CrazyCatMan
New Member
I am in need of a new light and am pretty much clueless on what to choose. The tank is a red sea reefer 450 that currently has 3 kessil a360's. For the last couple months one of them has had an odd flicker to it. After doing some troubleshooting and swapping it with the center light the issue is much more noticeable so i have decided to replace it - theyre well past warranty. Overall the tank is 90% lps, 4 sps (lepto, 2 cyphastrea, montipoa), a bubble tip anemone, and random zoas here and there, Current light schedule is below
10am - 5pm 10% color 50% intensity
5pm - 7pm ramps down to 0% color 5% intensity
7pm - 8pm 0% color 5% intensity
The lights are 5.5" off of the water due to the point of sale gooseneck setup that barley has any reach. Overall this seems to work. Corals grow and look good. I think they could look better but for simplicity sake I have left the settings alone and stuck with the above. What I would like to do is keep 1 kessil at each "end" and replace the center light with something different. Currently the tank does not look fully lit and vivid. While the open areas are well lit there *appears* to be poor light coverage and dim areas. Although I think most of this is attributed to how low the lights sit? I have little to no interest in purchasing another kessil to replace this one, and have looked at a few different lights but wanted some input before purchasing. Going into a local store and looking isnt an option. 1 local store has kessil, the other has current usa.
I have been reading up on the xr15 blue, hydra 32 and hydra 64. I looked into the redsea 90 a bit but do not want the headache of issues. What really caught my eye with the radion and hydra lights is the ability to use the WWC presets. While I know every tank is different the idea is that it will give me a good starting point rather than adjusting and hoping for the best. I believe the hydra 64 would be overkill output wise but would the dimensions and layout give me better coverage/less shadowed looking areas/less spot light effect?
10am - 5pm 10% color 50% intensity
5pm - 7pm ramps down to 0% color 5% intensity
7pm - 8pm 0% color 5% intensity
The lights are 5.5" off of the water due to the point of sale gooseneck setup that barley has any reach. Overall this seems to work. Corals grow and look good. I think they could look better but for simplicity sake I have left the settings alone and stuck with the above. What I would like to do is keep 1 kessil at each "end" and replace the center light with something different. Currently the tank does not look fully lit and vivid. While the open areas are well lit there *appears* to be poor light coverage and dim areas. Although I think most of this is attributed to how low the lights sit? I have little to no interest in purchasing another kessil to replace this one, and have looked at a few different lights but wanted some input before purchasing. Going into a local store and looking isnt an option. 1 local store has kessil, the other has current usa.
I have been reading up on the xr15 blue, hydra 32 and hydra 64. I looked into the redsea 90 a bit but do not want the headache of issues. What really caught my eye with the radion and hydra lights is the ability to use the WWC presets. While I know every tank is different the idea is that it will give me a good starting point rather than adjusting and hoping for the best. I believe the hydra 64 would be overkill output wise but would the dimensions and layout give me better coverage/less shadowed looking areas/less spot light effect?
