Will my 2 x Kessil A160WE's do the trick?

[Brian Goldstein]

Hello reefers!

I am brand new to R2r. My new Red Sea Reefer 250 is being delivered on Tuesday to replace my 28g nanocube and I couldn't be more excited.

I've finally decided to go with 2 x Kessil A160WE's to light my reef tank. I plan on keeping soft coral, LPS, and some less demanding SPS. The Hydra's and Radions are very nice lights, but the Kessil lights really stood out to me. The natural shimmer these lights give off is unbeatable in my opinion and Kessil really seems to know their stuff when it comes to spectrum..

I would love to hear your experiences with the Kessil A160WE.

Thank you!

-Brian

 

[dbl]

I've moved this over the lighting forum for better response. I know there are many Kessil lovers out there to share there experience.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hello reefers!

I am brand new to R2r. My new Red Sea Reefer 250 is being delivered on Tuesday to replace my 28g nanocube and I couldn't be more excited.

I've finally decided to go with 2 x Kessil A160WE's to light my reef tank. I plan on keeping soft coral, LPS, and some less demanding SPS. The Hydra's and Radions are very nice lights, but the Kessil lights really stood out to me. The natural shimmer these lights give off is unbeatable in my opinion and Kessil really seems to know their stuff when it comes to spectrum..

I would love to hear your experiences with the Kessil A160WE.

Thank you!

-Brian

Hello Brian and welcome to R2R!!!
Two A160's would be perfect for your setup for soft, lps and low demand sps corals. However, if you have the funding, i'd recommend going with the A360WE's right away. They're more money, but when you start getting the SPS itch later on (we all do ), you'll have lights that can handle them and not have to pay more money in the long run upgrading How are you planning on controlling them? Spectral controller or Apex or manual adjustment?
Make sure you create a build thread so we can all follow along

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yea , it’ll be fine for that.
Down the road too, you can add one or two more as well. The benifit of multiple fixtures is less shading as well as increased par.
Where Most would reccomend two of the 360 , I would reccomded 4 160.

Don’t be afraid to crank the 160 up all the way too.

Another benifit of running Lower par is you can run them longer.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Yea , it’ll be fine for that.
Down the road too, you can add one or two more as well. The benifit of multiple fixtures is less shading as well as increased par.
Where Most would reccomend two of the 360 , I would reccomded 4 160.

Don’t be afraid to crank the 160 up all the way too.

Another benifit of running Lower par is you can run them longer.

Adding a third A160 is another great option

 

[Brian Goldstein]

Hello Brian and welcome to R2R!!!
Two A160's would be perfect for your setup for soft, lps and low demand sps corals. However, if you have the funding, i'd recommend going with the A360WE's right away. They're more money, but when you start getting the SPS itch later on (we all do ), you'll have lights that can handle them and not have to pay more money in the long run upgrading How are you planning on controlling them? Spectral controller or Apex or manual adjustment?
Make sure you create a build thread so we can all follow along

Thanks for your reply!

I've already purchased the 160's with the kessil mounting arms, as well as the Kessil controller... The amount of cash I've already spent on this tank is quite surprising haha! I think the 160's will do the job for me for at least another couple years .

Where is the best place to post for new builds?

Thanks again,

-BG

 

[Crabs McJones]

Thanks for your reply!

I've already purchased the 160's with the kessil mounting arms, as well as the Kessil controller... The amount of cash I've already spent on this tank is quite surprising haha! I think the 160's will do the job for me for at least another couple years .

Where is the best place to post for new builds?

Thanks again,

-BG

No problem, like salty said, you can always add a third down the road for increased coverage and par. three A160's should be close to a pair of A360's as far as coverage and power

 

[Crabs McJones]

Thanks for your reply!

I've already purchased the 160's with the kessil mounting arms, as well as the Kessil controller... The amount of cash I've already spent on this tank is quite surprising haha! I think the 160's will do the job for me for at least another couple years .

Where is the best place to post for new builds?

Thanks again,

-BG

You can post your thread to the Member Tanks thread, and then get your build thread tag on your user name by clicking on your profile, clicking on Join User Groups, and then selecting build thread contributor.

 

[ReefNoobie88]

I have two a160we for my 75g and they light it up perfectly. Ruining 30% color peak and 50% intensity for three hours. LPS, softie, polyps, and a single SPS. I’ve had great growth and color, it does have some shading but a couple of my mushrooms appreciate it . The single SPS, I keep near the top of my rock structure and it’s been doing fine, minus the underside losing polyps because the shadowing. If anything you can hybrid them and add t5 on too to really accelerate growth and color while keeping that known kessil shimmer! I’m upgrading to the ocean revives for my 180g due to the three “bays” that are created by the top bracing.

 

[ReefNoobie88]

I have two a160we for my 75g and they light it up perfectly. Ruining 30% color peak and 50% intensity for three hours. LPS, softie, polyps, and a single SPS. I’ve had great growth and color, it does have some shading but a couple of my mushrooms appreciate it . The single SPS, I keep near the top of my rock structure and it’s been doing fine, minus the underside losing polyps because the shadowing. If anything you can hybrid them and add t5 on too to really accelerate growth and color while keeping that known kessil shimmer! I’m upgrading to the ocean revives for my 180g due to the three “bays” that are created by the top bracing.

 

[Xandernfs]

I have 2 a160s on my reefer 250. I also plan on keeping lower demanding SPS, LPS, & softies. I also invested in an Artfully Acrylic top. It is REALLY nice and worth it. But I spaced my arms evenly so that if I ever wanted to get an a700, I wouldn't have any issues.

My tank is only a little over 2 months old, but I have zoos, frogspawn, acan, candy cane, & a monti frag that I got for free. Everything is doing well and I have my intensity set up to only ~40% and my whites go up to 90% for a few hours.

 

[mjlash22]

Have had that setup for 2 years on my reefer 250. No issues tank wise or with the lights. I didn't do corals in this tank, so I wasn't as worried about PAR, etc. Lighting wise, tank always shows well. Especially when the tank glass is clean, and you will get addicted to the Kessil shimmer!

Only thing I wish I did different was get the straight mounting arms instead of the goose neck. Over the years, have grown tired of the look, and it's pretty difficult to get the light lens perfectly parallel to the water surface. If you haven't picked out your mounting choice yet, go with the straight A series arms!

 

[whittaker727]

I have a relatively young 48” long 75 gal with with two 160WE. I’ve been trying different lighting schedules to try and find a happy medium of nice to look at, good growth and not bleaching. Anyone care to share their controller programs or is there already a thread for that geared toward the 160? I’ve seen lots on the 360’s but not so much for these.

 

[HB AL]

I have 5 160's over my 92g, everything looks great, all types of corals grow great under them, and there's no beating what the shimmer brings to the aesthetics's of the tank. I also like the simple 2 knob control keeps it simple. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Revos]

I have two a160we for my 75g and they light it up perfectly. Ruining 30% color peak and 50% intensity for three hours. LPS, softie, polyps, and a single SPS. I’ve had great growth and color, it does have some shading but a couple of my mushrooms appreciate it . The single SPS, I keep near the top of my rock structure and it’s been doing fine, minus the underside losing polyps because the shadowing. If anything you can hybrid them and add t5 on too to really accelerate growth and color while keeping that known kessil shimmer! I’m upgrading to the ocean revives for my 180g due to the three “bays” that are created by the top bracing.

Can u plz share your light schedule?

 

[whittaker727]

Can u plz share your light schedule?

X2 what he said ^^^ How far off the water do you have your lights as well please.

 

[ReefNoobie88]

Can u plz share your light schedule?

My schedule starts off;
9am with 10% color, 15% intensity
11am with 30% color, 45% intensity
1300 with 30% color, 50% intensity
1600 with 30% color, 50 intensity
2000 with 10% color, 5% intensity
Lights are 12” off the water

Basic schedule and everything is happy and growing great. Minus be single torch I just lost but he was always a pesky picky coral and didn’t do well in my tank for some reason. Hope this helps you guys out.

 

[ReefNoobie88]

X2 what he said ^^^ How far off the water do you have your lights as well please.

Reply to yours so you’ll see it, I posted my schedule and light height. Let me know if you need anymore help!

 

[Revos]

Thanxs i am using the same schedule over a 40g cube. I am thinking to reduse the color to 20%. I Just love that way the tank looks under Just blue!

 

[ReefNoobie88]

I kept it at 30% for a bit more Normal coloring during peak daylight hours. But that blue is gorgeous, and the kessil shimmer is just perfect. Post up a pic of the cube! Love myself a cube tank, but my new one is going to be too massive for a cube tank [emoji41]