Advice Kessil Lighting Setup 48" x 25" tank

[mizukage]

Hey fellow reefers!

My tank is (LxWxH) 48.2" x 25.3" x 21.7". I'm planning for a mixed reef. I am only interested in Kessil.

Which of the following lighting options would be best?

1 x AP9X coverage: Up to 48” x 24” Mixed Reef / 36" x 24" for SPS Dominant Systems

1 x A360X coverage: 24" x 24" Mixed Reef / Moderately Planted / 20" x 20" SPS

Thank you!

 

[Bj’s Reef]

I’m following to see where this goes. I think kessil gets overlooked in this hobby.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

I have a similar sized tank that is a mixed reef. I started out with 2 A360X lights and even at 100% it wasn’t enough to grow sps very well. There were too many shadows. I added 2 more and now all my sps corals are taking off. I only have to run at 85% and I get almost 200 par at the sand and over 400 at the surface. I have montipora digitata , several kinds of birds nest, a couple different acros and stylos. All are doing well now. If I knew what I know now I would have probably gone with 2 of the ap9x as that is probably cheaper and I think it has better spread. Here is my tank at the just over 2.5 years

 

[mizukage]

Beautiful tank! Thanks for sharing your experience with the kessils. 2 x AP9X was my original idea but wondered if it was overkill.

 

[rtparty]

The tiny puck size of Kessils leaves harsh shadows and lack of coverage. If you have the budget for 2 AP9X, get those and turn them down if needed. I’ve always found Kessils to cover about half their claims especially once corals start growing.