Lighting a 4' 75 gallon

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

So I'm in the final stages of planning and purchasing for my new 75 gallon tank. I am having a hard time making a decision on lighting.

I am looking at:

3 X Kessil A360WE
3 X Maxspect Ethereal
2 X Ecotech Radion XR30W G4 Pro (assuming 2 would provide enough coverage)

The tank will be a mix of LPS and SPS and will be controlling through the new Apex unit. I believe i saw somewhere that apex is working with Maxspect to get apex compatibility in the nearish future.

From the research I've done they all seem like good lights that have their pros and cons but I haven't been able to sway myself one direction or the other and looking for a little help.

 

[johnyboy]

I use aquaillumination hydras and T5 lights. The hydras are really a great Ilight. I had them solely for 2 years and got fantastic results. That being said after 2 years I wanted more power because I felt that LED alone wasn't sufficient enough for SPS and LPS mixed tank. The SPS was doing great but I decided to add a little more light for them because they weren't getting enough light for quicker and healthier growth with just LED. The hybrid of LED and T5 is great I wish I would've know when I started. If I had to choose between your choices I would choose kessiil. Very good light great reviews too.

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

I use aquaillumination hydras and T5 lights. The hydras are really a great Ilight. I had them solely for 2 years and got fantastic results. That being said after 2 years I wanted more power because I felt that LED alone wasn't sufficient enough for SPS and LPS mixed tank. The SPS was doing great but I decided to add a little more light for them because they weren't getting enough light for quicker and healthier growth with just LED. The hybrid of LED and T5 is great I wish I would've know when I started. If I had to choose between your choices I would choose kessiil. Very good light great reviews too.

Thanks for the info. I've seen a lot of people moving towards the T5 LED hybrid setup. There's a chance I will end up down that road once I get a good understanding of growing corals and start adding sps. One thing I like about the kessils a lot is the lack of ability for me to muck up light settings too much, because I like to tinker with things.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Thanks for the info. I've seen a lot of people moving towards the T5 LED hybrid setup. There's a chance I will end up down that road once I get a good understanding of growing corals and start adding sps. One thing I like about the kessils a lot is the lack of ability for me to muck up light settings too much, because I like to tinker with things.

A definite bonus with the Kessil. I am also a Hydra guy and far too many times have I found myself tinkering with the lights (thinking that I'm helping). After accidentally bleaching just about the entire tank and months of less than desirable growth I finally broke down and got the Seneye so I can set it and stop worrying about it. Something you probably wouldn't need to do with a Kessil.

 

[johnyboy]

Kessil is great. And down the line you will have room for T5s

 

[MasterAlgaeGrower]

A definite bonus with the Kessil. I am also a Hydra guy and far too many times have I found myself tinkering with the lights (thinking that I'm helping). After accidentally bleaching just about the entire tank and months of less than desirable growth I finally broke down and got the Seneye so I can set it and stop worrying about it. Something you probably wouldn't need to do with a Kessil.

I've been looking at the Seneye. My understanding is kessils are hard to read par on. BRS review of it showed it close to there high end PAR meter and even if it's slightly off, wouldn't it still be a decent gauge of what i was working with?

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I've been looking at the Seneye. My understanding is kessils are hard to read par on. BRS review of it showed it close to there high end PAR meter and even if it's slightly off, wouldn't it still be a decent gauge of what i was working with?

Most definitely comparable. The differences they found between the Seneye and li-cor were negligible.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks for the info. I've seen a lot of people moving towards the T5 LED hybrid setup. There's a chance I will end up down that road once I get a good understanding of growing corals and start adding sps. One thing I like about the kessils a lot is the lack of ability for me to muck up light settings too much, because I like to tinker with things.

pretty much all three are the same. the max the kessil both put out 50,000 lux at full. still not sure about the radions. my ai sols and and sb reeflight both put out about 100,000 + lux at that distance. so does a mars, the ai was a bit more than the SB i recall. my maxspect razor puts out 40,000 lux at 12in. Divide all those by 60 to get a close par est.
Id concentrate on spread over power. all those have plenty. also your color pref and the look of the lights on the tank honestly. My ai is a bit blue green(aqua), the sb is more royal blue. if you havent sen the lights in person compare the spectral data and youll see a slight shift to the higher NM range in them.

I've been looking at the Seneye. My understanding is kessils are hard to read par on. BRS review of it showed it close to there high end PAR meter and even if it's slightly off, wouldn't it still be a decent gauge of what i was working with?

Most definitely comparable. The differences they found between the Seneye and li-cor were negligible.

I've seen a few odd things on seney but its prob fine, Honestly I wouldn't worry about it and I dont. nor do I take a sellers word for anything of course. the point of comparison is generally not comparison but to conceive that the others are good too and to keep the conversation going on why you need one and oh look there's one that is also pretty good in my price range. thats advertising. Skeptic, yes.
I might even recommend a seney and save a few bucks and get a good milwalkee submersible lux meter and do the conversion at 60 for led. unlike t5 at 40:eek: