Which Kessil pendants for 48"l x 36"w x 16"h shallow reef tank?

[Jabberwock]

2 a360w's (mounted high)

or

4 a150w's (mounted less high)


Leaning to the 360w's because of control-ability, but not sure it will light up the sides enough for some general lps species. Only needs to penetrate 12-14" of water to hit the sandbed....


Plenty of good information out there on search, but not very good information for wide tanks/frag tanks...

[bowfront]

I'm not going to be much help but I'm getting ready to set up a similar (not as deep) tank 48"x24"x16h". If I go LED and decide on Kessil I will start with 2 360W's for controllability. If sides are to dark one thought was to add a 150 to the middle and run that at peak lighting and turn it off after the other 2 start ramping down. Best but most expensive option would probably be to run 3 360's. I'm interested to see comments from someone with actual experience on a shallow reef.

[nickdo]

I think 4 a360w is minimum by my experience, since your tank is 36" wide, need to place 2 at front, 2 at back.

if you want to keep SPS, 6~8 a360w is a good start.

[nickdo]

here is the review by japanese.
http://www.1023world.net/blog/kessil-a350-test

it is not about penetration. its par is weak. 30cm height only get 169 PAR.

I use one a350 in my frag tank, 10" tank height and hang 6" above the tank(total 16"). I only get 150~200par at the sand bed.

[nikon187]

2 a360 will work, 4 would be better fo full coverage. i have 3 over a 120 x 48 x 18 tank at the store.

[Allentown]

Double up on the units to eliminate shadows and ratchet up the par.

You end up being forced in a conundrum. Turn up intensity and burn shallow stuff or turn down the intensity and not have enough light down deep and around the edges. Both problems are solved with extra fixtures running at lower intensities.

[RedStangGA]

Originally Posted by Jabberwock

2 a360w's (mounted high)

or

4 a150w's (mounted less high)


Leaning to the 360w's because of control-ability, but not sure it will light up the sides enough for some general lps species. Only needs to penetrate 12-14" of water to hit the sandbed....


Plenty of good information out there on search, but not very good information for wide tanks/frag tanks...

I think your problem will be the 36" depth rather than the 48" width. The A360W is supposed to be good for a 24"x24" area. Two should do ok width wise but the depth you'll be short unless you raise them up high.

Although I see from a pic above a retail store is using them to cover 48"! So you might be good. Tank height isn't an issue for you so you might be able to get away with raising them up a bit to get sufficient coverage.

Post pics when you get them!

[kain57reef]

I have 2 350w over a 36x24x24 tank mounted about 7 inches off the water I think if you had yours up about 10 to 15 inches off the water you would be fine with just 2

[Allentown]

Originally Posted by RedStangGA

I think your problem will be the 36" depth rather than the 48" width. The A360W is supposed to be good for a 24"x24" area. Two should do ok width wise but the depth you'll be short unless you raise them up high.

Although I see from a pic above a retail store is using them to cover 48"! So you might be good. Tank height isn't an issue for you so you might be able to get away with raising them up a bit to get sufficient coverage.

Post pics when you get them!

He should probably consider the 360N and double up on those instead for that dept.

[RedStangGA]

Originally Posted by Allentown

He should probably consider the 360N and double up on those instead for that dept.

Depth/height is 16" though. Other dimensions are 48"x36". 2 360W's raised a little higher should cover the 36"spread while still punching down into a shallow tank don't you think?