Equivalency between a80 and a160we

[reefiniteasy]

@Kessil I have an a80 on my BioCube and will be upgrading my light to the a160we. My a80 runs 30% color and 100% intensity. When I switch to the a160we, what intensity on the a160we is equivalent to the 100% on the a80? Is there even an equivalency between the two? Thanks for the help.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Are you using a controller, or will you be adjusting via the knobs? And out of curiosity, what is your goal in the switch— greater intensity, better light spread, etc?

in any case, maybe just eyeball it and see whether your corals become unhappy, or even react at all. Best wishes!

 

[reefiniteasy]

Are you using a controller, or will you be adjusting via the knobs? And out of curiosity, what is your goal in the switch— greater intensity, better light spread, etc?

in any case, maybe just eyeball it and see whether your corals become unhappy, or even react at all. Best wishes!

it’s a long story. My classroom was supposed to be painted this summer. I have all the equipment to set up a WaterBox Cube 20 at home. The idea was to move livestock from the BioCube at school to the WaterBox at home for the summer. This virus caused a quick move and the BioCube is now home and doing very well. I’m still going to set up the WaterBox because it’s just nicer, fancier looking than the BioCube. With the WaterBox I’m going to use the a160we. I just figured if there is an equivalency then I have an easy place to start. And yes, I’m using the controller.

 

[Kessil]

To answer your question color will be equivalent but the intensity will not. As the intensity is the percentage of power being used. The A80 is a 15w fixture so at 100% you are using all 15W. The A160WE is a 40 Watt fixture so I would run in at a 35% peak Intensity to be equivalent to your previous A80 settings. I would then increase the peak intensity slowly about 2-3% at a time. Let me know if you need more clarification!