lighting for refugium

[rosco]

Could someone give me the run down for the lighting needed for a refugium. It will only have 10-12 gal, about 8-9 inches of water and the lights will be about 3-4 inches above the water. How long should the lights stay on and how many watts/gallon?
thanks

 

[nm reef]

I run a much larger refugium and I use 8x40 watts of standard NO flouresent lighting that runs 24/7....the idea is to provide a lighting source that encourages macro algae growth(for exporting excess nutrients) and to prevent macros from going sexual.
Other folks establish their refugiums differently...mine has worked very well for me.

 

[the claw]

I took a couple of strip lights from old freshwater set-ups and run them 24/7. The macros have been growing just fine.

 

[dacia]

Trust me, plants and macros have no problem whatsoever under the lights from freshwater tanks. That's why I have 2 plecostomus catfish in with my goldfish...my FW cleaning crew!

 

[daniel411]

On a 20g long refugium I had a 65w power compact (50/50 bulb) that was always on. Its hotly debated in many books on leaving the lights on 24/7 or being on timers.