BuildMyLED, an Austin-based aquarium equipment manufacturer that specializes in custom LED lighting options for marine and freshwater aquariums, recently announced their latest product, LED refugium lighting. In typical BML fashion, the light fixtures are offered up in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, with several different beam angle options, a couple of different colors, and in three different spectra also being available. While LED refugium lighting isn’t anything new, BuildMyLED is doing something that most others don’t. They really did their homework, and have designed three different versions of their lights to each grow a particular type of algae. Instead of just making a single catch all type fixture, which is one of the options, their refugium lights are designed to specifically grow either red or green macroalgae.
The Universal Spectrum refugium LED might seem like the best choice on the surface, but today’s hobbyists are finding that certain types of algae perform better than others in their specific systems. In my personal tank, I’ve found that my Dragon’s Tongue algae does far better than Chaetomorpha or Caulerpa, though in another system that is similarly designed the green macroalgae have done better. So, we definitely see significant value in targeting a specific type of algae.
The custom refugium lights come in eight different lengths, with the shortest being 12″ and the longest being six feet. We’d love to see a refugium that requires six feet of lighting, but I digress. In terms of optics, each fixture has the choice of five different angles, though some of them are limited for specific fixture lengths. The price for the lights start at $119 and go up incrementally to $389 for the longest fixture. The refugium lights are sold in silver or black finishes, with the black costing an extra $5 per foot.
To view the refugium lights or any of the other LEDs, head on over to BuildMyLED’s saltwater section.
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