What kind of lights for a Refugium????

[srbayless]

Howdy,

I believe caulerpa require more of the red spectrum, so a 6500K bulbs would be fine.

Good luck,

Scott.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think the kelvin rating is as important as the intensity of the light. A 10,000k or actinic light will both create a photosynthesetic environment. But if you put a 20w light over a 30 gallon container to grow caulerpa you could have a real problem. Two 40w NOs or a 55/65w PC would be fine. I've had caulerpa grow out of control under moderate 10k/actinic light in a 29 gallon tank.

GL

Dan

 

[Reefer Dude1]

Well I am getting my 120g tank this weekend, and in designing the filtration for it I came up with a question. I am going to do two sumps. I am going to using two Rubbermaid 30g containers below the tank. One container will have some Live Rock and my skimmer in it, and a dolphin pump bringing the water back. I was going to put sand, live rock, and a whole mess of Calerpa in the other container. What type of lighting seems to work best to grow calerpa? I am going to be doing a reverse lighting cycle on it. Let me know what you think.

 

[EricS]

The 65 watt Lights of America outdoor lights from Home Depot have worked great on my 10 gal ref. I have to prune the calurpa weekly.
Also they are very affordable @ $29.00 each.

[ July 13, 2001: Message edited by: EricS ]

 

[oyster]

the kelvin rating is very important to the photosynthesis of the plant, though the most important rating is the PAR value, which measures the amount of photosynthesis produced. defferent kelvins have different PAR. If memory did not fail me, photosynthesis is optimised in the red region and the blue region, and green does not help in anyway. the above is what plant tubes provide. get a plant tube, if not a 6500k daylight will do just fine. no point getting a 20000k with high intensity if the plants do not utilize it for photosynthesis. as such, i would not place my emphasis on intensity before kelvin, but a balanced combo of the two would be ideal.

 

[Anonymous]

You are correct that a 6500k light is closer to ideal. But,what I suggest is that a 55w PC at 10k is better than a 65k light at 20w. Especially in a deep sump. As a matter of fact,a 55 or 65 watt PC at 55k would be even better. Plus,the look of the refugium means nothing unless you plan on displaying it too. So esthetics mean little. In that respect,get the 55k or 65k or whichever is cheaper. Caulpera is a shallow water species which would be found in the shallows under very intense light in the 55k range.

GL

Dan