40 gallon breeder with 2 kessil a80 tuna blue?

Orangeboy207 · Mar 30, 2020

Was thinking about purchasing a 40 gallon breeder, would two kessil a80 tuna blue do the job? I would only keep LPS and soft corals in the tank. Thank you

Peach02 · Mar 30, 2020

Should be enough your only aiming for 75-150/200 par throughout the tank, renting a par meter might help with initial setup though

Kraff813 · Mar 31, 2020

I had just sized up from a 10g with an A80 to a 40g breeder last weekend. I honestly couldn't think of spending $800 on new LEDs and considered going to T5's.

I did some research and Kessil's video on the A80 noted it can grow softies corals in a 15-24" deep tank.

I know I made the cheap move, but I purchased a second A80 to try it. I have almost nothing but zoos and shrooms. So far none of the zoos are stretching up for light and appear rather happy at this point. I have no "data" on growth yet; but in the ten gallon they were spreading rather quickly - so that's going to be my baseline.

I can add some photos later on.

M3d1C · Mar 31, 2020

Kraff813 said:
I had just sized up from a 10g with an A80 to a 40g breeder last weekend. I honestly couldn't think of spending $800 on new LEDs and considered going to T5's.

I did some research and Kessil's video on the A80 noted it can grow softies corals in a 15-24" deep tank.

I know I made the cheap move, but I purchased a second A80 to try it. I have almost nothing but zoos and shrooms. So far none of the zoos are stretching up for light and appear rather happy at this point. I have no "data" on growth yet; but in the ten gallon they were spreading rather quickly - so that's going to be my baseline.

I can add some photos later on.

I will follow this for sure!

Kraff813 · Apr 16, 2020

M3d1C said:
I will follow this for sure!

I took some shots of my 40B with two A80's. The water line to the sand bed is approx. 13" and the lights are approx. 6.5" from the water line.

After about 3-4 weeks with this new set up, my conclusion is that it's totally do able. I've actually seen a lot of new zoos poppin' up. I do have a Squamosa on the sand bed and he looks great. I was expecting to have to move him to a top ledge.

I will note, if I didn't already have an A80 on the 10-gallon, I would have just bought a t5 fixture or larger LEDS. Who knows, I may switch over to t5's someday, but right now I love the color range and tunability of LEDs.

Hope my test/experimenting helps you make a decision.

Note: I use a clip on iPhone lens i bought for like $20 on amazon to which cuts out light; however the close up shots are down in blue. I took some with/without it.

Here's a pic with 100% blue with no camera lens.

Here's a pic with 100% blue with the camera lens.

Whole Tank 100% Blue - With Camera Lens.JPG

The next few are 75% white with camera lens.

M3d1C · Apr 16, 2020

Kraff813 said:
I took some shots of my 40B with two A80's. The water line to the sand bed is approx. 13" and the lights are approx. 6.5" from the water line.

After about 3-4 weeks with this new set up, my conclusion is that it's totally do able. I've actually seen a lot of new zoos poppin' up. I do have a Squamosa on the sand bed and he looks great. I was expecting to have to move him to a top ledge.

I will note, if I didn't already have an A80 on the 10-gallon, I would have just bought a t5 fixture or larger LEDS. Who knows, I may switch over to t5's someday, but right now I love the color range and tunability of LEDs.

Hope my test/experimenting helps you make a decision.

Note: I use a clip on iPhone lens i bought for like $20 on amazon to which cuts out light; however the close up shots are down in blue. I took some with/without it.

Here's a pic with 100% blue with no camera lens.

Here's a pic with 100% blue with the camera lens.

The next few are 75% white with camera lens.

Awesome!! Thank you for this!! I'm the same way, already have an A80 and upgrading to a 3 ft long tank so I really want to just buy another A80 for now. I might build a canopy later and put a T5 retrofit in there with the A80s.

Kraff813 · May 15, 2020

Update: my zoos were still multiplying under the A80s; however, I wasn’t getting the brightness I wanted. This time of year the sun is shinning in my office more and it out lit the A80s lol...

I added a 360WE to the middle (running around 70% intensity - for now), with the A80s lighting up the shadowed corners. I’ll likely get a second 360 and ditch the A80s, just couldn’t drop another $400.

Conclusion: you can absolutely grow softies under A80s in a 40B, but I wouldn’t waste the money from the get go. Go straight to something brighter. 160s would have likely done the job, but I was tired of messing around.