Lights for 40ext SPS Dominate

1bitereefer · Feb 1, 2020

I’m in the process of my build, I have a kessil a360we at the moment. Will that be enough for that tank to be SPS Dominate or would I be better suited with 2 or adding the aquatic life T5 Hybrid

SteveEreef · Feb 1, 2020

Adding the second kessil and

SteveEreef · Feb 1, 2020

Adding the second kessil and going with the T5 hybrid sounds good

1bitereefer · Feb 1, 2020

SteveEreef said:
Adding the second kessil and going with the T5 hybrid sounds good

You don’t think either just the 2 Kessil or the one with the hybrid t5 would be good?

GlassMunky · Feb 1, 2020

1bitereefer said:
You don’t think either just the 2 Kessil or the one with the hybrid t5 would be good?

For SPS no.
those Kessils have very poor output and SPS need high light. Also the Kessils will have shadowing since they are small point source lights, the T5 give a full blanket of light.

Reefer40b · Feb 1, 2020

You could get away with 2 kessils for a while and adding the T5's as they become colonies.

1bitereefer · Feb 1, 2020

GlassMunky said:
For SPS no.
those Kessils have very poor output and SPS need high light. Also the Kessils will have shadowing since they are small point source lights, the T5 give a full blanket of light.

Right but in the BRS video it shows on a 24” cube 1 Kessil and the hybrid is getting 425-260par 6 inches deep, and 270-290 12” deep,

GlassMunky · Feb 1, 2020

1bitereefer said:
Right but in the BRS video it shows on a 24” cube 1 Kessil and the hybrid is getting 425-260par 6 inches deep, and 270-290 12” deep,

you just asked opinions.
As someone who has kept a heavy SPS tank in the past, i will say that the more light the better.
Sure you could get away with it for a while, but like mentioned, as the corals grow, they start shadowing everything else in the tank and make it harder to get even light, which is why you see most SPS heavy tanks with crap loads of lights.

GlassMunky · Feb 1, 2020

also, 425 isnt very high PAR, and 260 is nothing for SPS.... some Acros like upwords of over 600+

1bitereefer · Feb 1, 2020

GlassMunky said:
also, 425 isnt very high PAR, and 260 is nothing for SPS.... some Acros like upwords of over 600+

Gotcha, yeah looks like I’ll need both, thank you

GlassMunky · Feb 1, 2020

1bitereefer said:
Gotcha, yeah looks like I’ll need both, thank you

if money is tight, go with just one kessil for now, and get the other down the line in a few months. the great part about those hybrid fixtures is they are modular so you can add when you need.

jda · Feb 1, 2020

Kessils are weak lights and especially outside of the center of it's cone. You need a lot to keep SPS, especially acropora. They also test them at 100% which nearly nobody runs since they can burn coral.

You are going to need more than one. Also, if you find somebody who uses Kessil on a well-established SPS tank (meaning, they are not a noobie), then you will likely find the only person... everybody adds T5s to them and it seems that nobody regrets it.