refugium lighting

[Ozzy]

if I can get away with it,get it past the Ol'Lady I would like to put a shelf above my tank to hold a five gallon refugium,what I'm not sure on is how much lighting to put on it,so what is the rule for lighing a refugium ??????
thanks-ozzy

[jciaccio]

What are you going to have in it? That should tell you what kind of lighting you will need.

[Avi]

you can bascically use any old bulb. NO, PC, VHO whatever it will work.

[TooFar2Sea]

I originally had a 15w NO fixture on my refugium. The macros grew allright, but nothing more. I replaced that fixture with 2x13w PCs and the macros now grow about twice as fast. The lighting does make a difference.

[Ozzy]

thanks everyone
when I asked the Ol'Lady about my shelf for the refugium,she looked at me and said "why such a small one ?,why do'nt ya make a stand above the tank that that will hold a big one,maybe one as big as the tank."some one please pinch me or splash cold water on my face cause I must be dreaming!!!!!!,this can't be my Ol'Lady speaking such words :D ,or what does she want:rolleyes: ,I really dont think I'll put a 46 gal tank over my 46 gal tank but I am making plans for a 29 gal refugium,I do have a CS 65watt pc I can put over it,thanks again-ozzy

[DgenR8]

Ozzy,
I light my 'fuge with fluorescent strip lights left over from old tank set ups. It does okay. I have read many times about people using the LOA P.C. lights, and having good results.
Do a search on LOA, there's lots of info about them including different places, on line and off to buy them.

[Toutouche]

Anything is really o.k., but if your putting Macroalgae, and want to force it to grow faster therefore pulling more bad nutrients out of the water faster, use something with a higher intensity such as a PC or equivelant. The higher intensity is also better to get down into the thick of the macroalgae as it grows otherwise you will have die-off from the areas that don't getnough light. With more intensity comes trimming it back moreoften however this is a good thing as you are exporting what you want o faster, and more often. Alot of people take what they trim off, and feed it to their fish such as tangs, however I don't agree with this because what you are trying to export by trimming gets put right back into the tank when the fish eat it, and poop!

[Ozzy]

thanks again everyone,I think I got it all worked out,I'll use a 29 gal tank for my fuge w/a 65 watt PC,I'll add a 4 inch DSB some LR and macroalgae,I might even toss in a couple of horses :D
let me ask ya this,my tank is sumpless,with a 29 gallon fuge over a 46 gallon tank,can anyone tell me why I could'nt and or how I could pack a skimmer, heater and a return pump all into a 12x12 foot print,that is all the room I have under my stand......,it is taller than it is wide
thanks again-ozzy