lighting for Refigium

[dial]

How much light/what type do i need for a 28cm X 65cm X 35cm refigium.

cheers aron.

 

[1979camaro]

what do you plan to keep in the refugium? LR/LS only? macroalgae?

 

[dial]

im not sure. what do you suggest. its surves another purpose aswell. its a backup tank incase my main tank crashes. at least i can try to save some of my more delicate fish/coral.

iv been told a plenium system in the ref for starters.

cheers.

 

[S.Reef]

Plenums are awesome...they work really well. I would go with a few power compact bulbs...around 28-65 watts...all depends on the algaes and other stuff thats going in there.

 

[dbacksrat]

you could also keep it unlighted--in the crevices of my LR in the main tank, there are sponges (or tunicates, whichever one seems more likely) growing in the darkness--these guys are pretty powerful filter feeders and can be advantageous to a reef tank....

 

[wayne]

I would give the plenum a miss as unless you follow the instructions to the letter they don't work so well. A deep sand bed is so much easier.
What do you want the refugium to do?
1.Filtration
1a - macroalgae - as much lighting as you can get in there
1b deep sand bed - none required
2. To produce food
2a - food stuffs with plants - as much as you can
2b - food stuffs , no plants - none required

So my basic answer is , decide if you want your ref. to be a filter, or food producer , or both.
A basic combo would be six inches of fine sand, macro algae on top, as much light as possible