Simple Red Sea Reefer 350 Refugium Light Blocker

[phatduckk]

I got the refugium on my RSR 350 setup about a month ago w/ a Kessil H180; the macro is growing well & everything's mostly good... except the light was causing algae to grow in my skimmer =(

Pretty gross, right? I started looking around for a way to "cone off" or block the light. Finally, after examining the baffles in the sump I realized I could make a simple slip-on light shield out of plastic.

I did a bit of measuring and all I needed was: 5"x13" sheet of acrylic, two 8"x1" pieces and two 1/2" x 8" pieces to make a simple shade (all 1/4 thick).

The main detail that mattered is that the fuge baffle is 1/4 thick... so if I could just sit a 1/4" piece of plastic on top of it, i'd be set... that's the 5"x13" sheet. The other, smaller ones are to be glued on as "wings" to just hold it in place. The wings facing the front of the cabinet are 1" wide and the ones towards the back are 1/2" wide.

So, a few pieces of acrylic, a bit of acrylic cement and $20 later, its all done

Super simple and, in the end, obvious DIY project. It's not permanent, its cheap & slips on and off super easily

You could definitely make the wall taller &, in hindsight, I should have given it about another inch. Some light still gets through the weir but I really don't want to cover that up.

Thought I'd share just in case any others were running into a similar issue.

 

[reef lover]

Cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

[ELChingonsReef]

Did you have to buy the fuge baffles separately or did it come with the tank when you baught it. That's a cool way to keep the light from spilling over on to the skimmer..I plan on doing the same. Im thinking about buying a red sea reefer 350 but I need to run a fuge..im sick of these biopellet setup I have now because my sump is too small for a refugium. So I'm hoping the red sea reefer 350 had a fuge chamber or at least baffling to make a fuge . It's now 2021 hopefully red sea has thought of offering that option

 

[phatduckk]

Did you have to buy the fuge baffles separately or did it come with the tank when you baught it. That's a cool way to keep the light from spilling over on to the skimmer..I plan on doing the same. Im thinking about buying a red sea reefer 350 but I need to run a fuge..im sick of these biopellet setup I have now because my sump is too small for a refugium. So I'm hoping the red sea reefer 350 had a fuge chamber or at least baffling to make a fuge . It's now 2021 hopefully red sea has thought of offering that option

Yup. Baffles come with it.