to the "white" channel.

Does anyone have experience with this light and will it be sufficient enough to grow chaeto?

Salty1962 · Sep 23, 2016

Following. I would think the red would be good for algae if their strong enough.

reeferfoxx · Sep 23, 2016

Salty1962 said:
Following. I would think the red would be good for algae if their strong enough.

My thoughts too! Kind of difficult to judge whether the intensity is enough. If nobody has experience, I'll just grab some chaeto and give a review later on. Either way, I paid a little over $8 for this. Not going to be mad if it doesn't work. lol

reeferfoxx · Nov 2, 2016

Sorry, I haven't updated on this in awhile. I haven't had much time lately. Four days ago I was able to obtain some chaeto and finally start using this led. It being submersible is really what grabbed my attention.

It comes with a very not so needed remote. The remote allows you to change from red, green, blue, and "white". You can change brightness and add flashing or disco effect. The only feature I need, is the white leds.

Four days go by and I've been monitoring chaeto growth everyday since. I honestly couldn't say for sure if there was change in growth. The chaeto didn't look like it was dying and it seemed to retain it's dark green color. Not much change in nutrient levels either. Lets fast forward to the now because this is ultimately my purpose for this update.

A couple hours ago, while commuting across town, a quick and powerful thunderstorm rushed through for about 20 minutes. After arriving home, I noticed there had been a power outage. Typically I don't worry about power outages because I use surge protectors and have a couple UPS's running. Just as an added precaution, I went over all three fish tanks thoroughly. This LED light was the only thing not working.

I tried multiple times with the remote to turn the light on or off with no change. Decided to move the IR receiver and it felt real warm to the touch. I thought that were strange since it wasn't working. I went ahead and unplugged it and tried a different outlet. This time the LEDs flickered for a second and then off. Tried the remote, nothing. Unplugged and then plugged in again, LEDs flickered. Then nothing.

Figuring the LED was dead or at least the IR receiver, I just cracked it open to have a look. And this is what I noticed...