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Solana Refugium Light


dekand

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So the middle chamber in my Solana just has chaeto in it, no liverock or sand and i've been running this cheapo aquarium hood light because it fit perfectly, i don't know how many watts it is or any of those details but its just shy of 20" long and fits the the width of the middle chamber perfectly and has been growing my chaeto pretty well.

 

I previously had a submersible light but that just added heat to my tank and the chaeto was actually dying with it so i scrapped it for this one i found at the store for 10$ or so. I just fabbed up a plastic bracket glued to it and hanges over the glass of the tank to keep it from falling and it sits on the tank stand.

 

So i thought i'd share this for other Solana owners looking for a lighting solution for the middle chamber.

 

IMG_5978.jpg

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revaltion131

Well that's nice and simple, another thing to compare with the LED clip-on I have had my eyes on. It's nice to know that added heat is not an issue, as well. The Solana seems to run real hot with the glass lid (which I'm changing this weekend) and the disco ball.

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revaltion131

Thought I'd just bump a thread instead of making a new one. I got a cheap strip flourescent from Walmart yesterday and have it all set up. My question is how everyone prevents light from spilling over into the main tank. Everything I've read on these boards says that running your fuge on a reverse photoperiod of the main tank is ideal. However, when the light is on, there's light spilling over into the main tank and it makes it a lot brighter than I think it should be at night.

 

My idea for a solution is just buying a cheap, but dark and thick 6' strip of cloth and just covering the top and sides of the tank with it at night. Would that work? I'm not worried about any issues with retaining heat that it may cause; I'm getting a chiller with heating control with my next paycheck, since I've already had trouble on the hotter days.

 

I've been able to get everything for the mod at a great price so far, I'd be bummed if I had to spend a large pile of money just to make sure I didn't have light issues.

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just thought id update this with the fact that my chaeto is growing REALLY fast, i will probably have to trim it down next week as it will fill the entire 2nd chamber, so this lighting setup is great for the Solana middle chamber...

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Thanks for the update.

 

So - Do I understand you correctly. You are running a standard Flourescent bulb and it's working fine for the Chaeto growth?

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i took a peice of long plastic (the red thing), heated it in 2 spots to form an L and a U at the top so it glues to the light and hanges over the glass on the tank, keeping it from falling, and the bottom just rests on the solana stand, i suppose i could get a better picture of it if needed but its just one solution there are plenty of ways to keep it up.

 

and i had a submersible light before which i believe upped the temp at least 2 degrees, i don't see any temp changes with this one...

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just for an update today i finally had to trim my chaeto down, i looked back there and it was PACKED to the brim in the 2nd chamber, amazing what a change in light can do!

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