LED for a standard 90 gallon

[Restless10101]

Hey everyone.

Had a quick question on LED's and was hoping to get some help. I have a standard 90 gallon, 48 x 18 and 24 inches deep, and was thinking of switching to LED. Currently I am running a 6 bulb T5 Tek light, and I am happy with the results. But it's just about time to change the bulbs, and before I spend the money on new bulbs, I thought I would explore my options.

I am leaning towards Kessil, mainly because they have a freshwater option that I really like. If I need to buy a controller for my freshwater system, I might as well buy Kessil lights for my reef tank as well. Save me buying an extra controller.

Anyways the main question I have is, will 2 of the a160w be enough for my aquarium? Or do I need 2 a360w? Or is there a way to get 1 a360w to cover the entire 48 x 18 area?

Thanks for the help

Steve

[gmann]

coverage for 360 is 24x24. You would need 2 imo

[Skimmer Juice]

this is what I did , I ran a single kessil on my tank 36x24x14t and it worked just fine . Then cut out my tek fixture and stripped it down to a 2 bulb , cut a hole in the tek light for my kessil to sit in . Went with 2 ati actinics and its the best light I have used for color and growth . Best of both worlds and then bulb changes only cost $40 , you get the led color with t5 coverage . So you could grab a 360w and use your tek light and that would be more than enough IMO

[WarDog]

I would go with Skimmer Juice's recommendation. Add one or two A360's to the Tek, and you will have an amazing fixture! If you are dead set on only LED's, I would recommend three A360's for a 4' tank. Yes... 3.

I ran two A360's over my 36 x 18 x 24 and in my opinion, it didn't give enough coverage. I don't want to debate the issue in another ridiculously long thread about what is the best lighting technology, these are simply my results.

I recently switched to T5's and the tank is doing much better.

Here is a side by side comparison of my Forest Fire Digi. The pic on the left shows the shadow on the body caused by the single source of the LED, and the photo on the right is the same spot 3 weeks after switching to T5's.

I loved the controllability of the Kessils, don't get me wrong, this isn't an 'I hate LED's rant'... and perhaps I utilized them wrong, or had the wrong spectrum. I don't know. I just didn't want my corals to suffer for my misunderstanding of the technology.

Ram3500 is running FIVE A360's over a 56 x 24 x 26.

[Restless10101]

Never thought about putting them inside the tek light. Great idea. I do have 4 individual sun blaster t5's kicking around. Might use those instead of cutting up my tek light. Thanks all!

Steve

[Ram3500]

Since my name got thrown out there I thought I should put my two bits in . I have been running a360 for almost two years I started with two then I went to three about a year ago and then five when Warren threw in the towel last month . When I had two they grew sps nicely but I did see shading when I added thee it was greatly reduced and I was happy with my sps mostly Although with the large colony's there was still parts that did not get adequate light. Now I am running five I can't see any shading or very minimal. I am planing at building a canopy and adding four t5 mainly because I feel that I will only get better pop and maybe some more growth with the added t5s . I have a glow t5 unit from my old fluval osaka tank I bought two Fiji pink t5s and put it over my tank to see how it looked and I liked it . The t5s have something that added some extra pop to the a 360s . One thing I have noticed is the a360s don't bring out the pink in sps that well. So I would agree with Warren and Skimmer juice that hybrid is the best of both worlds shimmer,controllable and the ability to play with different t5s to get that extra pop.

[WarDog]

I was talking about the other Ram3500. Geez... some people.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by WarDog

I would go with Skimmer Juice's recommendation. Add [...] two A360's to the Tek, and you will have an amazing fixture!

I like this idea too, and I've seen this done a few times with various LED fixtures. For a 48" tank though, you'll definitely need two Kessils.

Originally Posted by WarDog

If you are dead set on only LED's, I would recommend three A360's for a 4' tank. Yes... 3.

I agree with this 100%. IMO, one of the biggest failures of LEDs is that people generally just don't use enough of them to get even spread of lighting. Then they wonder why corals do great here, but get roasted there, and turn brown over there.

Though if it was me, I be buying Radions or AI Hydras instead of Kessils.

[Aquattro]

When I used LED, I ran 6 units across a 6ft tank. I found that gave me enough coverage. You would need at least 2, probably 3 units for best coverage.