Quote:
Originally Posted by ReefkeeperZ
Do you think the Kessil 360 fits my bill Ron? I have heard a lot of good things about the Kessils.
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I think a single Kessil A360 could work, but would not be ideal, unless you plan on only having rock and corals in the center of the aquarium. Anything over a 24" spread is pushing it for a single-cluster LED fixture. If going with Kessils, a pair of A160's would be better, although with a controller would be a bit over your $500 budget. Personally I am not the biggest fan of the color rendition offered by Kessil fixtures outside of the A700 (and yes I have used them).
Ron is correct with the diode-spacing "disco" risk of the ReefBreeders Photon. The Aquasanrise would be better for your needs, but it only has one white diode color (similar to the Kessils), although it is not bad at 7500K. (I have used the Photon, but not the Aquasanrise). It does offer onboard and wireless controller options, and is under budget, but I have another option...
You might consider the new 150W Maxspect Razor X, which has three clusters using reflectors instead of lenses (better color blending), onboard controller (with a wireless option at additional cost), and both 6500K and 3000K white diodes, which some (like me) find gives slightly better color rendition. (I have not used this latest generation, but have and still use the previous generation). This size will be just over your $500 budget at around $520, and I believe the onboard controller works well enough, with this new generation offering presets (old ones did not).
You will definitely get a better (more evenly distributed) light field with the Aquasanrise and Maxspect over a single Kessil or even a pair (pair of A360's would be close though, but way over budget).