AI Hydra 26 HD or Kessil A360?

[FTLTim954]

If I go with Kessil should I go with a single A360 or 2 160's ?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

35g 20"x20"x20" cube. 2 A160WE 6.5" over the water. 35% intensity max and a 12 hour schedule. Love the color, shimmer and my corals are happy. Tank is still new and I'm working the lights up slowly.

 

[lou dog420]

For a tank with mostly soft and lps the kessils will do a great job. In my opinion they seem to be a little weak for sps. I have 2 kessil 360s on my tank that run at 100% intensity for 10 hours. I can't speak to the hydras, but I have seen some amazing tanks with them.

 

[Carlos09]

I have 2 hydra 26Hd on my 90G and I really like them.

 

[Cory]

I also cant get my montipora to grow under a kessil a160. Its possible its the light or just chemistry. Id like to go all t5 eventually because people dont complain about growth with them.

 

[Midrats]

Someone put a Radion and a Kessil head to head in an SPS grow out test. The Kessil was the victor. I'm not sure if I read it on here or one of the other inferior forums.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I also cant get my montipora to grow under a kessil a160. Its possible its the light or just chemistry. Id like to go all t5 eventually because people dont complain about growth with them.

Ryan at brs said that kessil t5 combo was his ultimate go to for lighting

 

[Cory]

If I go with Kessil should I go with a single A360 or 2 160's ?

Single a360. If your tank is 30" deep get the narrow angle. If not the wide angle is good. Ive had the 360 and 160. I feel the colors are better with the 360 and the intensity.

 

[FTLTim954]

Ryan at brs said that kessil t5 combo was his ultimate go to for lighting

Do you know anything like that set up that where I can use goosenecks? I don't want anything hanging down with cables

 

[Crabs McJones]

Do you know anything like that set up that where I can use goosenecks? I don't want anything hanging down with cables

Not familiar with anything that you can utilize the goosenecks as I don't believe they would be able to handle the weight of the kessils and T5 . You could do a wall mount of some sort.

Or build something out of wood to create a canopy style.

 

[nessjosh]

I have two hydra 26 over my rimless 60. I dont think just one would work for u. I tried a radion xr30 and it didnt have the spread at the top of the tank that i wanted. I use the rack mounting system for them and run my whites at 60% and have great color.

 

[FTLTim954]

If I could figure out how to do a single kessil a360 and T5 combo that might be really nice

 

[Cory]

Buy the 360 for the resale value. If you change your mind at least youll get decent money back. While the 160 you wont get much. Same goes for ai.

 

[Cory]

If I could figure out how to do a single kessil a360 and T5 combo that might be really nice

I seen a fixture once. Was a diy canopy with 4 t5s and a kessil in the middle. Glennf user here uses t5 only and his tank is incredible.

 

[Midrats]

There's no disputing that fluorescent light does a good job of evenly illuminating. Too bad it's so flat and artificial looking. Think of how bad fluorescent light makes everything look. Your face in the mirror. The office. It gives me a headache. I don't want my tank to look like a cubicle. If I felt the need (and I don't) to go backwards to old tech to supplement my modern lights, my choice would be metal halide and LED.

 

[hart24601]

I personally would take 2 a160s over a single fixture 360. IMO it's always better to spread out the pucks unless the tank is really deep. It's why I like 2 hydra 26s over a single 52.

 

[hart24601]

Just a heads up for anyone interested. Kessil has a lab series of single wavelengths lights:

http://kessil.com/photoredox/Products.php

As they come in 5 wavelengths - 390nm, 427nm, 440nm, 456nm, 467nm - you can be pretty sure that each modern (160, 360 and the AP700) use these diodes as it would be crazy for them to develop different spectrums around the same wavelength. Sure enough the spectrum on the individual product pages match this, the UV bump is 390, the violet is 427 and the DB looks to be 456. The a160 spectrum looks like it has the 440 in there too.

Plus whites and the AP looks to have a red in there too, but it's nice to know the precise wavelengths they use.

 

[jsker]

I have 2 hydra 26Hd on my 90G and I really like them.

Nice tank

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I went with 2 160s vs 1 360 to cut down on the shadowing. I have light coming from two places instead if one. I have a feeling I have more horsepower than a single 360 would also. Twin 360s would most likely be over kill on this tank. If I had the aquatic life 24" fixture, then one 360 would be plenty because there would be 4 T5 in there for coverage.

 

[Carlos09]

Nice tank

Thanks