What makes a refugium light a refugium light? (Share your setup!) | BRStv Investigates
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I use an old 150W Metal Halide now that I can sell Dragons Breath and Tongue faster than I can grow it and it helps to show it off, but screw in CFL always worked fine for me. In the BRS Infomercial, remember that this kind of light grew chaeto enough to remove the same amount of N and P as the more expensive lights. However, the expensive lights grew a mass that weighed more. ...but it had the same addition of food. ...so the only thing that could have made it weight more was extra water since there was no more nitrogen. Just focus on any of the lights in the Infomercial that got the N and P to zero in their tanks. The rest of this is purely academic and overthinking things.
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Because we do sell a lot of this stuff I think it is totally fair to view the information we share through that window. I'd use the information and data whichever way is valuable to you. I openly admit I am always looking for a deeper understanding of how all this gear and related approaches work. That sometimes can over complicate a simple concept. I personally find understanding the science and biology behind these concepts often has a direct impact on application and the related results.
Related to that I absolutely agree that there are a wide variety of lights that "work." Similar to that a $199 skimmer also "works" but I think a lot of reefers are curious, what are you really getting with a $300 or $40o or even $1,000 skimmer. Does it really produce better results and are they worth the expense? In many cases, they are not. In this case, I think what we are finding is the low par lights are efficient at removing a majority of nutrients when there is limited competition for the nutrients. When we turn on extremely high PAR lights in the display tank the algae in the tank can often outcompete the fuge for these nutrients. Increasing or decreasing the PAR or photosynthetic energy in the fuge shifts that balance between the fuge and display accordingly. So while in many cases a low par light may achieve very reasonable and adequate results I think we are learning the value of different approaches and investments so we can make more informed decisions on our system designs.
needbiggertanks
Well-Known Member
@Ryanbrs can i ask you a silly question?
We speak about our fuge lights competing with our display lights, and we talk about our chaeto outcompeting gha or the like, following?
Well if we are running our fuge lights opposite our DT lights are they really competing? My immediate thought is, the DT light causes the algae in the tank to grow from 9am to 9pm, and then the fuge light is cauing the chaeto to grow from 9pm to 9am... should i really be taking this literally, or is something happening biologically that i am not considering?
Am i supposed to be thinking that my chaeto strips the water at night so there is less for the gha to uptake during the day? So its not an actual literal comparison you are making?
Looking for clarity, not arguing against you because this is exactly how my tank works, full of chaeto, no gha. im just trying to look a little further into it i guess. Help me!
We speak about our fuge lights competing with our display lights, and we talk about our chaeto outcompeting gha or the like, following?
Well if we are running our fuge lights opposite our DT lights are they really competing? My immediate thought is, the DT light causes the algae in the tank to grow from 9am to 9pm, and then the fuge light is cauing the chaeto to grow from 9pm to 9am... should i really be taking this literally, or is something happening biologically that i am not considering?
Am i supposed to be thinking that my chaeto strips the water at night so there is less for the gha to uptake during the day? So its not an actual literal comparison you are making?
Looking for clarity, not arguing against you because this is exactly how my tank works, full of chaeto, no gha. im just trying to look a little further into it i guess. Help me!
I'll second this question.
I have been growing red gracilera since I've read somewhere most herbivores prefer red over green algae.
Any thoughts on the best spectrum for red algae?
And while I'm at it, any thoughts on refugium grow lights with an IP64+ (water resistant) ratings? It just seems to make sense to me in such a high humidity salty environment.
Any thoughts on this one?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073FDZ982/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I've recently did a complete rebuild of my fish room which is located behind and just below (about 4') my tank in an adjacent sub-basement room. I removed my 75 gallon aquarium-turned-sump as well as my 54 gallon corner bow-front tank (which was used as a frag tank) from the system and replaced it with a 100g Rubbermaid stock tank and a 50g Rubbermaid stock tank for the frag tank.
Doing this conversion has greatly increased the amount of water surface area exposed to the air as well as the agitation of that water. Given that my sump is basically sitting at the lowest point of the house, I'm hypothesizing that Co2 from our gas appliances sinks to the low part of the house and has a tendency to accumulate there. The net result has been a fairly terrifying drop in PH. My PH which used to sit about 8.15 during the day to as low as 8.0 on some nights has now become 8.0 during the day as as low as 7.93 at night. I vented my skimmer as well as the air intake for my Durso's outside which has stabilized it a bit but no were close to getting me back to where I was. Iv'e done what I can to vent the room with fans and such, which does seem to have some effect however small.
Watching the BRS series has me thinking that I may be able to stabilize my PH with Cheato if I give it the proper surface area and lighting. I've created an area in my sump approx 3'x2' and about 18" deep. I have a H380 Kessil arriving today which I'm going to light opposite my main display (which is running 2 Radion X30 G3 fixtures). I have 2 softball-sized chunks of Cheato to seed with. The Cheato is going to sit between the drain from the tanks and the return, so all of the water should get some amount of contact. Can't wait to see how this progresses over the next few weeks.
Thanks to the BRS guys for the videos!
Starting Params
Calc: 415
Alk: 8.75
MG: 1300
Ph04: .02
Nitrate: .05
Doing this conversion has greatly increased the amount of water surface area exposed to the air as well as the agitation of that water. Given that my sump is basically sitting at the lowest point of the house, I'm hypothesizing that Co2 from our gas appliances sinks to the low part of the house and has a tendency to accumulate there. The net result has been a fairly terrifying drop in PH. My PH which used to sit about 8.15 during the day to as low as 8.0 on some nights has now become 8.0 during the day as as low as 7.93 at night. I vented my skimmer as well as the air intake for my Durso's outside which has stabilized it a bit but no were close to getting me back to where I was. Iv'e done what I can to vent the room with fans and such, which does seem to have some effect however small.
Watching the BRS series has me thinking that I may be able to stabilize my PH with Cheato if I give it the proper surface area and lighting. I've created an area in my sump approx 3'x2' and about 18" deep. I have a H380 Kessil arriving today which I'm going to light opposite my main display (which is running 2 Radion X30 G3 fixtures). I have 2 softball-sized chunks of Cheato to seed with. The Cheato is going to sit between the drain from the tanks and the return, so all of the water should get some amount of contact. Can't wait to see how this progresses over the next few weeks.
Thanks to the BRS guys for the videos!
Starting Params
Calc: 415
Alk: 8.75
MG: 1300
Ph04: .02
Nitrate: .05
I think the concept is to accelerate the growth in the Fuge so that there is no nutrient left to grow new shoots in the main tank.
Our main tank lights aren't really 'optimized' for algae growth, they will grow it of course if there is no other light source. Your Fuge light needs to be powerful enough and with enough PUR to 'outshine' the main tank lights and spur the growth in the fuge.
I'm just getting ready to try this myself. I'll report back how it goes.
jduong916
Active Member
I've grown chaeto in the past, but I normally used stronger lights than the CFL bulbs (T5s and PC). With my lower nutrient tank, definitely not ULNS, I decided to try some chaeto. I had a cheap blue and white LED fixture that was probably under 5 watts. The Chaeto died. I bought a 17w 3k led par 30 bulb and a cheap clip on lamp. The Chaeto died. I watched this BRS video and bought the H380 (I still can't believe I spent $300 on a stinking fuge light). It's been about a month since installed and the new chaeto and calurpa have about tripled in size. I'm glad I made the purchase. I think if you have lower nutrients, well not super low, but a tank that has good husbandry without carbon dosing, gfo or pellets you will need some extra wattage to get chaeto to grow. My opinion is, at minimum, you need that extra power then after that the correct spectrum will play a major role in growth.
Is there a simple way to know the ratio of when the refugium light outcompete the displaytank? Im currently setting up a redsea reefer 250, 55 gallon display full triton method with mostly australian acropora and some clams, my displaytank lightning is Philips Coralcare running quite high % due to the corals needs. How do i calculate some what near what size fuge light i need for my 16"w x 12"l x 10 depth refugium. It feels like a kessil h380 is too much, maybe a h150 is enough but not having had a refugium before and people grow algae from 10-300 watt i have no idea. Any help would be appreciated. What do @Ryanbrs or other pros have for ideas. 
OP
OP
Is there a simple way to know the ratio of when the refugium light outcompete the displaytank? Im currently setting up a redsea reefer 250, 55 gallon display full triton method with mostly australian acropora and some clams, my displaytank lightning is Philips Coralcare running quite high % due to the corals needs. How do i calculate some what near what size fuge light i need for my 16"w x 12"l x 10 depth refugium. It feels like a kessil h380 is too much, maybe a h150 is enough but not having had a refugium before and people grow algae from 10-300 watt i have no idea. Any help would be appreciated. What do @Ryanbrs or other pros have for ideas.
I would imagine that a single H380 should be perfect for that size of refugium. Before we modified the BRS160 fuge, we had a single H350 (which is pretty much the same as the H380) on a fuge that was 23" x 11.5" at a depth of about 14". That single light easily grew algae thick from top to bottom and all sides!
-Randy
I know this thread is fairly old but doesn't hurt to ask. I'm considering running this one on my current build. (10" x 8" refugium). anybody every seen this one or used it?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07312WKX2/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3F9IK8LZEK1MS&colid=3V8DYRVACVYE&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07312WKX2/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3F9IK8LZEK1MS&colid=3V8DYRVACVYE&psc=1
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@BigJohnny currently uses this one and loves it. Grows chaeto like crazy
Man that's great to hear, I have made my choices on just about all of my equipment except the refugium light. Not sure why I was having such a hard time deciding. thanks
I have been following the brs series’ for quite some time now. I’ve had issues with nitrates, algae, and cyano for a long time. The cfl fuge bulb didn’t grow anything so i upgraded to the h80 and started dosing AF products to get everything under control.
I finally got my nitrates down to 2.5, the algae was gone, and the cyano was mostly gone (having siphoned out most of my sand over the 8 months to get that done).
I decided to try a modified triton method and do a monthly water change instead of weekly. I have cut back the amount of additives i was using to controll nitrates and phosphates in hopes the fuge would keep my levels down.
I am not having luck so far. Nitrates are over 10 after a couple months, the algae in the fuge (chaeto, grape calurepa, and a red macro) still doesn’t really grow, the algae and cyano in the display are back.
Any advice on what i might be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.
@randyBRS @Ryanbrs
I finally got my nitrates down to 2.5, the algae was gone, and the cyano was mostly gone (having siphoned out most of my sand over the 8 months to get that done).
I decided to try a modified triton method and do a monthly water change instead of weekly. I have cut back the amount of additives i was using to controll nitrates and phosphates in hopes the fuge would keep my levels down.
I am not having luck so far. Nitrates are over 10 after a couple months, the algae in the fuge (chaeto, grape calurepa, and a red macro) still doesn’t really grow, the algae and cyano in the display are back.
Any advice on what i might be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.
@randyBRS @Ryanbrs
I have been following the brs series’ for quite some time now. I’ve had issues with nitrates, algae, and cyano for a long time. The cfl fuge bulb didn’t grow anything so i upgraded to the h80 and started dosing AF products to get everything under control.
I finally got my nitrates down to 2.5, the algae was gone, and the cyano was mostly gone (having siphoned out most of my sand over the 8 months to get that done).
I decided to try a modified triton method and do a monthly water change instead of weekly. I have cut back the amount of additives i was using to controll nitrates and phosphates in hopes the fuge would keep my levels down.
I am not having luck so far. Nitrates are over 10 after a couple months, the algae in the fuge (chaeto, grape calurepa, and a red macro) still doesn’t really grow, the algae and cyano in the display are back.
Any advice on what i might be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.
@randyBRS @Ryanbrs
If the fuge stopped growing after you reduced your water changes, and you have both nitrate and phosphate, I would suspect you have a limiting nutrient. Are you dosing the Triton Core additives? They are supposed to have extra nutrients to keep the macro growing. If you are using a different brand of additive, or the 'other' variant of the Core Elements, I would try dosing a bit of Iron to see if your macro is Iron limited. Iron is considered safe to dose as long as you don't drive it to excessive levels as it is used up very quickly.
If you are doing ICP testing (for triton), how is your potassium level?
Dennis
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