New help. 2 ai prime 16hd vs ap700

[HavocXT]

Can you help me decide on 2 ai 16hd or 1 used ap700. Total new to reef lighting. What are the pros and cons of the choices. Both are about the same price, ai $100 cheaper maybe. Primes will get me better spread I think but I keep on hearing about the kessil shimmer. I will keep softies and lps in the begining and maybe try sps once the tank gets established. My tank is the fluval 32.5. 32x16x16.

 

[Arlen nemeth]

Can you help me decide on 2 ai 16hd or 1 used ap700. Total new to reef lighting. What are the pros and cons of the choices. Both are about the same price, ai $100 cheaper maybe. Primes will get me better spread I think but I keep on hearing about the kessil shimmer. I will keep softies and lps in the begining and maybe try sps once the tank gets established. My tank is the fluval 32.5. 32x16x16.

I have the fluval 16 gallon i think i use the ai 16hd its great the only thing ive done is gotten a light diffuser from 3dreefing to help spread the light. Works great

 

[Waynerock]

Primes, they work very well and grow anything

 

[wphan]

Get the primes. If you can afford it get the 32hd which will be better for your set up.

 

[HavocXT]

Get the primes. If you can afford it get the 32hd which will be better for your set up.

Would 1 32hd be better than 2 primes? With the primes I can spread them out further. My tank is only 15 in deep.

 

[Arlen nemeth]

Would 1 32hd be better than 2 primes? With the primes I can spread them out further. My tank is only 15 in deep.

I would go with 2 primes

 

[wphan]

Would 1 32hd be better than 2 primes? With the primes I can spread them out further. My tank is only 15 in deep.

No at that point just get the 2 primes. Better spread.

 

[HavocXT]

What about the shimmer on the 16hd primes? Is there much difference between the new primes and ap700? I heard there was pretty much no disco effect on the kessils.

 

[Arlen nemeth]

What about the shimmer on the 16hd primes? Is there much difference between the new primes and ap700? I heard there was pretty much no disco effect on the kessils.

Light diffuser from 3d reefing there pretty cheap

 

[Arlen nemeth]

What about the shimmer on the 16hd primes? Is there much difference between the new primes and ap700? I heard there was pretty much no disco effect on the kessils.

I have it works really well. U just have to up the lighting by 10 -15% to compensate

 

[Pistondog]

What about the shimmer on the 16hd primes? Is there much difference between the new primes and ap700? I heard there was pretty much no disco effect on the kessils.

I've got ap700 on 75g, 16hd on 11g marine cube.
For a 32 wide either is great. If it were my 48 wide, definitely 3 16hd.
The shimmer is a result of how close the leds are to each other. Kessel has a patent on leds under 1 lens.
You have the disco ball effect on lights with a panel, say 12 inches square of leds.
The Kessel lens is about 3/4" across, the 16hd, about 1 and 1/2",
I don't notice the difference. Both are not that far off from a point source.
I agree on the better spread with the ai, but nobody will shoot you for either choice.
The ap700 has a slick hanging mount, my ai is on a gooseneck.

 

[tattooed reefer]

How does Kessel have the patent ? Lots of companies have the one lens design , red sea reef , noopsyche , to name a few off the top of my head.

 

[Waynerock]

You are way better off with several smaller models to get better spread and less hot spots. I was gonna get 2 32’s and glad I went with 3 16’s because the 32’s would of been over kill. I don’t have any issues with “disco” effect with 3 16’s it just looks like good shimmer to me I don’t notice the colors separating. Sorry not the best video but you get the point. The new 9x are intriguing for sure but 3 16’s are still a better value at 200 cheeper, just my stinky opinion

 

[Bpb]

2 primes because they’re new. I don’t like buying used gear that is subject to degradation like led panels.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

How does Kessel have the patent ? Lots of companies have the one lens design , red sea reef , noopsyche , to name a few off the top of my head.

I assume they meant the dense matrix array, which is still unique to Kessil.

 

[Kfactor]

From my experience with the new 16hds I would pass on them spend the extra money and get somthing better just my 2 cents

 

[Pistondog]

I assume they meant the dense matrix array, which is still unique to Kessil.

Sorry for my confusion. Thanks to tattooed reefer and tuffyy for the clarification.