Lighting help ... Kessil A80 or other suggestions?

[guyewinfield]

Hi everyone! I was looking for some help or advice with lighting my SW reef aquarium. I have a 55 gallon with refugium below. The tank has a wooden hood, that doesn't leave me much room for lighting. Also, I will add, the wife doesn't want me to remove the hood or cut holes in it. So I am working to find some other solutions.

I had two AI Primes on there with flex arms, but the minimal room under the hood, they tended to get really hot. That being said, they also should truly be mounted 12+ inches above the tank to prevent hot spots. So I was looking to get two Kessil A80's as a replacement. They come with a mounting bracket that I can attach to the hood. I would also need to get the controller to set the spectrum right.

I am curious if anyone has had to mount them to their hood before and do you think two A80's is enough for my 55 gallon? All videos I find on it are generally on picos. I have about 8 inches inside the hood from the top down to the water. I will also add that budget really isn't a concern, as I do want a quality light(s) on the tank.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tamberav]

Hi everyone! I was looking for some help or advice with lighting my SW reef aquarium. I have a 55 gallon with refugium below. The tank has a wooden hood, that doesn't leave me much room for lighting. Also, I will add, the wife doesn't want me to remove the hood or cut holes in it. So I am working to find some other solutions.

I had two AI Primes on there with flex arms, but the minimal room under the hood, they tended to get really hot. That being said, they also should truly be mounted 12+ inches above the tank to prevent hot spots. So I was looking to get two Kessil A80's as a replacement. They come with a mounting bracket that I can attach to the hood. I would also need to get the controller to set the spectrum right.

I am curious if anyone has had to mount them to their hood before and do you think two A80's is enough for my 55 gallon? All videos I find on it are generally on picos. I have about 8 inches inside the hood from the top down to the water. I will also add that budget really isn't a concern, as I do want a quality light(s) on the tank.

Thanks in advance!

No, they are more for 5-10g tanks. They are not very powerful.

Can you add fans or vents to the back of the hood? Seems odd wife wouldn’t want you to.. it’s not visible? Lighting needs to be able to diffuse heat or the leds may burn out.

 

[guyewinfield]

No, they are more for 5-10g tanks. They are not very powerful.

Can you add fans or vents to the back of the hood? Seems odd wife wouldn’t want you to.. it’s not visible? Lighting needs to be able to diffuse heat or the leds may burn out.

I can add fans, for sure. She just doesn't want the hood to come off, as it is esthetically pleasing I guess. Do you have any recommendations on lights, with only about 8 inches of space above the water line?

 

[Tamberav]

Retrofits T5s or multiple orphek bars.

Just avoid spotlight type lights since you want to mount closer to the water.

Also be sure to not let condensation or splashing on any of the lighting.

 

[Woodneers]

T5's for the win here in my opinion. something like an ATI fixture could work. At that height id lean towards a dimmable version.

 

[guyewinfield]

Retrofits T5s or multiple orphek bars.

Just avoid spotlight type lights since you want to mount closer to the water.

Also be sure to not let condensation or splashing on any of the lighting.

I will take a look at the orphek bars. Thanks for the help!

 

[guyewinfield]

T5's for the win here in my opinion. something like an ATI fixture could work. At that height id lean towards a dimmable version.

I know they have been successful for many years, but I am just not a fan of the T5's for some reason. I will keep this as a second option. Thanks!

 

[Seymo44]

If your tank has a center brace, you might get a shadow from the light bars. I have a braced 65 that I run two radion xr15 pros over. They are mounted to the inside of the canopy. I’ve been thinking of adding either reef brite, orphek, or reef breeder strips. I think of the three, reef brites are considered to have better spread.

 

[Hooz]

Radions don't need as much height, so they might work inside your 8" space, but you'd probably have to cut holes so they can vent outside the hood. I'm also not sure that 2x XR15s would cover the 48" length.

If the tank is a standard 55g tank (48" long), you might (and I say MIGHT) be able to use A80s... You'd just need 4 of them, probably running at max, to get usable PAR at the bottom of the tank. Thinking about it a bit, that might be kind of cool, actually.

Strip lights will probably be your best bet within your space constraints, though. I would note that the Orphek bars have a pretty narrow beam angle, so even they need to be mounted pretty high to get nice color blending.

 

[Spare time]

Reefbrites would be great here (either the pros/double strips or the single strips)
Low heat, lack of hotspot issue, and can be mounted 2 inches above the tank.

 

[Montiman]

I would go with 2 reef brites just screwed into the canopy.