Lighting advice

[Etto]

Have a 4x2x2 ft tank that I'm in the process to setting up. I have 2 Kessil A360x and 2 XHO 48". I was checking the PAR today and it matching up with the BRS video from a couple weeks ago. Mid 200s at 6" and mid 100s at 12". Except there is a lot of shadowing around my scape.

My question is where I should go from here for an SPS dominant tank?

1) Adding 2 more XHO which should give better coverage around the scape and increased PAR. Not that crazy about the look of them though.

2) Go with T5 hybrid (4 lights) with the 2 Kessil lights which is about the same cost as adding 2 XHO with the new brackets etc.

3) Radion XR40 (2), the most expensive option, but if it is the better choice I would go with them. If this is the best option should I go with the Blue or Pro. I've read so much on that and still decide.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Vikingr8der]

I personally have had excellent results running T5s on my SPS tanks through the years. Thats the way I would go.

 

[Bpb]

I would sell the xho units you presently own, and get the t5ho hybrid with a mixture of blue+ and true actinic bulbs for blue loving aesthetic. Or if you like the old school white look (my preference), do a mix of 6500k and true actinics and that would be my main entree as far as daylight goes. That would be VERY white even with the kessils cranked so be aware. Either way, stock up on bulbs in case the rumors are true and they’ll be going the way of the Buffalo. Buy a dozen or so and set yourself out many years

Second choice would be selling it all and going radions.

I wouldn’t load up on XHO’s.

 

[oreo54]

Opps.. wrong place

 

[Etto]

I personally have had excellent results running T5s on my SPS tanks through the years. Thats the way I would go.

That is the way I am leaning. Do you have all T5s or Hybrid. If Hybrid what LEDs do you use?

Thanks

 

[Etto]

I would sell the xho units you presently own, and get the t5ho hybrid with a mixture of blue+ and true actinic bulbs for blue loving aesthetic. Or if you like the old school white look (my preference), do a mix of 6500k and true actinics and that would be my main entree as far as daylight goes. That would be VERY white even with the kessils cranked so be aware. Either way, stock up on bulbs in case the rumors are true and they’ll be going the way of the Buffalo. Buy a dozen or so and set yourself out many years

Second choice would be selling it all and going radions.

I wouldn’t load up on XHO’s.

That's what I was thinking. You recommend the B+ and Actinic; 2 of each? I read somewhere they rec adding a Coral +, do you have any experience with those?

 

[bobnicaragua]

Another vote for the T5 LED hybrid lighting. I run 2 blue plus and 2 aqua blue specials along with lots of LEDs. ( T5 are off in pic.)

 

[Bpb]

That's what I was thinking. You recommend the B+ and Actinic; 2 of each? I read somewhere they rec adding a Coral +, do you have any experience with those?

I do, it’s a fine bulb. You could use it in place of one of the blue or actinic if you like the appearance. It’s going to provide some of the green and reds but those can be tuned in through the LEDs if you didn’t have a white t5. Really the only way you can go wrong is with drastic changes too quickly.

 

[Vikingr8der]

I run 4 B+, coral+ and purple+ on my SPS tank and have a hybrid on my LPS tank with 2 actinic, 3 B+, coral+ and 2 purple +. I do really like the hybrid fixture, the SPS tank has been running about 7 years and the LPS about 1.5 years. I just had a little more money when I set up the LPS tank.

 

[Bpb]

Another note. We can mostly agree the most desirable attribute to kessils is the fantastic shimmer they produce, which can be fine tuned through height of mounting and surface agitation. It’s ultimately the primary reason I use them. There are kind of two applications aesthetically here you’re looking at.

By making the t5’s your primary white light source and using the kessils as the blue supplement , you will be HEAVILY muting your shimmer. Using both as white light will mute it substantially but you’ll still get a little.

If you choose the t5’s as the blue supplement light source (visually speaking, From a metabolic energy producer, the t5’s will be doing the heavy lifting, in either scenario), and the kessils the white light source, you will be enjoying the opposite effect. The shimmer will be essentially as powerful as it is without the t5’s on at all. The white light from the kessils will slice through the blue blanket and still provide that razor sharp shimmer.

Take those two scenarios into consideration. You can kind of meet in the middle and run a blue heavy white look (color on a lower % on kessils, and maybe one coral+ or purple+ in the t5 array), but that’ll still kind of fall on the shimmer muting side. The eyes don’t pick up blue light shimmering to the same intensity they do white light.

I run my kessils on the whitest setting with the intensity pretty high and use blue for my supplemental fill light. Par is in the mid 400’s high on the rocks. I can go much higher if needed. My sps are all still pretty small though, As they grow out I’ll likely start incorporating more white into my fill light to boost the shadow filling effect and sacrifice shimmer in the process

 

[Etto]

Another note. We can mostly agree the most desirable attribute to kessils is the fantastic shimmer they produce, which can be fine tuned through height of mounting and surface agitation. It’s ultimately the primary reason I use them. There are kind of two applications aesthetically here you’re looking at.

By making the t5’s your primary white light source and using the kessils as the blue supplement , you will be HEAVILY muting your shimmer. Using both as white light will mute it substantially but you’ll still get a little.

If you choose the t5’s as the blue supplement light source (visually speaking, From a metabolic energy producer, the t5’s will be doing the heavy lifting, in either scenario), and the kessils the white light source, you will be enjoying the opposite effect. The shimmer will be essentially as powerful as it is without the t5’s on at all. The white light from the kessils will slice through the blue blanket and still provide that razor sharp shimmer.

Take those two scenarios into consideration. You can kind of meet in the middle and run a blue heavy white look (color on a lower % on kessils, and maybe one coral+ or purple+ in the t5 array), but that’ll still kind of fall on the shimmer muting side. The eyes don’t pick up blue light shimmering to the same intensity they do white light.

I run my kessils on the whitest setting with the intensity pretty high and use blue for my supplemental fill light. Par is in the mid 400’s high on the rocks. I can go much higher if needed. My sps are all still pretty small though, As they grow out I’ll likely start incorporating more white into my fill light to boost the shadow filling effect and sacrifice shimmer in the process

Thank you for the advice. This is a great explanation