I'm thinking the Kessil A160WE...what about you?

[Friendly]

I found my dream pico...a Cobalt Decoria 5.5 gallon cylinder aquarium. it's 11.8" in diameter and height.

 

I have an ABI Tuna Blue 12w...but for this, the 24w would probably be better suited. however, I want something controllable, so I can have sunrise and sunset.

 

am I on or do you think there are other options worth consideration?

[Lawnman]

AI Prime HD hands down!

[Friendly]

16 hours ago, Lawnman said:

AI Prime HD hands down!

whats wrong with the Kessil?

[A Little Blue]

22 minutes ago, Friendly said:

whats wrong with the Kessil?

Hands down? 

Don't know about that! 

Have both. 

Both will grow corals just fine. 

Nothing wrong with Kessil. 

Set it and forget it. 

[Friendly]

I can't find any info on whether the A160WE or A80 can be accessed via a phone app.

 

that difference alone may make the AI HD the only solution.

 

[A Little Blue]

6 minutes ago, Friendly said:

I can't find any info on whether the A160WE or A80 can be accessed via a phone app.

 

that difference alone may make the AI HD the only solution.

 

No App for Kessil except P700. 

If that’s what you’re looking for, look somewhere else. 

For the $, AI is a good choice worth consideration. 

[Friendly]

well, being a cheapskate, think the ABI 12w is enough, or would the 23w be better?

[nano427]

A80 would be a good option. The 160 is pretty big for a 5.5.   I had a 160 over a 10g cube and couldn’t ever turn it up past 50%. And by the way I just bought a 2nd 160 to put over my new 40 cube. The shimmer of the Kessil is awesome if you like that look. 

[Melfy77]

I've had both the kessil A80 ( actually have one now on my lagoon 25) and AI prime. While the prime allows app control the quality/shimmering of kessil is worth every penny! The prime has a very annoying disco effect. Some people don't mind it but it was driving me bunkers lol

[Friendly]

how much more does getting a Kessil controller add to the manual controls the A80 come with?

 

and which controller is better? both the A series and the new X work...but the differences don't readily pop up when I look at them.

[Lula_Mae]

Regarding the ABI bulbs, you'd likely be fine with a 12w as I tried a 23w and it was too much over my 5.5. The bigger problem would be spread, I found mine had pretty narrow optics that gave more of a spotlight effect. That would be my biggest concern. 

 

I have a regular AI Prime that I really like, I got mine used for a good price. I'd see if you can find any of the lights you're interested in used, it took a while but I found mine eventually. 

[nano427]

On 6/4/2019 at 4:59 PM, Friendly said:

how much more does getting a Kessil controller add to the manual controls the A80 come with?

 

and which controller is better? both the A series and the new X work...but the differences don't readily pop up when I look at them.

It allows you to ramp up the color and the intensity to create a sunrise and sunset effect.  If you don’t use a controller then you can manually set the color and intensity and you’d use a on/off timer.  You don’t get any additional range of color or intensity from using the controller.