Help Me Decide

[Brian G.]

I think I am going to just pull the trigger on lights instead of waiting for the Red Sea lights to be released. I have a 120G with rock that comes up pretty high in the tank. I will be focusing on soft corals and LPS, currently do not have a desire to get into SPS. I have narrowed it down to the Hydra 26, XR15 or Kessil 360x. Was pretty much decided on the 360x until I saw it in the store at 100% intensity and the amount of light it put out seemed underwhelming.

Would two 360x on a 120g (48x24x24) be enough to have soft and LPS from the sand up?

Would two XR15s have enough spread to cover the tank?

The LFS said the PAR difference between the two is minimal and it is more about spread on the Kessil versus more focus on the Radion. Leaning towards the Radion, but they only had them running on a freshwater tank so I couldn't really see their output.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fiesty]

I have run 2 xr15 pros and was very happy with them. The arm tank mount worked really well to get them in the right spot. With the 48" tank (if u doing open top) u could get the one that goes from side to side and get mouted perfectly and slide to right areas. Two xr 15's eill definitely cover a larger area than one xr30 due to spacing properly for your tank

 

[dantimdad]

Can I answer none of the above?

;)

I can almost promise you, the thread you start in a year is "Help me decide: Do I add more fixtures or upgrade?"

Go big if you can afford it.

If you can't, for less money than any of the above you could do two black boxes and grow anything and save a fortune.

 

[Fiesty]

Can I answer none of the above?

;)

I can almost promise you, the thread you start in a year is "Help me decide: Do I add more fixtures or upgrade?"

Go big if you can afford it.

If you can't, for less money than any of the above you could do two black boxes and grow anything and save a fortune.

I agree with the black boxes can grow coral and have 2 of them for sale now and am currently and running Radions with t5's. The biggest advantage for radions / etc. would be contolabilty and easy programing over black boxes. And the soft ramping up and down is very nice as a viewer and less stressful on the fish. Just my opinion from using both types of lights. My opinion for the best on your tank size (if budget allows) would be the 2 xr 15's and 2 57 wat t5 in a combo light fixture. Or if u want to go cheaper 2 black boxes with dimmable T5's

 

[Fiesty]

My current light setup. 1 xr30 pro / 2 xr 15 pro's ( from previous 125 frag tank and have space like the xr30) and 4 x 57 watt T5's on a 200 gallon 48" long tank.