How many Kessil A360X's do I need?

Dj City

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I need some advice.
I am upgrading my lights to Kessil a360x's.

I have a 180 gallon SPS dominate reef tank. My tank is 5ft long (60") x 30" high x 2ft (24") front to back.
I have a canopy on the tank that limits how high I can mount lights. The ceiling of the canopy is 12" above the water surface.

Right now, I have a Reefbreeders Photon 50 V2+ along with a Reefbreeders Hi Octane lumenbar and a single Sunblaster T5 fixture with an ATI actinic bulb. Both the Lumenbar and the T5 fixture are mounted onto the Photon 50 V2+.
This has been a great light combo and I have had great success with these lights but I want to try something new and see if I can get even better results.

I am getting 3 Kessil A360X's for a great price.
Will 3 of these lights be enough?
Can 3 of these lights give me the coverage I need?
Can 3 of these lights give me the par I need?
Would 4 Kessil A360X's be better or will 3 of them be good enough on their own?
Will I still need my T5 and Lumenbar?

They will be mounted using the hanging ring which should put the lights just about 7 to 8 inches above the water surface.
I "might" be able to keep the T5 and the Lumenbar but I have to come up with a way to hang them in the canopy. I think I might have that figured out.

Please help a fellow reefer out.
Thanks.

1620825496697.png
 

Eagle_Steve

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I need some advice.
I am upgrading my lights to Kessil a360x's.

I have a 180 gallon SPS dominate reef tank. My tank is 5ft long (60") x 30" high x 2ft (24") front to back.
I have a canopy on the tank that limits how high I can mount lights. The ceiling of the canopy is 12" above the water surface.

Right now, I have a Reefbreeders Photon 50 V2+ along with a Reefbreeders Hi Octane lumenbar and a single Sunblaster T5 fixture with an ATI actinic bulb. Both the Lumenbar and the T5 fixture are mounted onto the Photon 50 V2+.
This has been a great light combo and I have had great success with these lights but I want to try something new and see if I can get even better results.

I am getting 3 Kessil A360X's for a great price.
Will 3 of these lights be enough?
Can 3 of these lights give me the coverage I need?
Can 3 of these lights give me the par I need?
Would 4 Kessil A360X's be better or will 3 of them be good enough on their own?
Will I still need my T5 and Lumenbar?

They will be mounted using the hanging ring which should put the lights just about 7 to 8 inches above the water surface.
I "might" be able to keep the T5 and the Lumenbar but I have to come up with a way to hang them in the canopy. I think I might have that figured out.

Please help a fellow reefer out.
Thanks.

1620825496697.png
3 will need a supplement for an all sps tank. I had 3 over a 6’ 180 when I swapped it from halides. Stuff was alive and grew, but not the full potential. I now have 6 and a 61” hybrid.

For your tank, I would say 4 lights and some form of supplement. Either T5 in the canopy or led bars to eliminate shadowing. 5 would be optimal, but you would still need at least 1 bulb front and 1 bulb back (or bars) to not have shadowing.
 

Eagle_Steve

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3 will need a supplement for an all sps tank. I had 3 over a 6’ 180 when I swapped it from halides. Stuff was alive and grew, but not the full potential. I now have 6 and a 61” hybrid.

For your tank, I would say 4 lights and some form of supplement. Either T5 in the canopy or led bars to eliminate shadowing. 5 would be optimal, but you would still need at least 1 bulb front and 1 bulb back (or bars) to not have shadowing.
Now that I see the canopy and the rock work, 4 should be fine with some form of supplement. 3 with no supplement will hold you over for a while though, as you do not have massive colonies.
 

CMMorgan

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I need some advice.
I am upgrading my lights to Kessil a360x's.

I have a 180 gallon SPS dominate reef tank. My tank is 5ft long (60") x 30" high x 2ft (24") front to back.
I have a canopy on the tank that limits how high I can mount lights. The ceiling of the canopy is 12" above the water surface.

Right now, I have a Reefbreeders Photon 50 V2+ along with a Reefbreeders Hi Octane lumenbar and a single Sunblaster T5 fixture with an ATI actinic bulb. Both the Lumenbar and the T5 fixture are mounted onto the Photon 50 V2+.
This has been a great light combo and I have had great success with these lights but I want to try something new and see if I can get even better results.

I am getting 3 Kessil A360X's for a great price.
Will 3 of these lights be enough?
Can 3 of these lights give me the coverage I need?
Can 3 of these lights give me the par I need?
Would 4 Kessil A360X's be better or will 3 of them be good enough on their own?
Will I still need my T5 and Lumenbar?

They will be mounted using the hanging ring which should put the lights just about 7 to 8 inches above the water surface.
I "might" be able to keep the T5 and the Lumenbar but I have to come up with a way to hang them in the canopy. I think I might have that figured out.

Please help a fellow reefer out.
Thanks.

1620825496697.png
5' long ... 3 should be OK.
I have a 72" tank - with 4 .
Your tank is much deeper than mine, so SPS, the T-5 may help.
I love my A360X ... the shimmer is stunning.
 

Eagle_Steve

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@Dj City

Here is a pic for reference of 3x kessil on a 180. The mags moved up wanting more light. Sps did lose a little color during this time, but colored back up nicely after adding more lights.

So again, 3 will do you fine for a while. Once stuff starts growing out, you may need a 4th or T5/led bars to elongate shadowing.

A7FD0667-86D2-4F5B-88F9-7BB5CDCCA290.jpeg
 

rtparty

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A minimum of 6 unless you plan to supplement with at least 4 T5s. The best an A360 (or any 90w LED) can cover is 18*18*18.

With 30" tall, you'll also need the narrow reflectors to reach the bottom. This will reduce the coverage even more.

Truth is, there are way better lights out there for your setup. I'd personally keep what you have and either add more T5s or ReefBrite XHO bars.
 

ca1ore

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The 'problem' with the kessils is that they are a point source light. With a mature tank that means shading and the need for more point sources. Three 360X will be just fine when the tank is new and/or mostly frags or small colonies; won't be fine when the colonies get large.

Hope you actually are getting a great price. I remain unconvinced that the X lights are any more enduring than the older models. i have already had one fail at 18 months.
 
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Dj City

Dj City

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I may look into getting a 4th A360X.
I want the coverage and i believe I have figured out how to mount the Lumenbar and the T5 fixture.

That brings me to my next dilemma.

Should I keep the Reefbreeders UV Hi Octane LED Lumenbar front and the T5 to the back?
Or...
Should I have the T5 fixture to the front and the UV Hi Octane LED Lumenbar to the back?
Or...
Should I ditch the T5 for another Lumenbar?
Or...
Should I ditch the Lumenbar for another T5 fixture?
 

Eagle_Steve

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I may look into getting a 4th A360X.
I want the coverage and i believe I have figured out how to mount the Lumenbar and the T5 fixture.

That brings me to my next dilemma.

Should I keep the Reefbreeders UV Hi Octane LED Lumenbar front and the T5 to the back?
Or...
Should I have the T5 fixture to the front and the UV Hi Octane LED Lumenbar to the back?
Or...
Should I ditch the T5 for another Lumenbar?
Or...
Should I ditch the Lumenbar for another T5 fixture?
For simplicity, I would go all bars or all T5 for supplement. Being as you already have a bar, I would get another and do one front and back. That’s just me though.
 
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Dj City

Dj City

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I purchased a 4th A360X.
There will be 4 kessils over my 5ft reef.
I believe the kessils will be about 8 inches off the water surface but I will find out for sure once I actually mount them.

I am going to try to mount the single T5 and the Lumenbar along with them.
 
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Dj City

Dj City

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I've got the upgrade bug!

I have the 4 A360X's and a great way to neatly mount whatever supplement light I want. A 5th A360X is not out of the question as I "might" be getting an additional one for free.

I'm thinking I can do better than the single T5 fixture and the violet/uv lumenbar that I have now.

I'm thinking of replacing the supplement lights with Reefbrite actinic strip led's.
I don't know if I should get two of the Lumilite Pros or two of the XHO's.

I don't want tooooooo much light but I wavy to have more than enough for now and in the future.

Advice is very welcome.
 

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