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Mark Peterson 
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 Topic: Best light for an RDP Refugium?
Posted: April 16 2006 at 12:39pm |
One of the major reasons for an RDP refugium is to grow algae so well that it doesn't have much of a chance to grow in the display.
Agreeing with what dkle said in another thread, I also believe that the screw-in, spiral PC Floodlights made by Commercial Electric are the best buy we have found for growing macroalgae. And Chaetomorpha is the best we have found for nutrient export.
Regarding Shop lights: They are normal output fluorescent, yet they are worse than that. They have very cheap low quality ballasts that do not put out much power. Also, the 30 Watt "economy" fluorescent tubes are pretty dim. They won't grow macroalgae as well as the spiral PC floodlight.
The clip-on cone shaped reflector available at HD is really great but if my setup allowed me to use them, I might consider securing the clip with some screws or a zip tie from above, so it doesn't accidentally fall in the water.
Other comments anyone?
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Adam Haycock
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Posted: April 16 2006 at 3:44pm |
I like the 65watt spiral compacts (6500K) made by Lights of America (LOA) and often sold in the floodlight section at Home Depot. Ive heard rumors of a 90-something watt spiral compact made by LOA that is now on the market.
I agree with Mark that chaeto is the best algae for nutrient export and it grows very well with compact fluorescent lighting. Intrestingly though, the best chaeto growth i've had was with a 4200K 175watt MH from HD.
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Bob Kripfgans
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Posted: April 16 2006 at 4:26pm |
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Adam, Where in HD did you find a 4200k 175w MH in the Depot. Was it in a fixture for outdoor lighting? Who was it made by? I may be interested in that one. Thanks Bob
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WMAS is da place!
Save the Banggai's!
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Adam Haycock
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Posted: April 16 2006 at 4:37pm |
Ive only seen it for sell once, but haven't really been looking since.
It was in the outdoor floodlight section
http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3263& KW=metal+halide+
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 16 2006 at 6:30pm |
When I finally tracked that one down to the manufacturer, it was still almost 4x as much $ as the clamp fixture and spiral PC floodlight!
Besides, MH is way too hot for most Refugia setups, IMO.
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Suzy
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Posted: April 16 2006 at 8:07pm |
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Mark, do you think your light would work on my planted tank? I am
getting incredible growth with the HD flood light, but I must use a blue
T5 to off set the yellow. is your light more aesthetically pleasing?
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Adam Haycock
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Posted: April 16 2006 at 8:57pm |
Suzy, I think the bulb Mark is refering to is far too weak for a planted tank of your size. Id love to see you put a couple 175 watt Iwasaki MHs over your tank. I can't think of a better light for a planted tank!
Mark, the MH may be 4x the cost but is say it works at least 4x as well. I have seriously never seen macro grow so fast. Id say this was mainly do to the intensity of the light (brighter visually than a 10,000K 400watt MH i had) and the yellow color (4200k). I do agree with you that it probably wouldnt work on most refugiums
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 16 2006 at 11:15pm |
Yep, I saw yours in action. Amazing growth. I've seen at least one other MH used on a Refugium. Like yours, the Refugium was open to the room to let the heat out. Eventually his girlfriend put a stop to that.
One day Suzy really should try brighter lights. Start with a pair of 175W 15K. 
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Suzy
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Posted: April 17 2006 at 7:34am |
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Do I need MH to have better growth? Or aesthetically?
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 17 2006 at 9:27am |
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Better growth.
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Philism
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Posted: April 17 2006 at 10:07am |
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On a side note...is it better to run the sump lights just on reverse of the display lights or is it better to run them 24/7? Are there any negative effects of 24/7 sump lights, does it decrease pod growth in any way?
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Phil
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Suzy
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Posted: April 17 2006 at 12:45pm |
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Ok, I have plenty of growth! My tank over runneth!
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Adam Haycock
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Posted: April 17 2006 at 1:16pm |
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Both; Asthetics too.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 17 2006 at 10:34pm |
 Philism wrote:
...is it better to run the sump lights just on reverse of the display lights or is it better to run them 24/7? Are there any negative effects of 24/7 sump lights, does it decrease pod growth in any way? |
There is hardly anything bad about lighting the Refugium 24/7. Bugs/"pods" will still grow, if there are no predators like fish or shrimp. But I don't like the look of the algae when lighted 24/7 for more than a week. It seems to look worse, as though it is needeing some sleep. But maybe it's just me.
My RDP lights overlap the main display lights to get more hours of growth and to oxygenate the water longer. When a new tank is starting, I recommend 24/7 to get the algae going to eat up the pollution. Whenver a tank has some filtration issues/shortfalls, I recommend temporary 24/7 to make up for the lack.
Some years ago the Eco-Filter company created and began selling a special Refugium with "Miracle Mud" and Caulerpa lighted 24/7. We have since discovered that the mud was nothing special. The reason for lighting 24/7 was to keep the Caulerpa from going "sexual". Occasionally Caulerpa will melt away in less than a day. It was assumed that lighting it 24/7 prevented this.
My own experience is that Caulerpa disintegrates only when it runs out of food or space. Keeping the algae routinely harvested and feeding the fish avoids the problem. Of course now we have discovered Chaetomorpha. It seems to be indesttructible and grows like mad. I love it.
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Corey Price
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Posted: April 17 2006 at 11:22pm |
Well, I let the natural outdoor light thru the basement window illuminate my RDP refugium in the daytime. Seems to work ok. It works really good in the winter when the sun shines through the window directly on the sump. The only down side is a healthy growth of algae in the skimmer!
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jglover
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Posted: April 18 2006 at 12:23pm |
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Mark I like your footnote I'll try a search for it.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 18 2006 at 7:32pm |
Corey, your Refugium is more like a 24/7 lighted Refugium.
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Corey Price
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Posted: April 24 2006 at 8:12pm |
Mark,
Getting close to 24/7 with the season change...
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Ryan Thompson
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Posted: April 26 2006 at 12:45am |
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are actinic lights good for algae to grow? i found a sweet fixture to go on my refugium and it comes with a dual bulb. the daylight and actinic. would this be good for my refugium?
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Kevin F
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Posted: April 27 2006 at 11:47pm |
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A 50/50 power compact has worked fine for me for refugiums in the past.
I uesd an 18w over a 7g and a 36w over a 20g. I now use the clip on
fixture Mark refered to and am having better growth then with the PC's.
It's not like the growth was bad with the PC's just better now. I think
it is because there is more ouput from the clipons and the light
spectrum is more favorable to the macro algaes. JME
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