Refugium light

[Kilo1]

Hey there im considering implementing a small refugium in my sump for my nano 20g... was looking at the kessil h80 but i dont want to spend another 100$ on a controller if there is another light that has a free app... any suggestions for a good light i can set to a schedule to turn on an off when i want?

 

[CasperOe]

There's plenty of good, small refugium lights on Amazon- you should be able to find something that fits your need.

As for the Kessil, I am running 3 x A160 refugium lights on cheap Alexa-compatible smart plugs. No controller needed! The Kessil lights are great, wouldn't run a tank without them!

Lighting is a religion though, so 10 reefers will tell you 10 different things.

 

[Kilo1]

What algea do you run in your refugium? Are there benefits to any that outweigh that of the standard cheato?

 

[CasperOe]

What algea do you run in your refugium? Are there benefits to any that outweigh that of the standard cheato?

I run "standard" chaeto very efficiently

 

[DrinkinPepsi]

I run this. Works great. Many others on this forum also use this and have no issues.



GROESTAR Growstar 150W Led Grow Light, Full Spectrum UV & IR Plant Light with High Par Value COB Grow Light for Indoor Greenhouse Plants Gardening, Flowering https://a.co/d/dg5bWga

 

[exnisstech]

I use cheap led grow lights from Amazon and also grow light bulbs in clip on work lights from home depot. I have 3 chaeto fuges running. There is no way I would spend the money on a kessil or any other high end fuge light unless system appearance very important to you.

 

[CasperOe]

I use cheap led grow lights from Amazon and also grow light bulbs in clip on work lights from home depot. I have 3 chaeto fuges running. There is no way I would spend the money on a kessil or any other high end fuge light unless system appearance very important to you.

What output do you get from those Amazon lights? Just out of curiosity..

I light my fuge with 100w for 8 hours every night.

 

[ErikVR]

I just started with an experiment with cheato and a low power 50w coral LED. So far, the cheato has already doubled in less than a week so it's certainly growing rapidly.

 

[exnisstech]

What output do you get from those Amazon lights? Just out of curiosity..

I light my fuge with 100w for 8 hours every night.

To be honest I'm not really sure of the wattage. I do get better results from the grow light bulb in a fixture than the led but I keep fuges more for a place for critters to live than nutrient export. I don't really think they are great at export. But I'm probably not a good judge of that tho since I only harvest my chaeto when it's overflowing because I can never get all the brittle stars out and don't like killing them.