AI vs Ecotec vs kessil

[RyanCSGO]

I have heard of issues with AI's losing connection to wifi. Anyone have these issues?

I had this issue with one of my 2 lights. customer service sent me a replacement immediately, have had zero issues since.

 

[budau18]

Go with what you like the best they all work. My personal favourite is kessil. For reasons of I can’t sit there and tweak the spectrum all day every day and tick of the corals. I see that as a problem with a lot of people switching to led. They change the settings alll the time having no consistency then corals in turn do bad. I also like them for the shimmer they produce as well. On a side not people saying they are less power and coverage, yes and no. They do cover less and have less power however compare price of it with radion then go and buy two kessils for the same price. Then let’s talk about coverage and par.

 

[Kyler]

I started with a kessil a360 over my tank and had good color but slow growth. Switched to a kessil AP 700 and had better growth but still slow. I now have AI 26 and am getting better growth with that then with the kessils. Setup is simple on the AIs. I just put radions gen4s over my office tank and honestly can't see any noticeable difference between them and the AI penetration and spread wise but only time will tell with growth. The radions aren't as user friendly I think but maybe it's just because I am used to the AIs

The kessil ap700s had the most issues not syncing coming off program etc. they once stayed on for 3 days straight while I was out of town of course. That did some serious damage.

 

[nashvillian]

Kessils- Color mixing alone. I can’t stand the disco ball/edge shadowing of other lights. They can grow SPS high and centered under the light, just not at the rate of others. Their coral pop is unparalleled. That’s why you always see them at LFS’s. It is a display tank after all.

 

[Caliguy1983]

I don't like any stand alone LEDs at the moment. They just don't seem to grow as fast as T5 or combination fixtures . The kessils popped the color and made great shimmer but I'd run any of the above mentioned LED with T5.

 

[HB AL]

Im really happy i went with the Kessils 2 years ago, i have no complaints. My tank is mostly sps, with a scattering of lps, zoas and a couple clams and lots of fish, everything seems to do fine under the Kessils.

 

[Roy 9121]

I have had the AI Hydra 52 on my tank for about 4 years. I really like them and have never had a lighting problem. I did have to replace the fan, but AI sent me 2 new ones at no cost.

 

[75galOCD]

I’m really happy with my AI hydra 26HDs

 

[Peter K]

Having used AI's and Kessils I have to say hands down 1000000% I love my Kessils. The spread, color blending, and shimmer is unbeatable compared even to radions where you can see disco ball effects at the top of tanks. They absolutely can grow any type of sps and can pack enough par for any coral as long as you are sensible and spread them out to appropriate distances 8-12 inches apart on an sps tank (There are plenty of sps dominant tanks out there, probably on this forum, that prove that these lights can grow corals). (I now have 5 360's over a 180 gallon tank and couldn't be happier with color and growth from all my sps). While they may not be par kings, I love the set it and forget method of the Kessil and have had nothing but great results and fantastic customer service from Kessil. The build quality is also great and I have had 2 360's for 4 years now and they haven't ever missed a beat. But all the companies make great lights and each one has their strong and weak points

 

[budau18]

There is actually currently a guy on another forum doing a comparison kessils on one side radion on the other side of the tank and posting pics of regular growth if you want to check it out. So far the kessils growth is about double the radions. People saying they can’t grow or grow slow spaced them incorrectly or didn’t have parameters all steady

 

[Caliguy1983]

There is actually currently a guy on another forum doing a comparison kessils on one side radion on the other side of the tank and posting pics of regular growth if you want to check it out. So far the kessils growth is about double the radions. People saying they can’t grow or grow slow spaced them incorrectly or didn’t have parameters all steady

I agree to some extent as there are lots of reasons coral don't grow and water perameters are one of the MOST important factors. I'd like to see a test between T5, kessils, radions and MH conducted. Having said that, I've been in the hobby for 15 years and my water perameters were stable when I had kessils for 7 months. None of my coral grew fast but colored beautifully. I put an ATI 6 bulb across the tank with reef brites and got more growth in one month than I did with kessils in 7 months. Now, yes this is my experience but I really wanted to keep the kessils. I feel 7 months was a fair shot. I just can't justify putting them back on the tank with the growth I'm getting from the T5s now. Furthermore, I have a LFS that is really reef centered. He's got a bunch of shallow frag tanks set up with Kessils and several with ATI 8 bulb t5. Hands down the T5s are out performing the kessils in terms of growth. All the coral are beautiful and the tanks run off the same system and skimmer so the water perameters are the same. If I could get the same results under kessils I'd stick with them. They are sleek, shimmer is awsome, efficient and well built. But my results and many others haven't been as good as T5, metal halide or combo fixtures.... if money was no object I'd buy a new combination LED / T5 fixture...

 

[budau18]

I agree to some extent as there are lots of reasons coral don't grow and water perameters are one of the MOST important factors. I'd like to see a test between T5, kessils, radions and MH conducted. Having said that, I've been in the hobby for 15 years and my water perameters were stable when I had kessils for 7 months. None of my coral grew fast but colored beautifully. I put an ATI 6 bulb across the tank with reef brites and got more growth in one month than I did with kessils in 7 months. Now, yes this is my experience but I really wanted to keep the kessils. I feel 7 months was a fair shot. I just can't justify putting them back on the tank with the growth I'm getting from the T5s now. Furthermore, I have a LFS that is really reef centered. He's got a bunch of shallow frag tanks set up with Kessils and several with ATI 8 bulb t5. Hands down the T5s are out performing the kessils in terms of growth. All the coral are beautiful and the tanks run off the same system and skimmer so the water perameters are the same. If I could get the same results under kessils I'd stick with them. They are sleek, shimmer is awsome, efficient and well built. But my results and many others haven't been as good as T5, metal halide or combo fixtures.... if money was no object I'd buy a new combination LED / T5 fixture...

I would say to that I agree 100% as it seems led in general just don’t grow corals as well as the t5 or mh. The main point I’m trying to get across is from just straight led one brand to the next there won’t be much of a difference other then personal choice. I run the a 360 but I also accompany them with 4 bulb t5. For the reason being led stand alone just isn’t as good

 

[Newb73]

I have heard of issues with AI's losing connection to wifi. Anyone have these issues?

No issues much with the older version linked to an AWM module on an apex

 

[Newb73]

I don't want to deter you but people usually don't have SPS and softy tanks. They usually have different requirements

Im doing a mixed reef.

The lighting and water parameters can be matched with careful work and trial and error fairly easily.

The real biotch is fine tuning flow, which takes a ridiculous amount of tweaking.

 

[Newb73]

I HIGHLY recommend you start with the new hybrid fixture that gives you 4 T5 bulbs and a drop on bracket for Kessils/Hydras or Rations.

You'll thank me later

I run 3x Kessil A360s and 3x Hydra 52s over my tank.

Together I get both great shimmer and great contrillability , though mostly run a hydra program that mirrors the Radion AB mode the closest.

Fans aren't an issue as I have to turn my lights down so the fans don't run much anyway.

 

[Fumanchu]

I have 2 hydra 52 an 4 t5 an 2 kessil 360 on my 75 I added the kessil because i had to have that shimmer it's truly special .The t5 which are on for 5hrs a day kinda wash everything out to that 14k look but have almost doubled the growth by adding them along with the 2 additional power heads. But I truly feel you can't beat the kessil Look their just a lil short on power for me IMO (only)
Happy Reefing

 

[madweazl]

...Kessils are great for a lot of lps, soft corals and good as supplemental lighting for blue light loving sps but never as a standalone light...

What are your thoughts on the image below? In your opinion, is one side better than the other? Is the spectrum illustrated adequate or deficient? If not, which one (or both) and what should be done to correct it?

 

[camelcruiser]

I've had all 3 over tanks over the last several years. I went with the AP700 over the AI and radions with my current tank for a couple of reasons. I really just wanted an easier tank so I was going with mostly LPS. I've had successful SPS tanks but it was more work then I wanted to put into at the moment. I had 360's over previous SPS tank and wasn't happy with my sps growth. I will say that I only have a few acro in my new tank and frags have gone from really dull brown to great coloration and pretty good growth in limited time. I've had hydra 52'hds and radion G3 pro's and like my AP700's the best of the 3 for coloration and growth. Just curious what size tank are you going to be covering? It might be a little easier to answer if we know what size.

 

[Mpal771]

Ecotec radions
Aquaillumination Hydra/primes
Or Kessil tuna blues
Which one do you all prefer and can you tell me why?

The Kessils are plug and play and the AI & Ecotech offer more controlabilty and wi-fi apps. Both can be used when/if you upgrade to a larger tank. The Geismann T-5/LED hybird is the bomb is cost is not object and there is a new retro fit t-5 thats designed for AI/Kessil/Ecotech (just featured on BRS TV) when/if you upgrade. For your 29g, you wont go wrong with any of them. Absolutely try to see them in person, work the controls/app to get a feel for what you prefer.
Congrats on your new build and best of luck!

 

[dmw913]

I have owned Kessil, Radion G3 Pro and Hydra HDs.

1. Kessil: Unmatched shimmer and blues. Things just look stunning. I didn't get great growth.
2. Radion: Pure horsepower but their 24/7 fan that you can't turn off makes no sense to me and was really quite loud. I didn't think the look on the tank was anywhere near as snazzy
3. Hydra HDs: To me, the best combination of the two above. I get a really good shimmer, app is easy to use and set the lights but more importantly, they have a much bigger heatsink and their fan is dead silent. I also have an HD Prime at the office which gives great coverage for the cost.

Just some quick thoughts.