Thread: Refugium Light
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Old 09-01-2013, 04:18 PM
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Folks are attaching clip on desk lamps to the rim of a vessel filled with salt water? I'd respectfully advise against this since it's unsafe & probably against code, meaning if there's an incident, your insurance company may have a problem paying for the resulting damage. Could involve burning down the house and/or loss of life. The term "desk lamp" should be an obvious indication that it's not a good choice for refugium lighting. If you're experiencing salt spray on your reflector, eventually this moisture/salt may make it's way up into the socket & the result could be nasty. It's possible that you may never have an issue, but on the other hand, it wouldn't take much for a good splash to cause fireworks. Hopefully you have these things plugged into a GFCI.

If you really wish to use a standard screw in bulb type fixture, at least get something that's designed for outdoor use, since it will have a gasket where the bulb screws into the socket providing a basic moisture barrier. Better would be a water proof, sealed fixture complete with a glass shield, which you would need to clean daily if it's close enough to the water to get salt spray.

Another alternative is waterproof SMD5050 or 5630 LED strip lighting which is available in 5 meter lengths on the web at a very reasonable price. These can be cut to size at 3 LED intervals, so you can custom design the pattern of light. They aren't the most powerful lighting out there, but can be placed very close to the water surface. They are low voltage, water proof/resistant, so much safer than a 120 volt exposed socket, clip on fixture. Should be plenty of light for a fuge if you pack the rows close together. They come in various colours & the RGB rolls are often available with an IR remote control allowing different colour combos & dimming. I'm using RGB SMD5050 LED strips as supplementary lighting for my 10watt multi-chip DIY LED main lights. Link to build is below. Posts #54 & 61 on page 2 of the thread feature details on the strips.
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DIY 10 watt multi-chip LED build http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82206
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