Time for new lights, Kessil A360X, Hydra 32, Or Photon V2?

[Porpoise Hork]

Currently I have 4 aging AI Hydra 26HD's over my 75g. (48x18x21) These lights are about 3.5 years old now and looking to replace before I have failures (already had a fan and power brick failure). It's mostly a soft/LPS tank with just a couple easy mode SPS corals at the top of the rockwork. Those are about 4-5" down and get 300+ PAR where they are at and 150-175 across the bed. The Hydra 26's are mounted 11.5" above the water line and channels are set at 90 UV, 90 V, 100 RB, 100 B, 9 G, 9 R, 17 W (68w power draw per light). I installed 3D printed light shades to minimize light spill into the room as well. I have a 1K budget for the new lights and can offset some of this by selling the current lighting system once the new one is up.

The lighting options I have narrowed it down to are a pair of Kessil A360X's, 4 Hydra 32's, or Photon 48 V2 (with modified lenses). The first option is switch to a pare of A360x's mounted at 6-7" and based on BRS's testing should be plenty for my tank including the couple SPS I have. The second and most expensive is upgrading to Hydra 32's but keep them at the current 11.5" height. The third option is the Photon 48 V2. I have had one of these before and really liked the light especially the overall coverage. The two things that caused me to switch to the Hydras was the color hotspots and massive light spill at 12". I did some research and found a set of lenses that will diffuse the light from each LED significantly increasing the color blending and should all but eliminate the disco ball/color hot spots the light has. The downside to this is even more light spill so I would need to fabricate a light shade for the Photon.


The goal is to provide optimal par and spectrum for the corals, while minimizing light spill into the room and staying under budget and be as energy efficient as possible.

Now what's the consensus here? Would a pair of A360X's do the job? Would you say that sticking to the Hydras to be a better option? Or would modifying the Photon lenses and running that be the best option?

- Edit -

Looks like player 3 (Radion XR15 G5 Pro) has entered the game thanks to @rtparty's suggestion.

 

[VanDalsenReef]

You'd need 4 kessils. To get that even par over that size. 2 orphek compacts would also work

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

Why not keep your 4 current lights or 2 of them, sell 2. and just add one more super awesome light to the mix. get a xr30g5 radium or whatever light you like the most.

 

[VanDalsenReef]

Currently I have 4 aging AI Hydra 26HD's over my 75g. (48x18x21) These lights are about 3.5 years old now and looking to replace before I have failures (already had a fan and power brick failure). It's mostly a soft/LPS tank with just a couple easy mode SPS corals at the top of the rockwork. Those are about 4-5" down and get 300+ PAR where they are at and 150-175 across the bed. The Hydra 26's are mounted 11.5" above the water line and channels are set at 90 UV, 90 V, 100 RB, 100 B, 9 G, 9 R, 17 W (68w power draw per light). I installed 3D printed light shades to minimize light spill into the room as well. I have a 1K budget for the new lights and can offset some of this by selling the current lighting system once the new one is up.

The lighting options I have narrowed it down to are a pair of Kessil A360X's, 4 Hydra 32's, or Photon 48 V2 (with modified lenses). The first option is switch to a pare of A360x's mounted at 6-7" and based on BRS's testing should be plenty for my tank including the couple SPS I have. The second and most expensive is upgrading to Hydra 32's but keep them at the current 11.5" height. The third option is the Photon 48 V2. I have had one of these before and really liked the light especially the overall coverage. The two things that caused me to switch to the Hydras was the color hotspots and massive light spill at 12". I did some research and found a set of lenses that will diffuse the light from each LED significantly increasing the color blending and should all but eliminate the disco ball/color hot spots the light has. The downside to this is even more light spill so I would need to fabricate a light shade for the Photon.


The goal is to provide optimal par and spectrum for the corals, while minimizing light spill into the room and staying under budget and be as energy efficient as possible.

Now what's the consensus here? Would a pair of A360X's do the job? Would you say that sticking to the Hydras to be a better option? Or would modifying the Photon lenses and running that be the best option?

If you like the look of hydra stay hydra. If you like shimmer. Kessil. If you wanted better spread then either the 4 hydra or photon

 

[rtparty]

2 XR15 Pro Radions mounted 8-9" over the tank. 2 Kessils won't be enough and the shadowing will be terrible.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

2 XR15 Pro Radions mounted 8-9" over the tank. 2 Kessils won't be enough and the shadowing will be terrible.

;Nailbiting dangit now I have to research this one...

ok added the Radions to the poll.

 

[MichaelP]

I think you have the right idea currently with 4 led lights over the tank. Going down to two will give you significant shadowing.
No experience with them but for a budget option if wanted to stay all LED you could look at 4 of the NP K7 V3. Or if you are open to T5 go with an aquatic life hybrid that way you could get away with 2 LED fixtures

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I thought of going with a t5/LED hybrid but just don't like having to replace bulbs every 8-12 months.

2 XR15 Pro Radions mounted 8-9" over the tank. 2 Kessils won't be enough and the shadowing will be terrible.

I think you have the right idea currently with 4 led lights over the tank. Going down to two will give you significant shadowing.
No experience with them but for a budget option if wanted to stay all LED you could look at 4 of the NP K7 V3. Or if you are open to T5 go with an aquatic life hybrid that way you could get away with 2 LED fixtures

After looking into the Radion Xr15 Pros, I'm actually kind of thinking 2 of those might do the job. The settings for the Hydra 26's were when I had multiple acros across the top of the rock work and those needed the 300+ par. Due to an unrelated nutrient spike issue last year I ended up losing all of those and only have a couple stylos, Pocillopora, and a porities. The rockwork is setup that where all the corals are now they are not shaded by anything and when I had the Acros in there they were not causing any issues.

To test if two XR15's or A360X's would work I moved the Hydras right next to each other and lowered the power till the PAR matched what BRS got for the XR15's on the 120g for LPS and checked it across the rockwork and there were only a couple areas on my setup that are below 75-80 PAR. Luckily those areas don't have any corals there and the XR15's would still have a little buffer room in power to crank it up some. For matching the Kessil's I know it's not an exact match but it's about as close as I can get to replicate those lights and I might be OK if I ran them at higher output or went with a pair of A500X's instead. If I decide to get the XR15's and add acros later on I could always see if they will provide enough PAR or if I'll have to add another pair.

Still on the fence but then I'm not in any rush since now it looks like I'll be either putting a new engine in my wife's car or buying a new one if they won't cover it under warranty.

 

[Jedi1199]

I personally really like my Kessil a360x's. I have 2 over my 55g which is almost the same dimensions as your 70 only mine is 14" and not 18". I get very good coverage with mine at 6.5" from the surface. Overall spread is great, Penetration is good, Most importantly, the corals LOVE it!! Since I installed them in early December, my tank has taken off!

My tank has an 8' wide glass bracing panel on the top which is very well crusted and cuts some light down. I decided to use one of my old Wills 165s over this to help make sure I didn't end up with a huge swath of darkness under that panel. Perhaps a similar setup with one of your old lights will work for you as well.

Here is what my setup looks like...

 

[Forty-Two]

I’ve put one Orphek Atlantik Icon over my 70G and I’m quite happy with it.

I previously had a kessil a500x. I was unhappy with the kessil for several reasons - but especially because of the cost. The Orphek was much cheaper, is easier to use, does a better job (imo) and my corals are much healthier.

 

[MikeyA]

What about a couple reefi uno's? Lower cost than kessil, better spread, and a lot more punch thru the water column than just about any of the led on your list.

 

[Jackal799]

I’m biased towards reef breeders because I have one and love it. Par will not be your issue if you go with it. Battlecorals uses em and he’s got some killer sps growing. Price is great and they just work. You do have to mount them high though but there’s plenty of power to compensate. I have my blues at only 55% at peak and my sps grow like weeds