What lights to run

Shortben09 · Jan 3, 2021

I currently have a 75 gallon frag tank. It is 48" long, 24" wide, and 16" tall. I am running 2 kessil A360WE's over right now. Possibly considering switching to the X version to get the angle adapters and get better angles on them. I am also wondering if it would be a decent idea to run 4 to eliminate shadows and get a better spread since the dimensions already max out the spread of the lights anyway. Any thoughts?

Ron Reefman · Jan 3, 2021

IMHO, 3 at the least, and 4 seems reasonable.

Biglew11 · Jan 3, 2021

I have a 75 marineland tank 48long 18 deep 21 tall. I'm run 2 a360x and a 4bulb t5 hybrid fixture.

You already have 2 A360WE's might be cheaper easier to just add. 2 more of those.

Shortben09 · Jan 3, 2021

Yeah I've heavily considered just adding 2, but my problem with them is the difficulty to angle them. I would rather get the Xs. There is a guy local selling them fairly cheap used in good shape. I do appreciate the input guys. I'm also considering just doing 2 Xs with a T5 like you have. Which would ultimately be cheapest not needing mounting. Or just adding a T5 with my current lights.

Biglew11 · Jan 3, 2021

T5 with current light would work quite well.

Bpb · Jan 3, 2021

4 would be ideal. You can get them lower down then

vetteguy53081 · Jan 3, 2021

If you have the budget, 4 is your magic number coverage and PAR

Purkey Pets · Jan 3, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
If you have the budget, 4 is your magic number coverage and PAR

Yeah he's got the budget

LOL get two more Ben

Shortben09 · Jan 11, 2021

lol not sure what to do yet. think I might try the whole t5/led hybrid route and see what happens. need to get rid of those extra nero powerheads and that kessil h160 first and free up some money to move on to the next purchase.

Marc2952 · Jan 11, 2021

Shortben09 said:
I currently have a 75 gallon frag tank. It is 48" long, 24" wide, and 16" tall. I am running 2 kessil A360WE's over right now. Possibly considering switching to the X version to get the angle adapters and get better angles on them. I am also wondering if it would be a decent idea to run 4 to eliminate shadows and get a better spread since the dimensions already max out the spread of the lights anyway. Any thoughts?

Depends what kind of corals you trying to have, i also have a basic marineland 75 gallon and even with 4 kessil a360x i found there is still some shadowing ( depends on your aquascape too ) so i added 2 reef brite strips and all is well now, but i am going sps dominate. If its for LPS or softies then 2 or 3 is more then enough.

jda · Jan 11, 2021

Frags don't usually have issues with shadowing if you are keeping them in a normal type of way with egg crate and not letting them get too large. However, Kessils are not powerful at all and you will likely need more output and coverage. If you don't have many frags yet, then just put the kessils more together and keep the frags in the middle under them. No need to light edges if you don't have frags there.

Shortben09 · Jan 11, 2021

It is a frag tank but it setup as my main display. So it is scaped.

Marc2952 · Jan 11, 2021

jda said:
Frags don't usually have issues with shadowing if you are keeping them in a normal type of way with egg crate and not letting them get too large. However, Kessils are not powerful at all and you will likely need more output and coverage. If you don't have many frags yet, then just put the kessils more together and keep the frags in the middle under them. No need to light edges if you don't have frags there.

Putting them closer will cause a big hotspot BRS did a video on it, the kessils give enough power if you put 4 on a 4 foot tank (ive had to lower mines to 60% to where i can get 350-450 PAR on my upper rockwork.) The issue is the puck design of the kessil that causes shadowing even with 4 of them on a 4 ft tank.

Purkey Pets · Jan 11, 2021

Yeah you're right, I'd go with the T5 Hybrid over additional hotspots.

Aquatic Life version is 36" x 18" so it would be an even 6" spread around the whole fixture to all edges of the tank

My choice would be:
ATI Blue Plus
ATI Coral Plus

Link to their color guide for a 4-bulb system:

Best ATI Bulb Combinations for Your 4 Bulb Fixture

Shortben09 · Jan 11, 2021

you don't think the 48" version would be the one to go with? I like the 36 being cheaper, just assumed the 48 would be the ideal choice with the tank being 48 long. The only thing I don't like is the fact that they have no shape to them. just a flat fixture, so that won't help eliminate that blind you get when you sit on the fish couch lol