Lighting A D&d Refugium

[john.o]

I have a D&D 24g nano tank and I want to add cheato in my 2nd chamber my problem is that the tank is up against a wall and full of salt water live rock ect so my only way of lighting the chamber is from inside the chamber or inside of lid and we all no it’s a little tight inside there.
If any one has done this or could suggest a way for me to light the chamber from inside I would really appreciate you help

 

[Anguilla82]

i've got mine lit with a submersible 11Watt LED light from an LFS, seems to be enough to keep the Chaeto going.

 

[SkiFletch]

Agreed, LED lights are really your only choice here

 

[john.o]

I like the idea of the led light, less heat ect.
What sort of light is it a pond light or some thing I have searched the net but can’t seem to find any thing that’s suitable the only thing I can find is pond lights and they come in 3 and won’t fit in the chamber.

 

[Anguilla82]

yeah i think it was a pond light for spot lighting certain areas.
most do come in sets of three but this one was in a really tatty looking box on its own, can't remember the manufacturer i'm afraid.

do a search for:

Underwater LED Water feature lights

this is similar to what i've used.

 

[john.o]

well i have found this what do you think

http/www.amazon.co.uk/Heissner-Underwate...1242&sr=8-3

i no it’s not led but that’s all i can find that will fit in the chamber, do you think it mite give me problems with over heating tank ect

 

[Anguilla82]

it will give you the light you're after but yeah it will produce a certain amount of heat, how much i don't know.
however it is quite a bit cheaper than those i pointed out

http/www.primrose-london.co.uk/underwate...ghts-p-738.html

so it depends if you want a halogen bulb- more heat but less expensive
or LED- less heat but more expensive.

 

[john.o]

There just what I am looking 4!!!! Cool
Will the stainless steel case be ok in salt water?

 

[Anguilla82]

mine has been in the tank for about 9 months and i've had no problems yet.
every know and then i take it out and give it a wipe over as a green algae film grows over the lens!

 

[RadaR]

There just what I am looking 4!!!! Cool
Will the stainless steel case be ok in salt water?

It will be fine. It's got atleast 11% Chromium (to make it "stainless") in it and therefore shouldn't rust.

 

[john.o]

Update
Well I have searched high and low for a solution to lighting my 2nd chamber
I found a 10w halogen pond light but as angilla82 said it may produce a certain amount of heat so i started to look for LED lighting again as skifletch said it was the only real option left
I could not really find any thing that would do the job they were all to big not enough watts come in 2-3 ect or had stainless steel cases and I had my concerns about any effects the salt water would have on the so called stainless steel cases lol
So after coming across these ……..

<a href="http/www.ultraleds.co.uk/acdc-cool-white...16v-p-1718.html" target="_blank">http/www.ultraleds.co.uk/acdc-cool-white...16v-p-1718.html</a>

I have decided to put my own custom light into the lid
I have bought the following items from maplins …..

http/s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk281/j...nt=IMG_0107.jpg

The halogen light bulbs in the pic are just so I can test the system wiring ect and will be replaced with G4 AC/DC 6 Led Cool White Led Bulb 8v-16v when they come in the post.
I will make a start on the project tomorrow when the kids are at school {water electrics and kids don’t mix }

 

[john.o]

 

[Musho3210]

You do know that the PAR that halogen lights put out wont exactly make it easy to grow any types of algae right?

 

[Dorkhedeos]

I dont get how leds can grow chaeto. Ive always thought it had to have at least a fluorescent light or something.

 

[john.o]

Ummmmm musho3210 the halogen light bulbs in the pic are just so I can test the system wiring ect and will be replaced with the G4 6 Led Cool White Led Bulb equivalent to 20w 6500k when it comes in the post.
If this won’t work I would really appreciate any suggestion