Lighting setup.....opinions wanted

hhholds

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I currently am using 2 Kessil A160 lights and 4 T5 bulbs over my 75 gal reef. I am thinking of upgrading the LED lighting in order to support an SPS dominate tank. Was thinking of adding 2 Kessil A360 or 2 Radion XR15 G4 Pro to my current set up. Please chime in with opinions/suggestions.
 
"I have the Sunpower ATI 6 bulbs on my 75 gal. Reef tank, nothing better. GREAT GROWTH. Also have the Tunze pumps , they work together in STORM mode."

Grandis.
 
So are your tanks SPS dominate tanks? I want to make sure I go with something that is going to support good growth in a specific type of reef, predominately made up of Acropora sp. I'm thinking my current set up is slightly under scaled for what I want. But before I invest more $$$ I want to get some opinions from those doing something similar.
 
If you like the Kessils stay with that brand. Hydras and Radions are nice units , cant miss with either. Keeping your T5s will help with shading/shadows. If it were me... I'd think about 3 LED fixtures for max coverage as well.
 
Hey I had a similar setup at one point on my 90 gallon. Ended up going to 6 t5 ati fixture. I like that I don't have to find the perfect intensity on LED's anymore. Also being able to still have a blue dawn/dusk mode is nice when using blue+ bulbs. Sure I don't have shimmer, but my corals are doing nicely.
 
I was leaning towards the Radions in order to have more controllability. The plan is to continue to use the 2 Kessil lights that I have and add 2 more LEDs.
 
I was leaning towards the Radions in order to have more controllability. The plan is to continue to use the 2 Kessil lights that I have and add 2 more LEDs.
Ops! [***Grandis jumping out of the thread...***]

Grandis.
 
I would be inclined to use two more A160s thus allowing more overlap in the system. That should give you a rich par all the way to the bottom of the tank.
 
I was thinking the 160s might be a little under powered for a 48" tank...?
Nope. Do you have a par meter? I'm guessing you are getting over 200 at the top of your rocks. I have an 8 bulb (for spread) supplemented by led blues but it's turned way down to 40%. 8 bulbs at 40% is less then 4 bulbs at 100%. Plus my tank is deeper. What you have is fine.
 
I do not have a par meter but after watching some video comparisons on the kessil 360 assumed the 160s were not quite enough....not sure what kind of par I'm getting from the T5s
 
How high over the water are the fixtures? The t5 and the kessils.
And yea, it sounds like you’re close to the par numbers.

You do kinda need to decide (like we do all) the level you want to deliver.

If the fixtures are at about 12” you have plenty of light.

If it were all t5 it would be a six tube at 8-12in. You have more than that now most likely.

If you still want an easy boost, the 360 is the easy choice.
The radions would be the more fun choice. IMO. (More buttons)
 
Currently my lights are about 7-9 inches off surface of water. The kessils may even set as low as 6. lights are in a DIY canopy I made from 12" lumber.
 
Currently my lights are about 7-9 inches off surface of water. The kessils may even set as low as 6. lights are in a DIY canopy I made from 12" lumber.
What kessil model? 160?
 
You are probably running 6-800 par at the top of the tank with the t5 alone. Where the kessils hit is probably an additional 200-300 par.

Personally , I think you have plenty of light for an acro. 10-16 in from the top.

I had my 4 tube t5 led 8in from the top and the growth was explosive. And my Led was WEAK....
 

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