Help me Decide! Kessil A360x with 4 ATI bulbs or the ATI Straton

[pledosophy]

Kessil A360x with 4 ATI bulbs or the ATI Straton

I have the Kessil now. I like it, but after 10 years of running T5's I kinda miss that look, specifically that there is less shading when the corals grow. Having the single source or light I am starting to see some shading issues and if everything goes to plan it will become a bigger issue soon.

So I am deciding between just adding the 4 T5 bulbs with the Aquatic Life fixture, or if I should just pick up the Straton that is 15.5"x15.5" so I keep that LED look but spread it out a bit.

 

[Letsgotothezoo]

I have 36" Aquaticlife Hybrid Fixture with 2 Kessil Mount. If you interested, PM me.

 

[pledosophy]

I have 36" Aquaticlife Hybrid Fixture with 2 Kessil Mount. If you interested, PM me.

thank you but I need the 24" one as the tank for this is only 24" wide.

Did you go with something else?

 

[joseserrano]

what do you want to grow

 

[BgFish]

I like the hybrid. I have 4x ai prime hd- and recently added aquatic life 48” so now 4x t5 and 4xai prime HD.

getting 150-200 par at sand and about 350 at too of rocks.

I got the first series (non dimable) and got the 16” end plate kit. I Re wired fixture so al wires come out one end and with end plates they all come out the back corner.

they have the white ones with the hanging kit and end plates on sale now for $229 new. I was looking into it for my frag tank.

but I like how it ended up.
Got fixture here from another reefer used and got kit from brs for end plates.

 

[pledosophy]

what do you want to grow

It's a mixed reef. I prefer sticks, wife likes LPS and Clams, so I have a bit of both. Mostly sticks. Right now the top 14" of my tank are all sticks and then I have a few euphyllia's a couple of maxima's, acans, trach, etc on the sand.

I do really like the my Kessil light, and I do like the contrast that the single light point gives, but the tank is on the small side and without the luxury of space i will have to be trimming way to often for my liking if I keep things as they are. As branches grow out they are throwing shade on things beneath them. So I need to spread the light out a bit more. I know I won't get a lot more but when you have a little cube every bit counts

 

[pledosophy]

I like the hybrid. I have 4x ai prime hd- and recently added aquatic life 48” so now 4x t5 and 4xai prime HD.

getting 150-200 par at sand and about 350 at too of rocks.

I got the first series (non dimable) and got the 16” end plate kit. I Re wired fixture so al wires come out one end and with end plates they all come out the back corner.

they have the white ones with the hanging kit and end plates on sale now for $229 new. I was looking into it for my frag tank.

but I like how it ended up.
Got fixture here from another reefer used and got kit from brs for end plates.

That turned out nice!

I have a random question that might seem silly but is kind of part of my deciding factors. When you add the T5 bulbs, how much does it affect the shimmer?

 

[BgFish]

For me if I look really hard I can still see it lol.

I run 10am to 9pm with two hour ramp up and down on the IA primes. The t5 run 12noon to 5pm. So only blues in morning and evening. The led still give the shimmer but t5 drowns it out. Hope that makes sense lol.

 

[pledosophy]

For me if I look really hard I can still see it lol.

I run 10am to 9pm with two hour ramp up and down on the IA primes. The t5 run 12noon to 5pm. So only blues in morning and evening. The led still give the shimmer but t5 drowns it out. Hope that makes sense lol.

Makes perfect sense and it was what I was afraid of.

So if the lights output with the ATI Stranton is comparable to the light output of the Kessil with T5's, I'd basically be paying the extra $700 for shimmer.

Hmmmmm.... that might be worth it LOL.

 

[hersheyb]

ATI stranton.. looks soooooooo cleaannnnnn n sexy..

 

[BgFish]

Yes, you would be paying for some shimmer but also PAR- I like the combo because the t5 givs even spread and led’s make the colors pop.
I started with two primes. Then 4. Then Added 4x t5. So for me it was to increase par and not spend a lot more and use what I had. But with that said im happy with the hybrid set up and the over all out come.

 

[Smite]

Will the Straton have that much shimmer though? I've heard it looks a lot like t5 lighting because of the wide layout. The kessil 360x is a strong light and I think you'd still see some shimmer with the t5s. It would probably be a great blend.

But thats a pretty large light rack over a smaller tank. 1 Straton would look very sleek and slim while giving you an even unshaded spread of par. Also no bulb replacement!

I vote Straton!