Kessil A80 for SPS?

[kim7]

Hello, has anyone kept sps dominant tanks with the Kessil A80?
I have a 20g long currently with the Orbit marine Pro, im not sure if it is strong enough to reach most of the dephs in the tank.
Would the kessil a80 better for sps in a shallow tank?

 

[cjd]

20 gallon long is one of those sizes that are out of the norm to light. The kessil A 80 is only 15 watts of power and in my experience you need to hang kessil as high off the tank as you want the spread . 12 inch high gives you 12 inch spread. At that height, 15 watts isn't going to penetrate much . A couple of the 160's would be better , but I had a 160 over a biocube 14 and I say that it wasn't powerful enough . Again to get 18 inches of spread I had to raise that light almost as high , them being 40 watts, I was pushing the limits of the light.
With a tank 30 inches long I would really look at the reef breeder photon v2 or the SB Reef lights. You would get better coverage from end to end and have the power to grow anything you wish. If you ever upgrade the tank the light can come with you .

 

[cjd]

Of course you cant forget the tried and true power of T5's .... A 24 inch ATI 4 bulb would fit that tank perfectly and again you could grow anything you wanted ...

 

[minus9]

You would need a couple to reduce shadowing, hanging them 6" to 8" above the water. To answer your question, yes, they'll grow sps, but paying attention to rock work and placement of corals in the top half of the tank.
I would think a couple 160's would be better and they are plenty strong enough for sps.