fuge light

[parrotchute]

Hi guys-
Been revamping my refugium and am looking at lighting for it. After some research I couldn't find any satisfying answers. Is a 13 watt cfl with a reflector going to be ok for macro algae? It's 5000k (I know 6500 would be ideal)

I was using a 13watt light from fluval and the macro wasn't doing great but it may have been from vodka dosing and low flow to the fuge, both of which have been eliminated in the fuge redesign.
Thanks

[wetWolger]

I personally would just go LED, particulary on a fuge...You don't have the high cost like with the main display, but you can still enjoy the energy savings.

[parrotchute]

Like what led? I already have the cfl so if that would work I'd stick w it for now. Not sure if that will be adequate tho

[wetWolger]

what kind of cfl is it? If it's a screw in bulb, I would look at getting a par38 150watt equivelent LED (which would be 20 watts)

[Seacilian77]

all on ebay shipped LED's for $40 with the 6500k colors for a fugue light

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Freshwater-Aquarium-LED-Light-10W-6500K-WHITE-120-Planted-Tank-Grow-Lamp-Flood-/271186004067?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f23f20863

this is one nice and compact 1-10w led

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EVO-18-6500K-LED-Aquarium-Light-Freshwater-Plant-Tropical-Fish-Discus-10x-3W-/301198334979?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4620d1dc03

this one has 10-3w led's

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-18-0-50W-6500K-Aquarium-Light-Freshwater-Plant-Tropical-Fish-Tetra-45cm-/111482248525?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19f4dc1d4d

this one has 33-0.5w led's

Any one have a idea on why one is better over the other. I have read good things about the Beamworks lights being the best for the money.
Thanks for reading in advance.

[jmowbray]

not to hijack a thread but I asked this question and it went unanswered.

What do people think about using LEDs just in the red and blue/purple photosynthesis range? I have seen these on Ebay and other major hydroponic store sites.

[fishsuse29]

I've for the first flood light one in 20w for my fuge and it's worked great. I went from a small clip on 9w fuge light which bearly grew cheato now it doubles almost every week

[kenneth wolfe]

nuff said http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f24/wolfesperformancecoatings/Mobile%20Uploads/1415563439193_zps67dd002c.jpg

[jmowbray]

Ken what are you using?

[maddmaxx]

i believe those are hydroponic LED grow lights...

[maddmaxx]

they are hit or miss honestly. me and 2 of my friends tried using the LED screw in red/blue grow bulbs and our chaeto all died. i had a sliver left about the size of a quarter, reinstalled the CFL 6500k bulb and grew back to the size of a basketball, gave some to my 2 friends, they switched back to CFL bulbs too, and the chaeto took off for them again... but on kens tank. they seem to grow his macro extremely well...his fuge looks like hes using calp rather then chaeto

[kenneth wolfe]

it is calp , and even in my own experience these style leds (6 chips 660 3 chips 450 10w) don't grow the cheato like the calp and I have seen it do what maddmaxx has observed ..but they offer the same led in the 6500k, there also cheaper.I am working on an experiment with cheato and the 6500k led , my guess it will like the 3500-4500k more red than blue ..in most land base veggies they like more red spectrum for growth, early in the season and blue for flower..late in the season ..if these leds were reversed I feel they would work just fine for the cheato..I had a algae scrubber with these same leds and it worked great...I chose this method of the fuge versus the scrubber ..for me it is the cubic area and ease of maintenance ..

[Seacilian77]

I've for the first flood light one in 20w for my fuge and it's worked great. I went from a small clip on 9w fuge light which bearly grew cheato now it doubles almost every week

Just so I got you correctly, You have the first , flood light in the 20w version for your fuge.
What are your dimensions?
What is the water depth?
Height of the light above the water for the light?

Thank you for the response

[Seacilian77]

it is calp , and even in my own experience these style leds (6 chips 660 3 chips 450 10w) don't grow the cheato like the calp and I have seen it do what maddmaxx has observed ..but they offer the same led in the 6500k, there also cheaper.I am working on an experiment with cheato and the 6500k led , my guess it will like the 3500-4500k more red than blue ..in most land base veggies they like more red spectrum for growth, early in the season and blue for flower..late in the season ..if these leds were reversed I feel they would work just fine for the cheato..I had a algae scrubber with these same leds and it worked great...I chose this method of the fuge versus the scrubber ..for me it is the cubic area and ease of maintenance ..

Ken,

That looks successful.
What are the dimensions of that fuge?
What size DT is it serving?
Are those lights all red? If not which colors and how many of them do you have? Also what wattage?
Hows the heat they give off with them so close?
How'd you like the scrubber? Is the fuge better?
Lastly, did you need that many and have them that close?
Is the calp better than the cheat?
Are those hydroponic grow lights or the ones I have referenced from Ebay?
Where'd you get them and how much?

Thanks for reading and thank you very much for any input.

[slief]

it is calp , and even in my own experience these style leds (6 chips 660 3 chips 450 10w) don't grow the cheato like the calp and I have seen it do what maddmaxx has observed ..but they offer the same led in the 6500k, there also cheaper.I am working on an experiment with cheato and the 6500k led , my guess it will like the 3500-4500k more red than blue ..in most land base veggies they like more red spectrum for growth, early in the season and blue for flower..late in the season ..if these leds were reversed I feel they would work just fine for the cheato..I had a algae scrubber with these same leds and it worked great...I chose this method of the fuge versus the scrubber ..for me it is the cubic area and ease of maintenance ..

I run similar 10w 6500K LED flood lights on my fuge and they grow chaeto and mangroves great. My giant chaeto mass which is about 30" long by 12" tall by 12-14" across and solid doubles in size every 2 weeks or so. I do run 4 of them but I have a large 30"x36" x 18" tall fuge that has acrylic covers. My mangroves end up bent like pretzels if I leave them in there too long before moving to another tank but they thrive as well.
They are cheap, effective and reliable.

These are the same ones I use. You do need to add a power plug or splice in an extension cord as the wire ends are bare. The price is right and they work great!!
http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Waterproof-Flood-Light-100-240V/dp/B005I3YHNU/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1416194671&sr=8-18&keywords=10w+6500K++LED+flood+light

[Seacilian77]

I run similar 10w 6500K LED flood lights on my fuge and they grow chaeto and mangroves great. My giant chaeto mass which is about 30" long by 12" tall by 12-14" across and solid doubles in size every 2 weeks or so. I do run 4 of them but I have a large 30"x36" x 18" tall fuge that has acrylic covers. My mangroves end up bent like pretzels if I leave them in there too long before moving to another tank but they thrive as well.
They are cheap, effective and reliable.

These are the same ones I use. You do need to add a power plug or splice in an extension cord as the wire ends are bare. The price is right and they work great!!
http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Waterproof-Flood-Light-100-240V/dp/B005I3YHNU/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1416194671&sr=8-18&keywords=10w+6500K++LED+flood+light

So you have just one on the entire fuge?
How high above the water line?
What kind of macro you growing?
Do you think its a good idea to mix up the macro or all they all doing the same thing more or less?
Thanks a lot for the input :)

[kenneth wolfe]

Those are the same.. I will run the 6500ks on my cheato ..I have to 10w version with my spread and distance I could get more watt per sq. in. with the size of the frame of the flood light..also distance is close in my application ...for reference I have mangroves under the red/blue and the grow fine in my fuge they are close to the led and I have seen them burn from being to close..I will move them once I get my second fuge up and running, also the thing with the pink light is its pink and you can't see how deep the green is on the calp. ...I feel these little leds are the best you can buy ...witch ever you go with.I would use the red/blue over the white on an algae scrubber..and the the 6500k for mangroves and cheato..I am experimenting with substrate less setups in my fuge ..that's where the cheato has advantage imo , being free floating and easy to tumble ect to keep it clean. This is a pic of a old bio-wheel I plan on using..

[kenneth wolfe]

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f24/wolfesperformancecoatings/Mobile%20Uploads/20141113_170727_zpsea4eea40.jpg

[kenneth wolfe]

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f24/wolfesperformancecoatings/Mobile%20Uploads/20141113_172251_zpsd338723c.jpg

[kenneth wolfe]

plus it was free...

[slief]

So you have just one on the entire fuge?
How high above the water line?
What kind of macro you growing?
Do you think its a good idea to mix up the macro or all they all doing the same thing more or less?
Thanks a lot for the input :)

As I said, "I do run 4 of them but I have a large 30"x36" x 18" tall fuge that has acrylic covers".

What I didn't say is that they are only used on half the fuge but light the whole thing up. They are set towards the front of the fuge where my Chaeto is located. My chaeto mass is spread across the entire width of the fuge (30" wide). Since my fuge is not very tall at 18" and my water is already 10" deep in there, I am not taking advantage of their wider spread but instead using their intensity to really light up my chaeto mass which is a good 5 gallon bucket worth if packed.. I could easily get away with the 4 covering my entire fuge. Especially if my fuge was taller. They are very bright intense lights. I grow chaeto and mangroves in that fuge but there are some other macro's growing in there of an unknown (to me) variety.

Those are the same.. I will run the 6500ks on my cheato ..I have to 10w version with my spread and distance I could get more watt per sq. in. with the size of the frame of the flood light..also distance is close in my application ...for reference I have mangroves under the red/blue and the grow fine in my fuge they are close to the led and I have seen them burn from being to close..I will move them once I get my second fuge up and running, also the thing with the pink light is its pink and you can't see how deep the green is on the calp. ...I feel these little leds are the best you can buy ...witch ever you go with.I would use the red/blue over the white on an algae scrubber..and the the 6500k for mangroves and cheato..I am experimenting with substrate less setups in my fuge ..that's where the cheato has advantage imo , being free floating and easy to tumble ect to keep it clean. This is a pic of a old bio-wheel I plan on using..


The distance is close in my application too. Mine are about 8" above the water so I have mine close together right above my chaeto mass.

At 16:50 in this video, I discuss my below tank 80G refugium with these particular lights on it. At 15:00 I discuss my display refugium.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0sZZHcSxcpQ?list=UUL4n5cLsJHvCY_3TLM3Gn1A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[kenneth wolfe]

from your video there seems to be a lot of extra room in you sump for more growth and lighting ...I like my fuge covered as well ...nice tank.

[slief]

from your video there seems to be a lot of extra room in you sump for more growth and lighting ...I like my fuge covered as well ...nice tank.

Thank you. Yes, there is lots more room in that fuge but given that it's my DSB/Mud Bed and the chaeto mass covers the entire width such that all the water is forced to pass through the chaeto, any more macro life in there would just be more work and more lights to consume more power. I don't have any nuisance algae issues in my display tank so adding more to the main fuge just seems like more effort than it's worth. I also have a display fuge which is where the mangroves end up when the outgrow the big fuge. In there I have other macro like halimeda, Caulerpa, Neomeris annulata as well as some hair algae. All of which stays contained to that tank.

[Seacilian77]

K Wolfe and Slief

Thank you both very much. I just ordered two lights. 1- 20W 6500k and the other a 10w 660 nm red and 450 blue hydroponic light. There both LED flood lights.

I plan on having a reverse light schedule from the DT. I have limited space in my sump. I have a 4" dsb with an additional 1" of mud in the refugium.
I also have some LR in there. I am trying to get a good pod population growing for a pair of mandarins.

Should I remove the LR from the refugium area and dedicate it for the macro or separate two areas for the LR and algae?

[slief]

K Wolfe and Slief

Thank you both very much. I just ordered two lights. 1- 20W 6500k and the other a 10w 660 nm red and 450 blue hydroponic light. There both LED flood lights.

I plan on having a reverse light schedule from the DT. I have limited space in my sump. I have a 4" dsb with an additional 1" of mud in the refugium.
I also have some LR in there. I am trying to get a good pod population growing for a pair of mandarins.

Should I remove the LR from the refugium area and dedicate it for the macro or separate two areas for the LR and algae?

That red one will likely grow all kind of weird algae including hair algae. I'm not sure it will be beneficial to chaeto as I have never used one and 6000-6500K is long proven to be a sweet spot for chaeto. The red led's' are the preferred color of choice for the confines of an algae scrubber so be aware that you will likely see a bloom of algae in your fuge. Then again, the idea of a fuge is to get algae growing in there such that it outcompetes the display tank so while you will probably see a bunch of nuisance algae in your fuge, that may not be a horrible thing as long as it stays in there.

[slief]

As far as the LR goes in the fuge. That is up to you. I have live rock rubble in my fuge both on top and some mixed into the layer of sand. That certainly won't hurt anything. If it's down low in the water column, you will still be able to get plenty of chaeto or other macro in there.

I also want to correct a statement that Kenneth made regarding LED color spectrums for terrestrial growth.
He said:
in most land base veggies they like more red spectrum for growth, early in the season and blue for flower..

That is incorrect. Typically Red color spectrum is not used in the growth cycle. It is used in the flowering cycle which is why hydroponic growers switch to a high pressure sodium (HPS) bulb during the flowering cycle. Typically the growth stage (for optimal growth) is grown under blue to cool white/whiter spectrums as opposed to red.

[1fishkeeper]

Slief thanks for posting the lights. I think I will be ordering two of them this evening. Plus at that price if they don't work I will not feel to bad about it.

[slief]

Slief thanks for posting the lights. I think I will be ordering two of them this evening. Plus at that price if they don't work I will not feel to bad about it. Glad to help.

[1fishkeeper]

Well I ordered two of them so I will have full coverage.

[kenneth wolfe]

That is incorrect. Typically Red color spectrum is not used in the growth cycle. It is used in the flowering cycle which is why hydroponic growers switch to a high pressure sodium (HPS) bulb during the flowering cycle. Typically the growth stage (for optimal growth) is grown under blue to cool white/whiter spectrums as opposed to red. .I didn't notice I was backward until I read it again...