Refugium lighting

But was the extra growth worth the extra cost of setup and electricity? That, my friend, is the question

Jeff, You asked but never got an answer about what can be purchased at HD that could work for you. Your Refugium is pretty small compared to the need supplied by the two tiers of fraggin tanks. You definitely need more light.

I would suggest the "Fluorex" flood light made by Lights of America. It's about $40 at HD comes with a ~8" long 65W rated bulb that puts out something like 3000 lumens. That's a lot of light for a Power Compact bulb in a 6"X10" package.

Adam Blundell has had good luck with these units and they have exchanged them for me even when they burned out after 3 months of operation. They do have a reputation for burn out over refugiums, but that may be simply because we modify them, run them in high humidity, without the lens cover, etc. etc..