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Unread 05/20/2018, 06:14 AM   #327
Ron Reefman
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Cape Coral, FL
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OK. Oh, BTW, I assume it's a typo. The name is Ron not Rob (I know, the 'n' and the 'b' are next to each other on the keyboard).

For starters I'll assume you 75g tank is 4' long and roughly 20" deep as that seems fairly standard.

Costs for what you are looking at is going to be in the $650 to $700 range either way.

The Hydra has a footprint of 18"x18" recommended and maxed out at 2'x2', I can't find any footprint info on the Kessil. My best guess is they may cover roughly the same area.

The Hydra uses very well known and quality leds, Kessil uses an led chip they claim to make (I'd have serious doubts). Personally, I don't like chips as they tend to be all or nothing in terms of failure. And Kessil A360's seem to have quite a few bad reviews for short life expectancy (just beyond warranty).

Personally, I like the looks of the Kessil pendant way better than the Hydra box that looks more like any Chinese Black Box fixture. But I like everything else about the Hydra better than the Kessil.

If I HAD to pick between the two, I'd take the Hydra. And if you have a canopy that you can hide them in, that's even better.

HOWEVER, for $500 or the same $650 you were looking at spending, you could pick a Reef Breeders Photon V2+ in either a 32" or 48" fixture. IMHO the 32" fixture will cover your 48" tank end to end and save you $150. But if the extra $150 is worth it to you, the 48" fixture will offer you the option to waste light out the ends of the tank! LOL! I'm always surprised by how many reefers with 48" tanks get 48" led fixtures. Light spreads as it goes into the tank. Covering the extra 8" at either end of the tank is easy to do with the 32" fixture at the right height.

The Photon V2+ uses the same quality brand leds as the Hydra and instead of 52 leds total (2 Hydra 26 fixtures) you get 72 leds with the 32" and 88 leds with the 48". It already sounds like a no brainer to me. Save money and get more high quality leds!

The Photon V2+ is only 1" thick (not at all Chinese black box looking) and is aluminum. It comes with a hanging kit AND legs (I use the legs). It has 6 channels of color control and full sunrise/sunset ability. And I'm going to get the V2+ upgrade for my 2 year old fixtures that still run and look like new. It makes the sunrise/sunset ramp smoother than the once per hour that my older units do now. Although I really don't mind the once per hour at the top of the hour light change as I think of it as being like an old grandfather clock that chimes the top of the hour. LOL!

Reef Breeders also has a sponsor forum here at Reef Central so they are super easy to deal with. Logan, the owner, is super helpful.

Here is what mine look like. The big tank is the 50" Photon V2 over a 60" tank and the small one is the 16" fixture over a 24" cube.






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Last edited by Ron Reefman; 05/20/2018 at 06:20 AM.
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