High Tide Aquatics

External Refugium Lighting Options

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payas0

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Good morning fellow reefers. I am in the final stages of my external 50 gallon stock tank external refugium build. This is plumbed into my 210 Gallon reef.

As the title states, I am looking for a good Refugium Light. I want to be able to grow various types of macro algae and I also would like to keep some softies like mushrooms in there too. I was also thinking of moving my anemone to this fuge as well. And ideas on what will grow these things well and isn’t the typical pink glow?

Some lights on my radar (please give any pros and cons with your experiences)
-2x Kessil A80's
-XR15 G4 Pro Freshwater
-Home Depot Full Spectrum Grow Light
-2x Amazon Par38 Full Spectrum Bulbs in a clip on fixture
 

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The tub is your fuge, not the sump? How deep is it? That would make a difference on which light might be better.
 
It is somewhat of a sump too... It will house my UV Sterilizer, CaRx and Chiller. The protein skimmer will still be in my sump under the tank. i just want to free up space under my tank and also use the middle refugium chamber to house my frags. I am tired of the frag racks on the front of my display glass.
 
If you want to grow out frags from your main display, I would try to get a light that can get the same/similar PAR readings at least as your display tank. Otherwise the frags might not make it. If its just softies and Micro algae then any of the lights listed can do.
 
You can light it with any reef light. If you are planning to put coral in there, a reef light would probably be better than a refugium light to serve both purposes. Or you could do reef light on one half, refugium light on the other, since presumably you are planning to separate the coral from the macroalgae.
 
Apon said:
If you want to grow out frags from your main display, I would try to get a light that can get the same/similar PAR readings at least as your display tank. Otherwise the frags might not make it. If its just softies and Micro algae then any of the lights listed can do.
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Thanks, i have an XR30 G3 Pro that i plan to use for my frags in my sump under my tank. The fuge will just be some Mushrooms, Gorgonian and various macro algae.
 
JVU said:
You can light it with any reef light. If you are planning to put coral in there, a reef light would probably be better than a refugium light to serve both purposes. Or you could do reef light on one half, refugium light on the other, since presumably you are planning to separate the coral from the macroalgae.
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Any problems with not separating the softies from the macro algae? I wanted to try and keep all my rock on the right side and then have layer of miracle mud on the left side with all the macro algae and softies.. not a lot of softies, just some mushrooms in cages and some gorgonians.
 
payas0 said:
Any problems with not separating the softies from the macro algae? I wanted to try and keep all my rock on the right side and then have layer of miracle mud on the left side with all the macro algae and softies.. not a lot of softies, just some mushrooms in cages and some gorgonians.
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I would separate them with some eggcrate to keep the macroalgae from overrunning the coral side. That’s what I’m doing currently.

I would skip the miracle mud. I used to use that and never found it to be helpful.
 
JVU said:
I would separate them with some eggcrate to keep the macroalgae from overrunning the coral side. That’s what I’m doing currently.

I would skip the miracle mud. I used to use that and never found it to be helpful.
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what do you think of some live sand instead? i want to use some type of substrate. Do you have pics of how yours is setup? Would love to see.
 
payas0 said:
what do you think of some live sand instead? i want to use some type of substrate. Do you have pics of how yours is setup? Would love to see.
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I can take some pics later. I have some live rock rubble on the macroalgae side and bare bottom with frag racks on the coral side (I’m using it like a small frag tank). If I were going to instead just have more coral down there (not just frags) I’d have live rock on the coral side too for aesthetics. I don’t recommend sand, it’ll just make it harder to clean. Sumps collect a lot of detritus.
 
I do the same, large crushed coral rubble to create a network of space for critters. Macro over the top, and crushed coral everywhere except the return pump chamber. I find sand just ends up getting stirred too much for my liking, but I do a heavy mixing in my sump to help take care of detritus and hair algae every couple weeks.
 
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