Deep enough fuge?

The fuge area in the sump I'm building is 6x10 inches, but only 8 inches deep. If I add 4 inches of substrate I'm left with 4 inches. Is that deep enough? Can I get away with 3 inches of substrate and 5 inches of water, or is 4 inches of water still OK? Thanks.

 

you will be just fine with 4 inches of water. I ran one that had about 4-5 inches and everything did very well in there.

 

It will help out with needing less light as the light will penetrate very easily through a few inches of water!

 

Agree with the above. My fuge was 5" of sand and 10" of water. I wanted more volume. But ya, not necessary. I kept my cheato spread out and it does not float unless it is covered in cyano. So my Cheato was spread out over the bottom with 6" of water above it. You will just have to keep it pulled apart and spread out... but that is actually best. Balls are not good because the algae can die on the inside with not enough light.

 

Can I just use a CF bulb then? I know some people here have mentioned one from home depot that was 16W rated at 5100K.

 

yep, just get the one that is the spot light. Its a cfl with a build on reflector. They are in a light blue plastic package at home depot under the name daylight bulb. I use two of the, I believe 23 watt ones. It works well.

 

I got my bulbs from Lowe's, 23 Watt 6500k CFL floods. I use too of them with clip on Aluminum sockets and reflectors. I have about 6 or 8 Mangroves growing under these bulbs, the biggest ones are almost 2' tall.