I have a Waterbox 20 Cube. My last tank was a 30 gallon long with a Mars Aqua (Chinese black box), the light was pretty powerful even with whites at the lowest setting. Fair color and fair growth, but maybe not the best spectrum.
I decided to go with something fancier, and sleeker for my new tank so I bought an AI Prime 16 HD used with only a few months of use. I was pretty happy with it. It runs from 10AM to 11PM with a 30min ramp. The whole time UV, violet, royal blue, and blue at max. Green, red and cool white at 24%. The light is only 8" off the surface and corals at the top of the tank show no signs of stress. Thought I'd try a Kessil so I bought a new A160WE, tried it and it looked a bit better but I wasn't sure because it draws a little less watts at the wall.
Then I was talking to a guy as I was buying corals and he blasts his corals with tons of light, he has a massive system, mostly Radions but some Kessils and AI as well, and everything is happy, really fast growth and great color. So I decided to try both the A160WE and the AI Prime, kept the AI settings and put the Kessil all the way blue at max intensity, and it's only 5" off the surface. Everything is happy, even the zoas at the bottom.
I feel like Waterbox was lying when they said the AI Prime alone was sufficient. I dunno, maybe I'll bite the bullet and buy a Radion at some point. Just feels silly.
I decided to go with something fancier, and sleeker for my new tank so I bought an AI Prime 16 HD used with only a few months of use. I was pretty happy with it. It runs from 10AM to 11PM with a 30min ramp. The whole time UV, violet, royal blue, and blue at max. Green, red and cool white at 24%. The light is only 8" off the surface and corals at the top of the tank show no signs of stress. Thought I'd try a Kessil so I bought a new A160WE, tried it and it looked a bit better but I wasn't sure because it draws a little less watts at the wall.
Then I was talking to a guy as I was buying corals and he blasts his corals with tons of light, he has a massive system, mostly Radions but some Kessils and AI as well, and everything is happy, really fast growth and great color. So I decided to try both the A160WE and the AI Prime, kept the AI settings and put the Kessil all the way blue at max intensity, and it's only 5" off the surface. Everything is happy, even the zoas at the bottom.
I feel like Waterbox was lying when they said the AI Prime alone was sufficient. I dunno, maybe I'll bite the bullet and buy a Radion at some point. Just feels silly.
