Suggestions on Refug light

[Angryminer_07]

Is a fancy purple grow light worth the extra expense, or should I just go pick up one of clip on construction lights I've seen mentioned a few times? If construction lights are your suggestion, what bulb would you grab?

 

[Flexin]

I have a eshopps (Curve) light that is not purple, it works well. I also picked up a purple grow light for about $21 and that works too. I have the echo tech light on my 65 in the sump and the Acke LED Grow Light one the back of my biocube and it works well also. I am fine spending on my tanks, but these lights work well. Not sure I really need a $200 light unless someone can demonstrate a performance difference.

 

[Katrina71]

Pics of your fuge?

 

[PaulK]

You can buy cheap horticulture grow lights on amazon. I use the MaxiSun 300 watt (it’s actually more like 100watts). It’s about $75. I run it at half power and pull out 2-3 gallons of chaeto every two weeks in my 110 gallon tank.

 

[Butuz]

I would take a closer look at Kessil H80. Great fuge light and worth the extra few bucks.

 

[madweazl]

I used 5500-6500k CFLs in clip on fixtures for a few years before switching to a Kessil. The CFLs worked great for growing algae but I was also growing algae in my entire sump, skimmer, and reactor because the lights were mounted fairly high so they'd be out of view. My goal was to cut down on the maintenance by reducing light spillage outside of the refugium compartment; I started with a Kessil A80 that worked quite well and then switched to an A160. The A160 was better at keeping the algae growing once it got more dense (and more than 6-7" below the water surface. I have a 10x13x10 refugium and both Kessil options were "worth it" for me.

 

[SurfLife]

I would take a closer look at Kessil H80. Great fuge light and worth the extra few bucks.

I am using the same light and am getting good results.

 

[Flexin]

Overall a brighter purple light seems to be the ticket. I will have to look to see if I get any measurements on the $20 one I got. My curve light is white. So now thinking I should convert to a purple spectrum.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vide...fugium-light-testing-taken-to-the-next-level/

I don't have spill over of the light into the rest of my fuges, fortunately, so don't have problems of growth elsewhere. Mounting height is also important to get it to grow where you want it. Lighting the entire cabinet may not be a good idea depending on how open your fuge is, so the mounting options may be critical in your application. My fuge is an eshopps r-100 so it has a smaller space and needs targeted lighting.

 

[Flexin]

I would take a closer look at Kessil H80. Great fuge light and worth the extra few bucks.

Why would you make the statement it is worth the few extra bucks?

 

[Flexin]

Is a fancy purple grow light worth the extra expense, or should I just go pick up one of clip on construction lights I've seen mentioned a few times? If construction lights are your suggestion, what bulb would you grab?

What size is your refugium that actually needs to be illuminated?

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Is a fancy purple grow light worth the extra expense, or should I just go pick up one of clip on construction lights I've seen mentioned a few times? If construction lights are your suggestion, what bulb would you grab?

The "purple" is a combination of red & blue spectrum light. "Construction lights" ? I'm guessing they are just some form of white light.

I've used full spectrum 3000K (warm white) fluro tubes above horizontal style algae scrubbers years back. They certainly grew a diversity of algae types & other stuff, & this was the problem. Some of the stuff that grew was interesting to say the least, but useless for filtration, because what you want to grow for filtration is fast metabolising (growing) green algae.

I've used red/blue combo LEDs on downflow scrubbers, & just plain red 660nm LEDs also. What I found was, the blue just encouraged the "other" algaes to grow that I didn't want because they weren't useful.
The fast growing green algae types you want growing for filtration, like chaeto & ulva, are found in shallow waters & recieve a lot of red light. When I used red 660nm spectrum LEDs exclusively the only algae that ever grew on my scrubber screens was the green ulva.

 

[TheCoralGarage]

I use one of the $20 purple grow lights off Amazon on my 65 and I'm throwing out half of my cheato every month, it grows like weeds. My fuge is about 12"x 12"x 10" and I have the bulb hanging about 10" above the sump.

My buddy bought the same bulb and is having similar results.

 

[Angryminer_07]

What size is your refugium that actually needs to be illuminated?

My sump is a trigger sapphire 34. I'm just looking for a cost effective option for the fuge light. If I need to spend extra on a better light for better nutrient control, I will. I'm just getting a bit annoyed with the extra 100-200$ every time I turn around. I know that a new build isn't cheap. Im just looking for potential ways to save some $$

 

[lapin]

My sump is a trigger sapphire 34. I'm just looking for a cost effective option for the fuge light. If I need to spend extra on a better light for better nutrient control, I will. I'm just getting a bit annoyed with the extra 100-200$ every time I turn around. I know that a new build isn't cheap. Im just looking for potential ways to save some $$

I have 2 types of light. For my new 20 gallon fuge I got the Viparspectra 300 grow light. It draws 125w so its not really 300w. They are about $79.00. My macro algae is doing well. I have reds and some ulva. It grows film algae very fast. A good thing. My overflow box is quite large. 48"x12"x12". In that I have 2 baskets, 10"x10"x7" with green macros. Ulva and chaeto. The baskets are lit by 2 of the regular screw in led grow lights you get at the hardware store. Those works well. I have 1 over each basket. As an added bonus the egg crate screen I have to keep critters out of the overflow grows algae just like a turf scrubber. I will say the coverage with these in not very large, but should work for you. These bulbs cost about $25.00 at my local hardware.

 

[Flexin]

If you want to target a specific compartment in you fuge, consider how you will mount it. I got lucky with my r-100 refugium because the curve light only illuminates the refugium compartment and my walls are not clear. I did not consider what would happen if I mounted a light high in the cabinet (36inches tall) and how that would grow algae in the other compartments where I don’t want it. For my use, some of the mounting options are to high. If you have a large refugium then mounting high is not a problem. Glad I joined in here to learn what to consider. I’m not recommending the curve, just like how it mounts close and within the target compartment and that mounting should be considered especially if you are targeting a compartment. I guess a clear see through fuge may not be desirable for me because algae will grow everywhere in all compartments.

 

[sawdonkey]

My sump is a trigger sapphire 34. I'm just looking for a cost effective option for the fuge light. If I need to spend extra on a better light for better nutrient control, I will. I'm just getting a bit annoyed with the extra 100-200$ every time I turn around. I know that a new build isn't cheap. Im just looking for potential ways to save some $$

I use this and it seems to be working well for the short time I’ve owned it.