How much light for a 40 gallon refugium?

[tmcpeek]

I am going to put live rock rubble and sand in it. THe rock has nice purple coralline algae on it which I would like to keep. How much light will I need. I plan on having the refugium lights on the 12 hours that my main lights are off.

 

[electrikat]

I would think 3wpg should be enough for a fuge. Maybe less for just coralline but I'm not sure.

 

[cmor1701d]

Don't forget that unlike your tank, your 40 gal fuge will probablyonly about 10 gallons of water in it. A 28w coralife fixture would be fine.

 

[tmcpeek]

The way I am setting my fuge up will enable it to have about 30 gallons. Bulkheads will be about 3" down from the top and the drain will be a piece of pvc that is slotted with an elbow on the end of it to prevent overflows. You can see the refugium I am doing at www.lifereef.com under custom work.

Will 28w still be enough?


Attached is a pic of the refugium type. Mine will be larger

 

[cmor1701d]

Go with the coralife that has the 65w bulb to be sure. It really depends on what else your going to have in there. Macro algae doesn't need much either. I had good coraline growth in my 125 with the original 30w NO bulbs.

 

[tmcpeek]

Great thanks.