Light For Biocube Refugium

[Aquatic Dreams]

I have a bit of macro algae in the fuge area at the back of my biocube. I've been using a cheesy white led that came from another small setup for quite a while now. Not much growth on the algae really. I have been reading up on fuge lighting and looking on Ebay. I was wondering if one of THESE would do the trick?

I don't need much light as it's a very small area. The one in the link above has a 60 degree beam angle. There's also THIS one that's half the price and it has 30-45 degree beam angle. Any idea if either of these would be suitable and if so which one would be better for my setup? For the price I'm leaning towards the 60 degree unless it's not necessary.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

CRAP ... I just found out that all these LED bulbs from china have the E27 base which is for fixtures in Europe. Apparently North America is E26 which there doesn't seem to be many listings for.

 

[Josh]

Try the hydroponics store on adelaide st, they have some of those red spectrum grow lights that are used to grow veggies. Might find what you need there for reasonably cheap.

 

[Quartapound]

Post a picture of your setup. Is there a way to mount the light so it doesn't bathe the whole room in red?

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[Aquatic Dreams]

I have the Biocube HQ so it has the window at the back. So I can put whatever light I get facing the back of the tank without much light diffusion throughout the room. I'm just bummed that all these Ebay LEDs have the E27 base. I looked it up and only 28 countries use the E26 base while around 200 countries use the E27 base. So I suppose that's why most of the listings use that format. Apparently it's only off by 1mm but I've read that it can be a fire hazard to use the E27 in an E26 socket.

https://support.lifx.com/hc/en-us/articles/201622624-E26-vs-E27-What-s-the-difference

 

[calfrosh]

Don't know if these still exists but a buddy of mine had this and it did really well helping his refugium algae grow. Didn't use it myself but an idea

https://reefbuilders.com/2011/08/31/submersible-refugium-light/


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[Aquatic Dreams]

Thanks for the suggestion. There's no vinyl on the back of my Biocube so I'd rather have something on the outside really. Even though it says the heat is minimal my tanks get warm enough where they're located so I don't want to add to that.

There are definitely some cool lighting options out there for my application but some of them are a bit expensve for what I need. I just want something simple and cheap that gives the approximate spectrum necessary.

 

[Chef G]

go to home depot by a LED floodlight and a clamp on work light fixture prolly cost ya 40.00 total... thats what i use in my sump under my stand. I have to throw out a softball size chunk of cheato every 2 weeks, as she grows like crazy!

 

[Chef G]

make sure for the led bulb you get the 5k or higher "daylight" also the bulb is dirt cheap to run uses 13 watts and produces the same as a 80watt or higher bulb


heres my exact setup

This is the same bulb I use.
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.led-65w-br30-daylight-5000k---2-pack.1000859033.html

and this is the fixture I use
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.85-inch-clamp-light.1000784846.html

if you want a cheap route go with this.