Kessil a80 vs a160 for 15g softie/lps cube

[Velcro]

Trying to decide between these lights. The cube is roughly 15" on all dimensions. The a80 has the benefit of looking sleeker for this setup than the a160.

I was considering an AI prime HD, but this setup is going to run mostly blue on the settings through out the day, and I feel kessil has the advantage here. That is the best color blending on the market. Controllability isn't important to me since I'll just be setting it up to a color I like and running it off a simple outlet timer.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

The a80 is effectively a low-light coral lighting fixture, you could grow several soft corals and few varieties of LPS corals easily. You would get a bit more power out of the a160 if you wanted corals with a bit higher light requirements. The ai Prime HD could easily grow SPS corals in this size tank if you wanted it to.

If it were me, I would get the AI Prime HD just for the flexibility and never really having to worry about lighting limits. It would also have the benefit of a on-board digital timer. I've had instances where those simple wall outlet timer's get off by 5-10 minutes every couple of days and sometimes quit working entirely.

 

[Velcro]

The a80 is effectively a low-light coral lighting fixture, you could grow several soft corals and few varieties of LPS corals easily. You would get a bit more power out of the a160 if you wanted corals with a bit higher light requirements. The ai Prime HD could easily grow SPS corals in this size tank if you wanted it to.

If it were me, I would get the AI Prime HD just for the flexibility and never really having to worry about lighting limits. It would also have the benefit of a on-board digital timer. I've had instances where those simple wall outlet timer's get off by 5-10 minutes every couple of days and sometimes quit working entirely.

I don't really need the flexibility of higher light corals. I have an 80 gallon sps frag system and 150 gallon SPS cube. This small cube is just for our bar area in our dining room to show off some really glowy higher end zoas, shrooms, chalices, etc.

Color blending > automation/PAR in this application. I've found the digital wall timers to be extremely reliable. I use them on my ATI fixture on non-GFI outlets instead of my apex because it seems to trip my GFI now and then.

 

[Montiman]

Trying to decide between these lights. The cube is roughly 15" on all dimensions. The a80 has the benefit of looking sleeker for this setup than the a160.

I was considering an AI prime HD, but this setup is going to run mostly blue on the settings through out the day, and I feel kessil has the advantage here. That is the best color blending on the market. Controllability isn't important to me since I'll just be setting it up to a color I like and running it off a simple outlet timer.

I just switched from 2 t5s to 2 a80s on my 12 long and I am very happy. I originally thought I would need a 3rd but after a couple months everything is doing very well.

in the past I had a standard 10 gallon with an a150 and SPS did great. You really can’t go wrong either way but I think you will be happy with the a80.

 

[Velcro]

I just switched from 2 t5s to 2 a80s on my 12 long and I am very happy. I originally thought I would need a 3rd but after a couple months everything is doing very well.

in the past I had a standard 10 gallon with an a150 and SPS did great. You really can’t go wrong either way but I think you will be happy with the a80.

Thanks!