lighting for fuge

[Gator]

i am thinking of putting a 175 or 250 watt mh on a 25 gallon refugeium to grow out frags. which watt light would be best for this.

gator

[Henry]

250watt, lot of choices for bulbs.

[fx300]

If they are frags I have read that they grow faster on 175 bulbs. I do like 250 bulbs but if the total price difference (ballast, bulb) is quite a bit compared to the 175 bulbs just stick to the 175. This is just my opinion.

Fabian
Brownsville

[matt]

I can't imagine that a 175 is not enough light; in fact, I'd consider one of the 70W medium based bulbs. Maybe that's a dumb idea, I don't know. Hopefully, you have some arrangement to take care of the considerable heat that will be generated by a mh bulb over such a small tank.

[Gator]

i have a 175 with a 1/3 chiller with four 25 gallon refugiums and about another 150 gallons of sump. heat is not an issue

[GaryP]

IMO a 6.5K bulb would be best. 175 watts would be 7 watts/gal. and should be plenty enough. 250 watts would be 10 watts/gal. I would suggest that you give cooling some serious thought. That's a lot of heat in such a small tank.

Gary

[Gator]

gary even with the chiller and the volume of water do you think heat will be an issue. or are you talking about just the 25 gallon refugium, heating up to quickly with the mh. i just want to do it right

[GaryP]

IMO 7 watts of MH lighting in a 25 gal. is going to be a problem. It wouldn't be a problem if you have enough cooling capacity in your main tank to overcome the heat generated in your fuge. I would just get your fuge up and running and see what effect it has on your total heat load before adding the frags. If your existing chiller can't handle the heat load, then you can make an adjustment by upgrading your chiller or adding cooling fans.

Are you talking about putting one MH over each of the 4 fuges?

Gary

[Gator]

no i only want to put one mh over one fuge to grow frags out in. the rest i am going to grow diffrent types of collurpa and stuff to take out nutrienyts

[GaryP]

OK, I think that you will have enough water volume that some additional heat shouldn't be a problem. I still think you should evaluate any temp. increase before putting frags in the fuge. Just put a thermometer in the fuge for a few days before you start adding frags and keep an eye on it.

Gary

[dan]

i would go with the 175w- 65k for best growth. thats really what your looking for any way is growth. also put a fan on the tank.

[Gator]

thanks for all the advice. gator

[GaryP]

Gator,

I got tremendous growth of my frags with Iwasaki 6.5K 250 watt bulbs in my main tank. According to what I have heard, Iwasaki 6.5K are just about the best for growth. Iwasaki doesn't make a 175 watt bulb, but they do make a 150 watt bulb. We're still talking about 6 watts/gal. Just a thought for you.

Gary

[GaryP]

I just did a quick check on Champion lighting's website. The only 6.5K - 175 watt bulb they carry is a Corallife. I don't know anything about them but I'm sure someone here does.

Gary

[fx300]

I have Coralife bulbs on my tank and love them. They are very good quality and I have got them wet and banged them a bit and so far so good. I am not going to deny to ya, they are expensive but I feel they are worth the money. If you want a picture of the 175 watt 65k I can take one from my tank. Good luck with this project once and again and let us know what you decide at the end.

Fabian

[Gator]

fabian
i love your signature i tell my wife this everyday, does it work for you

[fx300]

About my signature: it worked for a while but she is getting better at the detective deal. The worst thing is, now she thinks I am adding stuff to my tank when I am not.... Go figure! :lol3: