AI Prime vs Kessil a360x + Narrow reflector + Dongle - IM 25 Lagoon

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Luna Lagoona

Luna Lagoona

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So in the end I decided to just stop being wishy-washy and went with the a360x + 55" narrow reflector (not 100% sure I will use the reflector but they are hard to find here so grabbing it while I can.)

If I find I don't have enough light I will pop on the reflector and be laughing! Ideally, I would like to run the light at a lower intensity to make the unit last longer too and the reflector will help with that. We'll see.

I am going to make a build thread soon and it will show both.

I will also film a video comparing the AI Prime 16HD with the Kessil a360x before I sell the prime to give people a reference.


For me, I don't consider one ai prime sufficient for 24" I would have two. The 360x is probably okay but kind of at the edge of its range. Nothing to do with the quality of either light there is only so much useable spread from a puck. You could certainly go with one 360x on the 24 and add another if you go larger or want to put more demanding corals toward the edges of the spread but I would not go with one prime. The 9x is a bit of overkill but less expensive then two 360Xs. So if a wider tank is a relative certainty I would either overbuy now or get one 360x with the idea to add a second if you upsize. That said it would be hard to go wrong following Thomas' advice.
I mean I think the one prime COULD light the tank, but for what I want to do and my own tastes I made the very expensive decision to pay as much for a new light as I did for most of my entire setup so far hahahah. (curse this hobby) I got the tank + stand + prime and most of the extras like test kits hoses buckets and an AuqaBuddy RODI unit all for 700$

So I had 3 tanks running till last July when my 180g came in. A 28g, 50g, and my 90g, the 180g was going in my bedroom where the 90g was located. I had 4 360we's, 4 360x's and a few 160we's, I installed all 8 360's on the new 180g just because why not. Now it is total overkill but figured they would work better on the tank than sitting in a box. Shading is not an issue, and with 8 on the tank I get some really cool aesthetically pleasing different color combinations. Here's a pic of the lights.
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This is a dream! Definitely no need for fill light here! If I were you I might stagger them so that you alternate with one more forward and the next more towards the back and zigzag if you ever were to find shadows, but I doubt you have any issues! The dream!
 

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