Ap700 or 360we

[charleslotz]

I someone explain the difference between the Ap700 vs two 360we ? I'm looking for an understanding of the chips ? Are they the same ? I understand the astetics and the spread and/or flexibility of 2x360 I'm more interested if the LEDs are upgraded on the chip in the ap700 .... Reason I'm asking is I'm upgrading from my old 2x48" Ati 8 bulb fixtures( plus I have 4xled strips) ,... I'm tiered of paying 500-600 every 9months for bulbs.... I'm 30 wide so I need , to run the ap700 diagonally or 2 wide one in the middle by central overflow and another 2 on the other side of the overflow...to reach the 8 foot That's 5 units.... Or 10 x 360w... I'm packed with sps so I need the coverage.

2nd question-

Do I realy need to fork out the 4k-5k or are there alternatives,... I have been experimenting with 2 Chinese black box units ,... Over a 48x40 cube ,... Sorry but no comparison to the t5's.... In my humble opinion think you need at lest 5/6 units for the cube Or I was thinking to run Chinese 10 units to get the coverage and less shadowing. I realy want the storm mode, and sunset and uv ranges... I can get uv in strip so that's not that important. Most reasonably priced high end lighting is the Angels at 399.00 but again I would need at least 7 units.... I see one of our sponsors can daisy chain their 10 units so they can work in unison , or I could add then to the Ghl controller.... Difficult decisions .... I have also seen the E5 but they are new and untested hate to put them over my coral without some history and it will take me 4-6 months to test them on the cube....plus I don't have the dimmiable Ati so taking a chance .... I have about 2 months left on my Ati bulbs...


Realy would appreciate some info and advise to save money, but not at the expense of my coral...

 

[B22]

Get the 2x 360. The ap700 has to many issues right now. Or wait until all the software bugs and apps are fixed

 

[andys]

The A360WE's kick butt. i use 2 of them with the controller. Rocks

 

[Kershaw]

So you are trying to cover 8'x 30" ? I have 2 a360w about 10inch from water surface on a 48" x30" tank. my sps and lps grow anywhere I put them. Do you have sps with in 3 inches of glass or 3 inches of back. If not. You may not need so many. I love the a360w. Some fellow reefers have told me to run 2 t5 with my kessils and coral will grow like crazy. I plan on trying it but have not done it yet.

 

[robert]

I run 5 AP700s on a 8'x3'26" - If it were all SPS - I would go with 6, but since one end is low flow low light for LPS the five work out nicely.
My tank is peninsular - so I need light on both sides to the central rock work. If it were not peninsular Ithink I could have gotten by with fewer. That said I never run full intensity on any light in the system - about 80% max.

The app does have a few bugs...nothing too serious and nothing I have not been able to easily work around. Each light can be set into its own program - so you get a great deal of flexibility...I can't speak to the technical merit of the different LEDs in the 360s vs the 700s. I did run the 360s on a previous tank and although they were a nice light I wasn't totally satisfied coming off MH and sold them.

As far as light - the APs are the first LED that has made me not want to pull out my old Halides...So far so good.

 

[charleslotz]

Yes 8'x30" .... Some spots coral has grow to .5 inch from back wall

 

[charleslotz]

Interesting thanks Robert , .... Think I'm leaning towards the ap700's just wishing I don't have to fork out that mush cash .... I'm might just get 2 and replace one 48 t5 ... And see if I can spot difference... Had an old 160 lying around and wedged it between the two Ati fixtures.... For about two months corals under the 160 have lightens up and showing improved color to t5, think they like the extra par.

Have you used the radion's how do they compare ?

 

[jason.kennedy.98478]

I was wondering that too, how do the radions compare to the AP700, im setting up a 120 so 1 AP700 would be cheaper than 2 radions, and other than not being apex compatable the AP700 apears to be the better light

 

[fragit]

BRS has a good video about the Kessill 360w on BRStv 52 weeks of reefing or what ever it is where they show the progression of their 160 gal tank. I know they are a supplier and trying to make money, but what they had to say about the 360s was pretty convincing, check it out.

 

[lwmnfrvr]

Hello Robert, I'm also looking at the AP700 to light a 150 gallon tank ( 72"L x 18" W x 30"T) that is mixed reef with heavy emphasis on sps. My concern is with the tank being 30 inches tall that par from this light will drop off dramatically as the lights will sit approx 10 inches above the water. I'm considering purchasing two of these lights.
What are your thoughts?

 

[robert]

Mine sit a little closer to the water and my tank isn't as deep - but I think based on the dimensions - you would be covered by two and the penetration would be just fine. I never run above 80% on the lights and it took a while to get there. The SPS end of my tank is still young but seems to do well under these lights - I've got maybe 40 frags in that end. One bleached - one STNed due to handling - but everything else is doing well and colors and growth have been good.

The dimensions, profile and spread of the 700s is such that they can be mounted closer than you might expect and still allow ample room to confortably work in the tank - something that I really like and didn't realize until I got them up. I also should mention that my tank has two cross braces (divides the tank into thirds) and there is no visual shadowing or hot spots - optically Kessil did a great job.

The biggest gripe is the lack of custom color definition in their app - I want to be able to independently define color channel drives and use it in the program mode - but they don't support it yet.

Is this for a new setup - or are you considering replacing your current lights?

 

[lwmnfrvr]

Thank you for your response Robert.
I will be replacing my current lights (Sunbrite T10 tubes) the plastic end caps that hold the light tubes into the fixture have fatigued and cracked. I'm unable to get replacement end caps as Sunbrite is no longer in business.
The fixture I'm currently running is the 48" version that holds eight tubes. This light was originally used over a my 90 gallon tank. I have recently transitioned to a 150 gallon aquarium (Nov. 13, 2015) and have this 48 inch light over the tank until I decide on a light.

1. At the moment it's a toss up between the Kessil AP700 and the AI Hydra 52hd.

 

[slief]

I run eight Kessil 360WE's over my 4'x8'x24" tall tank and love them. My corals which include SPS, LPS and Softies all thrive and grow like weeds under them. I max out at 80% with them 8" off the waters surface. Personally I love the kessils. Mine are mounted on a large light rack on articulating mounts and are aimed where I need them most to maximize coverage and eliminate shadowing.

That said, my favorite light to date are the AP700. One of the nicest fixtures I have seen with some of the best coverage of a fixture it's size. The LED clusters have been completely redesigned with new and different diodes and additional channels of control. While it is true that there are some bugs with the app. Most of the issues are minor and short of the moon lighting, most everything seems to be working. If I were buying new lights at this point, the AP700's would be my first choice but the 360WE's are still terrific lights. If you were to go with the 360's, I'd probably suggest 8 of them like me even though your tank is narrower. In my tank, my aquascape is run down the center of my peninsula display and forms a peninsula in my tank. The 8 lights are run in two rows of 4 along the perimeter of the tank lighting up both sides of the aquascape and overlapping in the middle. In your tank, I would likely run two rows of 4 too in a very similar layout.

On a 96"x30" display, 5 AP700's would be more than enough to grow anything. Heck, 4 would cut it but 5 would be best. Granted, it depends in part on how your aquascape is laid out but given the AP700 clusters have better intensity and spread than the 360WE's due in part to their integrated reflectors coupled with the fact that one AP700 is essentially equivalent to two 360WE's on steroids, I think 4 would produce a surprising amount of light. You could run them length wise or width wise at that point.

 

[gus6464]

An A360 is not the same thing as the AP700. Not even in the slightest. The A360 is a tight cluster with a primary optic. The AP700 is the same tight cluster with same primary optic but then it adds a secondary reflector. The reflector is the biggest difference here and puts the AP700 in a whole other league compared to the A360. 2x A360 will never equal the same spread as an AP700.

 

[charleslotz]

Thanks slief , I have ordered 2xAp700 and 1x 360we To replace 1x 48" 8bulb Ati... will see how they preform ... I'll need to run in acclimitation mode, so will be a while before I can tell the effect on my coral.... If I don't like them easy enough to sell them .... Doing the math the 5 year cost of ownership is relatively the same as t5's replacement cost for 5 years...

 

[gus6464]

Thanks slief , I have ordered 2xAp700 and 1x 360we To replace 1x 48" 8bulb Ati... will see how they preform ... I'll need to run in acclimitation mode, so will be a while before I can tell the effect on my coral.... If I don't like them easy enough to sell them .... Doing the math the 5 year cost of ownership is relatively the same as t5's replacement cost for 5 years...

T5 is cheaper including the electricity cost.