150w MH on a refugium...

[Mr Cob]

I'm thinking of adding a 150w MH retro kit to my refugium. I have a light that no one wants to buy and thought maybe I should just use it on my refugium.

I would run it on a reverse lighting schedule and it would probably help close the temp swing gap from day to night.

Anyone see any problems with a 150 w MH on a refugium? I have 5 different types of macro algaes and a frag rack that I could start putting frags on.

Thanks.

[RayAllen]

That is a lot of light over a refugium. Not to mention the heat over a small area. What size fuge do you have? If you are growing SPS frags its a little more feasible.

Im running a 14watt compact bulb over my fuge and it grows like crazy and grows coraline algae.

[Mr Cob]

That is a lot of light over a refugium. Not to mention the heat over a small area. What size fuge do you have? If you are growing SPS frags its a little more feasible.


Im running a 14watt compact bulb over my fuge and it grows like crazy and grows coraline algae.

Right now, I have about a 45gallon sump with about 15 gallons closed off for a refugium. The light would be mounted about a foot or more above the refugium. I currently have a 28watt PC light fixture over the refugium.

Thanks for the reply Ray. The other problem I saw was with the light being mounted so high I may get unwanted algae growing in other chambers. I do have my clear tubing insulated so that no light shines in though.

[ErikH]

I have a 70w viper over mine. :)

[coraline79]

I have a 50 gallon fuge with 2 24" t5NO 10k's on it 24hours a day. No heat and growing macro. On my 30 I have 3 gallon fuge and it has a coil 70watt compact florecent bulb from home depot on it. can stop macro/coraline from growing in that thing. MH is not going to be work the heating issue. The heat will counter act any growth you get. getting the temp upwards of 84 degrees for any extended amount of time is going to kill almost any algae

[ErikH]

I guess the big question is how hot does your tank get? I would imagine a 150 would be fine depending on how fast water flows through your fuge. I have temp stickies on both tanks, and the water temp is always the same on both. If you are going to run the light after your other main lights turn off, I see no reason why the tank temps would exceed normal temps.

[Mr Cob]

I guess the big question is how hot does your tank get? I would imagine a 150 would be fine depending on how fast water flows through your fuge. I have temp stickies on both tanks, and the water temp is always the same on both. If you are going to run the light after your other main lights turn off, I see no reason why the tank temps would exceed normal temps.

Yes, my refugium stays the same temp as my display too. I would only run the light for about 5 hours and this would be a couple hours after the main display MH goes off...to give it time to cool down a bit. I think it would be ok, as I don't see any real problems with adding the light...

I'm now thinking of getting a 70watt viper...It would be easier to control the direction of the light.

Thanks for the replies.

[ErikH]

I love the viper on mine, it barely puts off any heat. You'll be pleased with it. I am growing cap and zoas down there. Basically, I just throw broken pieces of coral down there, and if they grow, they grow. :)