Kessil for Biocube: 160we or a360we

sundog101 · Jul 29, 2015

I'm wanting to upgrade the lighting for my biocube 29. Ive seen other tanks with kessil lights and really like the shimmer they create. Ive narrowed it down to the 160we and a360we. Any advantages to the a360 other than being a more powerful light? Would the 160we be powerful enough for a biocube 29. All suggestions and advice would be appreciated. Thanks!!

Shep · Jul 29, 2015

The 160 would be more than enough but the 360 would be great to have if you ever want to upgrade.

slip66 · Jul 29, 2015

I had a 360 on mine. It worked fine, as shep said, if you think long term get the 360. Keep in mind in most any other tank shape you will need to buy one more. So if you think you will upgrade down the road get a 360.

sundog101 · Jul 29, 2015

Thanks for the replies. So is the 360 just a more powerful version of the 160?

kacrocorals581 · Jul 29, 2015

yep 40w vs 90w

Mattyice008 · Jul 30, 2015

I run a 360we over my nuvo 16. Growing lps like crazy. Ramping to tops of 90-95% intensity

reefknight · Jul 30, 2015

Buddy of mine runs a 360 over a 15g frag tank off of his sump and grows colorful frags like crazy. If it were me, I would go the 360. If you ever decide to upgrade you already have the larger lamp.

pelphrey · Jul 31, 2015

Keep your eyes open, there are people selling both versions here on the forums. I recently bought the A160WE, goose neck, and spectral controller. I basically paid for the light and goose neck and got the controller for free. I wanted the 360, but I couldn't pass up the deal on the 160.

Mattrg02 · Jul 31, 2015

I've got the a160we. I've had it for about 1.5months. Not sure if it's going to be enough or not, over my 17g.

How would one know if the light is enough? Kessil said that its great for my tank size even considering I've got acroporas.

It sure looks bright enough. No idea if it really is though.

mistaflicksta · Jul 31, 2015

I have two 160s over my 48" and they cover just fine. I dont have many sps yet but the ones I have are doing fine. If you plan to upgrade to a bigger tank then go with 360s. Onece I get more sps going, I might get one more 160

Saltyspatune · Apr 17, 2017

Hey guys I hope you don't mind me jumping in i am starting a biocube 24 and have been asking myself the same thing the lfs said I should just get the a80 tuna blue but I just feel like that's not enough so I was thinking of getting a 160 can I get some opinions please I mean the tanks the original poster is talking about is 5 gallons bigger so im thinking a 160 is gonna be fine let me know how you feel thanks

sundog101 · Apr 18, 2017

The a80 may be okay for some softies, but 15 watts is not very much light. I would get the a160, that's what I ended up getting for my biocube. It worked great!

IMO the only reason to go up to the a360, would be if you plan to upgrade or get into crazy amounts of light, which isn't really necessary.

Saltyspatune · Apr 18, 2017

sundog101 said:
The a80 may be okay for some softies, but 15 watts is not very much light. I would get the a160, that's what I ended up getting for my biocube. It worked great!

IMO the only reason to go up to the a360, would be if you plan to upgrade or get into crazy amounts of light, which isn't really necessary.

Any color recommendations for the kessil does the 160we come in different colors and thanks

sundog101 · Apr 18, 2017

It comes in blue for saltwater and sun for freshwater.

With a lot of LEDs like radions, you can change the entire sprectum. Kessils are different and you can only change the kelvin to make it more blue or white. The sprectum pretty much stays the same. I think this is a good thing, because then you can't mess it up; the spectrum is always right.