What light for my fluval evo 13.5

[Fishyj]

My light shorted out do to an overflow and now I am looking for a new light. I am interested in the kessil 80 the 160 or the ai prime. I mostly have mushrooms, acans, couple of anemones and an elegance coral. I do not plan on having any sps. If there are other lights please do give the suggestion.

 

[Maacc]

The kessil 160 is what I have. It works great. I imagine the ai prime would work just as well.
I believe the SB reef light sprite would also be a solid choice.
All 3 are probably overkill for the tank size.

 

[MrJoel]

I have been looking into this for my evo 13.5. I wanted to keep the hood to keep my evap nice and low. The best option I have come up with that keeps the stock hood is the Nanobox duo Which is 3" x 12" . the stock light is 3" x 14" so I would need to get a piece of plastic or acrylic cut to 3" x 14" with a window cut in the middle to not interfere with the LEDs to bridge the gap and support the fixture. This mounting would leave a close to stock look and keep the nanobox duos fan free of interference. alternately I could epoxy a few rectangular carbon rods from one side to the other to support the light fixture.
The dual Module in the duo would provide good coverage, though at that height the intensity would probably need to be dialed back.

 

[WarEaglesReef]

I got the AI PrimeHD with the flexible gooseneck mount a few weeks ago and so far the corals in my Evo have really loved it. I've seen a decent amount of new growth and better coloration across the board. It has definitely created an absolute need for an ATO system without the hood though. Evaporation is 10x what it was before for me. My ATO runs through about 2.5 gallons a week keeping up with evaporation (I'm also in super dry Colorado which doesn't help) where as before I'd need to top off maybe a liter a week by hand. So keep in mind that switching to an open top lighting system will also almost certainly necessitate the need for an ATO.

@reef-rc did some PAR testing of the Kessil A80 in his Evo and found it's pretty underpowered. Here's his thread...about halfway down this page you can see his PAR testing and readings. I believe he ended up jumping to the A360 shortly after.

Also, if you do end up with the AI Prime, there's a great Facebook group of fellow Prime owners that all share their settings as downloadable files for you to try out and talk about what's working best for their tanks. It's called "AI Prime reef group". That was my one major qualm with the Prime...not a whole lot of guidance getting it set up and finding a schedule that works for you. So having a bunch to try out is really helpful.

 

[Fishyj]

I ended up with the Kessil a80 with the controller. I have had it about 6 days and my corals are loving it. I have noticed a big increase in evaporation. I am using a smart ato. In 6 days almost a gallon of top off water used.

 

[reef-rc]

I ended up with the Kessil a80 with the controller. I have had it about 6 days and my corals are loving it. I have noticed a big increase in evaporation. I am using a smart ato. In 6 days almost a gallon of top off water used.

imo all the options work. Based on your current livestock and needs, A80 will serve you good imo.

btw - i went through 2 gallons of top off for 10 days. I do have the ceiling fan in the study running 24/7 where the tank is in to help keep a relatively constant 78 degrees.