What light to get

[Dana Riddle]

If you're just getting started, buy a Chinese black box and invest in a quality PAR meter.

 

[saltysailor]

You'll be just fine with a single A360X over that tank. You'll have to raise it up a bit and consequently turn the light up but you'll still have enough light for a mixed reef tank. Higher light corals will have to go more directly under the lite vs lower demand corals to the sides. If you need to down the road you can always easily add some supplemental T5's for more light or to reduce shadowing.

Was planning on doing mostly lps, zoas, and softies but would I have enough light for a signature sps directly underneath the light?

 

[Zohar78]

On a 30 gal display???

this is a very simplification of the issue, but hope you get the jest of it. the basic problem you are running into is most leds are concentrated single point ligh and are great for 18". after that, shadows and light par fall off after the 18" considering most led lighting is pretty powerful, you can compensate by haging them a little higher to spread the light out. BRS lighting vids is a good source of info on that.

 

[Zohar78]

If you're just getting started, buy a Chinese black box and invest in a quality PAR meter.

any par meter you recommend sir? i was thinking a seneye at one time for basic and considering they are half the price of apogee 200?

 

[Kodski]

Was planning on doing mostly lps, zoas, and softies but would I have enough light for a signature sps directly underneath the light?

Yes no problem. I run my light probably 12-14 inches above the water and I only run 52% maximum intensity. I have a campfire digi and a green montipora that I had to move off to one side because they were starting to bleach when I originally put them directly under the light. Granted my tank only has 10" of water column, but the light will still produce plenty of light for your application, you will just have to run a higher intensity is all. BRS did a really good video on the par readings of the A360x in a 24" cube application for some proof of what I'm saying too.

 

[csb123]

I’d highly recommend the so called “black boxes.” You can grow anything with them, and you can save money for some (from the ocean) live rock. When you get into things, you can made better decisions, depending on the goals for your tank.

Rent the par meter from BRS.

 

[saltysailor]

I’d highly recommend the so called “black boxes.” You can grow anything with them, and you can save money for some (from the ocean) live rock. When you get into things, you can made better decisions, depending on the goals for your tank.

Rent the par meter from BRS.

I would like to put a light on it that will last for a long time. I’m skeptical of the black boxes bc from what I understand they are more prone to user error. I’ve also heard they break. But I’ve also heard they are great. I’m struggling w the fact that there are so many options. I just went to the lfs and they use radions on there frag tanks and swear by them. Thoughts?

 

[mh393r]

I love the Red Sea 90! Its a very solid light 4 the price and can grow sps in a cube tank... very simplistic settings and schedule

 

[saltysailor]

I love the Red Sea 90! Its a very solid light 4 the price and can grow sps in a cube tank... very simplistic settings and schedule

My goal is to have a light that has the option to grow anything, and then have the proper equipment to surround it.

 

[Dana Riddle]

I would like to put a light on it that will last for a long time. I’m skeptical of the black boxes bc from what I understand they are more prone to user error. I’ve also heard they break. But I’ve also heard they are great. I’m struggling w the fact that there are so many options. I just went to the lfs and they use radions on there frag tanks and swear by them. Thoughts?

I used an Evergrow LED ( a 'black box') on a reef tank for about a year and had good results. I see newer models have WiFi programming. I have no experience with that but can say 2 Evergrows on a 120 provided more than enough light. If you go with the Radion, definitely get a PAR meter. The XR30 Pro Gen 5 I tested is a very powerful light.

 

[saltysailor]

What are the pros vs cons of kessil vs radion?

 

[Kodski]

What are the pros vs cons of kessil vs radion?

I asked myself that same question. Kessil has unmatched shimmer vs many people reporting the "disco ball effect" from radion's. So people say that you should pretty much always add the diffuser for radions to the price right away. All the same, kessil doesn't come with a built in controller. Yes you can use the light and manually adjust color and intensity for simple on/off operation, however, you need either the wifi dongle or controller to unlock the UV channel on the A360X. So you can pretty much just add the price of the controller to the price of the light there.

Kessil A360X with controller and gooseneck mount will run about $580
Radion XR15 G5 with RMS mount and diffuser will run about $535

Kessil is rated at 90W while the radion is more powerful at 105W.

So the radion is surprisingly cheaper and more powerful.

That being said, I think the biggest thing you need to think about is the spread of each light. BRS lists the XR15 at a recommended spread of 18"x18" and a maximum spread of 24"x24". While the A360X has a recommened spread of 24"x24". For you specific tank size the kessil will be an overall better spread of light and more effective for your tank. Also as far as ease of use, you don't have to worry about the specific settings you use with the kessil due to kessil logic. Meaning you really can't screw up the light settings and effect your corals in a negative way.

When I was deciding on radion vs kessil, the main thing that swayed my decision was seeing the lights in person. My LFS has a mix of different lights hanging over their tanks. I was able to see a Kessil A360X both with and without T5 supplements, Radion G4 (G5's were not out at the time) again with and without T5 supplements, and kessil AP700. The A360X easily had the best color in my eyes and I decided right then and there. I would love to compare the G5's to the A360X side by side though since the new G5's have true UV channels now.

 

[Fishbird]

My goal is to have a light that has the option to grow anything, and then have the proper equipment to surround it.

Thing is, I’m not sure you can get a light that can grow anything, that has a reputation of lasting (if you’re concerned about black boxes), that costs what you want to spend.

You probably won’t be adding SPS for awhile though, right? And if you eventually want one or two showpiece colonies you could put them relatively high on the rocks close to the middle of your tank. It sounds like you want the kessil and I think it would serve you quite well for a good long time and if it turned out that you wanted to add more SPS eventually, you could then get a second kessil.

 

[saltysailor]

Thing is, I’m not sure you can get a light that can grow anything, that has a reputation of lasting (if you’re concerned about black boxes), that costs what you want to spend.

You probably won’t be adding SPS for awhile though, right? And if you eventually want one or two showpiece colonies you could put them relatively high on the rocks close to the middle of your tank. It sounds like you want the kessil and I think it would serve you quite well for a good long time and if it turned out that you wanted to add more SPS eventually, you could then get a second kessil.

Yes I think you’re right. I wouldn’t add sps until later and I would only add a few. Could add another light better.

 

[saltysailor]

I asked myself that same question. Kessil has unmatched shimmer vs many people reporting the "disco ball effect" from radion's. So people say that you should pretty much always add the diffuser for radions to the price right away. All the same, kessil doesn't come with a built in controller. Yes you can use the light and manually adjust color and intensity for simple on/off operation, however, you need either the wifi dongle or controller to unlock the UV channel on the A360X. So you can pretty much just add the price of the controller to the price of the light there.

Kessil A360X with controller and gooseneck mount will run about $580
Radion XR15 G5 with RMS mount and diffuser will run about $535

Kessil is rated at 90W while the radion is more powerful at 105W.

So the radion is surprisingly cheaper and more powerful.

That being said, I think the biggest thing you need to think about is the spread of each light. BRS lists the XR15 at a recommended spread of 18"x18" and a maximum spread of 24"x24". While the A360X has a recommened spread of 24"x24". For you specific tank size the kessil will be an overall better spread of light and more effective for your tank. Also as far as ease of use, you don't have to worry about the specific settings you use with the kessil due to kessil logic. Meaning you really can't screw up the light settings and effect your corals in a negative way.

When I was deciding on radion vs kessil, the main thing that swayed my decision was seeing the lights in person. My LFS has a mix of different lights hanging over their tanks. I was able to see a Kessil A360X both with and without T5 supplements, Radion G4 (G5's were not out at the time) again with and without T5 supplements, and kessil AP700. The A360X easily had the best color in my eyes and I decided right then and there. I would love to compare the G5's to the A360X side by side though since the new G5's have true UV channels now.

Thank you this is exactly the kind of review I was looking for.

 

[nano reef]

I asked myself that same question. Kessil has unmatched shimmer vs many people reporting the "disco ball effect" from radion's. So people say that you should pretty much always add the diffuser for radions to the price right away. All the same, kessil doesn't come with a built in controller. Yes you can use the light and manually adjust color and intensity for simple on/off operation, however, you need either the wifi dongle or controller to unlock the UV channel on the A360X. So you can pretty much just add the price of the controller to the price of the light there.

Kessil A360X with controller and gooseneck mount will run about $580
Radion XR15 G5 with RMS mount and diffuser will run about $535

Kessil is rated at 90W while the radion is more powerful at 105W.

So the radion is surprisingly cheaper and more powerful.

That being said, I think the biggest thing you need to think about is the spread of each light. BRS lists the XR15 at a recommended spread of 18"x18" and a maximum spread of 24"x24". While the A360X has a recommened spread of 24"x24". For you specific tank size the kessil will be an overall better spread of light and more effective for your tank. Also as far as ease of use, you don't have to worry about the specific settings you use with the kessil due to kessil logic. Meaning you really can't screw up the light settings and effect your corals in a negative way.

When I was deciding on radion vs kessil, the main thing that swayed my decision was seeing the lights in person. My LFS has a mix of different lights hanging over their tanks. I was able to see a Kessil A360X both with and without T5 supplements, Radion G4 (G5's were not out at the time) again with and without T5 supplements, and kessil AP700. The A360X easily had the best color in my eyes and I decided right then and there. I would love to compare the G5's to the A360X side by side though since the new G5's have true UV channels now.

Dosnt kessil only have blue and white LEDs and maybe uv? I read thats how you cant screw it up and thats kessil logic!

 

[Kodski]

Dosnt kessil only have blue and white LEDs and maybe uv? I read thats how you cant screw it up and thats kessil logic!

No, they use quite an array of LED's. From my understanding, Kessil logic is actually a built in program that doesn't allow the combined spectrum of all the LED's used to fall out of a certain range. Here is a picture of the chip next to a tuna sun.

 

[Evanbardiel]

I use the current orbit led system in my 20 gallon.

 

[Shooter6]

I had my controller for my ledzeal s400 start going out today. Last year i dropped it into my sump so i was expecting it.
I had 4 ledzeal x200 lights for my new build. I pulled 3 put and put them up.
I used the g5 blue led layout as a guide for when i ordered these.
They are crazy bright. My s400 is at 100% vs the x200 at 45% max!

 

[nano reef]

No, they use quite an array of LED's. From my understanding, Kessil logic is actually a built in program that doesn't allow the combined spectrum of all the LED's used to fall out of a certain range. Here is a picture of the chip next to a tuna sun.

Wow! Is this the new 360 x I think its called. I rea d that was theonly one that had the other colors. Thats the only thing stopping me from getting kessil is fro what i have read(although its confusing) but it basically said only blue,violet and white and when i have seen pics of the spectrum it only shows blue and purple. Can I ask where you got that pic? I wouldl ike to verify that it has other colors