What led lights radion or kessil

[gars]

I have a tank that is six feet long two feet wide and one foot deep. What led lights should I go with the radion pro or kessil 360. We and how many of each this will house sps lps and softies.

[oreo57]

Originally Posted by gars

I have a tank that is six feet long two feet wide and one foot deep. What led lights should I go with the radion pro or kessil 360. We and how many of each this will house sps lps and softies.

You arguably will get more even lighting w/ a "strip light" for long shallow tanks.....
About a foot up..
http://www.buildmyled.com/mc-series-...reef-spectrum/

[Steve Atkins]

At only 1 foot deep I woud go with the one with the widest beam spread.

If you plan to view from above then the light with the smallest 'footprint' when viewed from above would also seem a good plan.

I don't use either but I have not heard anything that would convince me one is technically superior to the other, so the choice seems to come down to aesthetics and/or usage.

Steve

[Bpb]

How many center braces for that tank?

[lmforbis]

I love my Kesssils. I would think 3-4 over your tank would work. The 360 is supposed to have a 24" spread.

[dougchambers]

Any Eurobracing? We just installed two Kessil A360W-E's over our custom 135g (48"-Wide and 25"-Deep). The tank has thick 5" eurobracing around the perimeter. I LOVE the Kessil lights and run them with our Apex, but in our application, the bracing throws a shadow line across the back of the tank 6" down from the top. Most don't see it, but it drives me CRAZY because it wasn't there with my MH. I've tried different heights, but found the best solution was to shift the light back so the beam is more perpendicular. Two more Kessils arrive today... I haven't played with the Radion, but I'm very happy with the Kessils.

[gars]

No euro bracing no brace at all the tank is half inch acrylic.

[Bpb]

Being that its so shallow I think you could get away with 3 kessil a360we. Radions are top notch I just happen to like the kessil shimmer and color blending better

[BigCountry74]

at only 1' you might be able to get away with only 2 radion pros (hung high).

that's a interesting tank dimension no doubt. you pick that up from a LFS or something?

[gars]

Yes. It's my frag tank.i just don't want to waist money I need them to grow everything.so please give me as much info as possible thanks.

[mattgumaer]

I'm a novice but, fwiw, both lights have way more than enough power for a 1 foot deep tank. I would be concerned about 1) matching the lighting from the display tank so the transition from frag tank to display tank is less drastic (assuming you're growing out frags for your display); and 2) the number of point sources of light overall to minimize potential shading. Maybe three Radions or 6 smaller Kessils. I run three Radions over a 180 with standard bracing dividing the tank in thirds. I definitely wouldn't run fewer than 3 over a 6 foot tank and I might consider adding a fourth if the bracing wouldn't be in the way (again, not for the sake of adding intensity but to reducing shadowing). Might also be worth thinking about the wide angle lens kits for the Radions if you go in that direction since you won't be worried about penetration.

Matt

[gars]

I think I'm going to go with two 250 watt metal halides plus two kessil 360w lights. How does that sound to everyone.

[CoralReefBoffin]

Better. Great choice

[Mercer]

Originally Posted by gars

I think I'm going to go with two 250 watt metal halides plus two kessil 360w lights. How does that sound to everyone.

There's a fair bit of talk about halides being superior to LEDs. See the Anyone Thinking of Dumping LEDS and going back to Halides thread if you've got some time. The long and short of that multi-page thread is that a bunch of reefers feel their corals respond better to the more tried and tested halides as opposed to the newer LEDs that seem to be all the rage.

Achieving the correct lighting gets a little more tricky the deeper your tank is. With something so shallow you could get away with just about anything especially if you're sticking to soft corals. Down the road if you have halides you should be in good shape to support hard corals.

One thing to consider is your desired photoperiod. If you want to light this tank all day and evening then LEDs which can ramp intensity may be preferable. Running halides for overextended photoperiods not so much.

I've personally used both the Kessil A360WEs and a mix of 250W DE halides. For now I'm sticking exclusively with the Kessils because they're just so easy to get along with. Small, easy to hang, lower power consumption... I love it! But if I was setting up an SPS farm I'd ideally have halides running once again.

All the best with your tank

[Bpb]

Well now that you said the "MH" word that changes everything. I always recommend MH for every tank build no matter whether it's acropora dominant or not. I was just trying to stick with the thread question. Mh + kessil sounds like a winner

[trueperc]

I run, 3 X250 MH and 5 kessil 360we over my 300. Don't get me wrong I love my kessils, they allow me to enjoy my tank longer with only having to have the MH on for 4 hours. I can tell you though, that I don't find the kessils strong enough to grow some of the higher demanding sps. Also there is a real issue with shadowing with the kessils. The MH really though provide what every seems to be missing for color and true growth. This is just my opinion and experience over my tank.

[klwheat]

I run radions on both of my tanks and have been very happy with the color, shimmer, and coral growth. For that length, I would recommend 3 of them...but with that shallow depth, you'd probably want to lower the power a bit.