Refugium or another light fixture?

dbetts

Member
So I'm wanting to do some type of upgrade to my tank with a portion of my tax return this year but don't want to spend an outrageous amount of money. So my question is this: Should I get a refugium or add another LED fixture?

If I splurge on a refugium, I won't have enough money to also get a new protein skimmer. So I'd have to stick with my hob that I have now until I have the money for a new one that goes in the refugium. Can I put a hob in the refugium? I would love to get it out of my display tank.

As for the LED light, I would be getting another one of what I have now (2500K Fluval Sea Pro Full Spectrum LED Marine and Reef Light). The main reason I would get the same one is so when I purchase the wifi adapter for it, I'll be able to control both lights. I also like the light so far and my corals seem to be doing great with it. I may also get a hob fuge if I go this route, just to get my copepod population up. I'm kind of wanting a mandarin dragonet. They are just so cool looking. Haha.

Any help would be amazing! Thanks in advance for all of your input! It's much appreciated. :)

Tank stats:
55 gallon reef
Coral includes frogspawn, gsp, finger leather
Livestock includes: blue hippo tang, ocellaris clown, green chromis, cleaner shrimp, various snails and hermits


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DaveK

Well-Known Member
What kind of filtration do you have on your system now? You may want to upgrade this also.

When your considering upgraded you want to put the money where it will do the most good. Generally you want to get the lighting and filtration good before you even think about a refugium.

A refugium can be a valuable add on, but it's not nearly as critical as good lighting and good filtration. Small refugiums, such as the hang on tank ones, and DIY ones using a hang on the tank filter are really too small to do very much. In my opinion, these are more a "feel good" addition, rather than actually doing anything got the system.

As for lighting, consider what kinds of corals you want to be keeping in the future. If your interested in SPS corals or clams, I doubt that even two Fluval fixtures are going to do it.

Just to give you an example, the Fluval is a 59 watt fixture using 356 low power LEDs. Compare this to something like an AI Hydra 26 HD at about 90w using 26 high power LEDs. The high power LEDs give you a lot better penetration, and you have a tank that is 18 inches deep. Your getting a lot more light, and that to get coverage with the Hydras you'd need two fixtures, since they are pendants. Note I'm not trying to sell you on the Hydras, there are lots of other great LED lighting fixtures out there. This is simply an example of high end lighting to compare with what you have.

As you can see the Fluval lighting with two fixtures is going to be ok, but a little marginal even with soft corals. OTOH, the AI Hydras would set you back about twice as much.

As for the WIFI connectivity. For the most part, this is nice for setting things up, but once your running, you'll never look at it. The higher end fixtures today, such as the AI Hydra 26 HD, mentioned above, come with this built in, and it's not an add on. This is the trend today. Now all the neat tricks you can do with that sort of control are fun to play with, but if you just need to turn the lights on and off one or two inexpensive timers from Home Depot will control the lights just fine.

As for where I think you should spend your money, I'd skip the refugium, for now, and put it into your lighting or maybe your filtration system.

Lastly, when your going to upgrade something, consider where your going in the future. You are sometimes better off just keeping what you have, and saving up for that larger tank setup you'd really love to have.
 

dbetts

Member
Thanks for your input!! To answer your question about my filtration, I have a reef octo classic 100 hob skimmer.

I think I will be focusing my efforts on lighting for now. I definitely cannot afford the AI Hydras, so I was wondering if anyone had suggestions of more affordable fixtures?


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Joe_Koors

New Member
Get the word affordable out of your vocabulary. Lighting and filtration something you dont cheap on if you want corals. Id go with kessil personally though

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saintsreturn

Well-Known Member
You received some great advice so far. I vote lighting as well, but be sure to get what's best for your goal and not what is necessarily in the price point you think you what. I have AI primes and love them, but wish I would have gotten something a bit stronger for my 75g.


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