lighting a sump / frag station question

si reef · Nov 6, 2014

I am in the process of a new100 gallon build. There is a 60 gallon sump in cabinet.
There is an 18x 24" section not being used. That is 9.5" deep. It would be a perfect spot for a frag station.
I was thinking of using a kessil 150 for lighting.
How would the moisture affect the light? Should I add an exaust fan?
Please lmk your thoughts and advice.

Reefing Madness · Nov 7, 2014

143MPCo · Nov 10, 2014

IMO, all enclosed sump cabinet and canopy should have some sort of air movement venting stale air out and fresh air in, aiding in CO2 exchange, heat removal due to light (prolonging longevity) , external return pumps, etc... I've seen a lot of rusted external pump bases that could have benefited from the removal of excesses moisture caused by no ventilation at all...

Tank.Bro! · Nov 10, 2014

Cool idea never seen this and I agree you should set up a circulation fan on low like the ones you put in windows the little electric ones and have one sucking air out and one sucking air in get a nice circulative flow happening an it will do fine. I would use salt creep x every month and clean the whole inside of the stand to keep damage down on the light but you'll still have problems just don't spend two much money on the light even if your dealing with coral because trying a new idea might fail.. Good luck.

Tank.Bro! · Nov 10, 2014

Like this....

ImageUploadedByREEF2REEF1415656351.889002.jpg

it would work fine!

si reef · Nov 10, 2014

thanks for the reply

Tank.Bro! · Nov 10, 2014

Yeah of course

jjtaylor62083 · Nov 11, 2014

I made the change about 2 weeks ago from a refugium to frag section

Im using a 4 bulb t5 right now but i try to leave a side door open for heat exchange

Fin · Nov 11, 2014

avasquez01 said:
IMO, all enclosed sump cabinet and canopy should have some sort of air movement venting stale air out and fresh air in, aiding in CO2 exchange, heat removal due to light (prolonging longevity) , external return pumps, etc... I've seen a lot of rusted external pump bases that could have benefited from the removal of excesses moisture caused by no ventilation at all...

It always seemed a no-brainer to me to ventilate the stand. We put fans through our canopies, why not the same for the stand. I have a through the stand fan that blows outward, drawing air from the part of the back that is open and out of the stand on one of my tanks.

As far as lighting the frag section of a sump, I went with an Evergrow fixture. I temporarily removed the fan from this tank, but will be putting it back soon. The stand also remains open much of the day.

143MPCo · Nov 11, 2014

Fin said:
It always seemed a no-brainer to me to ventilate the stand. We put fans through our canopies, why not the same for the stand. I have a through the stand fan that blows outward, drawing air from the part of the back that is open and out of the stand on one of my tanks.

As far as lighting the frag section of a sump, I went with an Evergrow fixture. I temporarily removed the fan from this tank, but will be putting it back soon. The stand also remains open much of the day.

Nice clean setup! thanks for sharing!