Help me spend my money

[slogan315]

Here’s a better pic showing how they’re mounted. I would pick Quantas over T5’s, but that’s just me, as I hate the flat look of T5’s, but can’t deny their ability to grow coral.

I was just reading your build thread the other day. When did you switch away from the kessils?

 

[minus9]

I was just reading your build thread the other day. When did you switch away from the kessils?

I switched my main display to halides last year when I rebooted the tank. It's more about reducing the number fixtures over my tank and I'm still old school when it comes to acropora. I love Kessil's and will always use them. I'm using all Kessil's over my unique nano system, which has two tanks tied together. The 25g has two 360x's and the 10g has a single 500x over it. I have pics of it in the Kessil sponsor section here on R2R. My move back to halides has nothing to do with Kessil's, but more with halides ability to light an area compared to LEDs (all LEDs). I know this will ruffle some feathers here, but LEDs are not the same as halides when it comes to spectrum, but I hope one day they will be? I don't deny LEDs ability to grow coral, but there's something special about halides (especially with acropora and clams) that I love and miss, so my move back to halides. As I mentioned earlier, (maybe here?) if I were to do all LED again over a larger tank, it would be a mix of Quanta Pro bars, Kessil's and Reefi's. I think those fixtures check all the boxes for me.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

I switched my main display to halides last year when I rebooted the tank. It's more about reducing the number fixtures over my tank and I'm still old school when it comes to acropora. I love Kessil's and will always use them. I'm using all Kessil's over my unique nano system, which has two tanks tied together. The 25g has two 360x's and the 10g has a single 500x over it. I have pics of it in the Kessil sponsor section here on R2R. My move back to halides has nothing to do with Kessil's, but more with halides ability to light an area compared to LEDs (all LEDs). I know this will ruffle some feathers here, but LEDs are not the same as halides when it comes to spectrum, but I hope one day they will be? I don't deny LEDs ability to grow coral, but there's something special about halides (especially with acropora and clams) that I love and miss, so my move back to halides. As I mentioned earlier, (maybe here?) if I were to do all LED again over a larger tank, it would be a mix of Quanta Pro bars, Kessil's and Reefi's. I think those fixtures check all the boxes for me.

@minus9 I agree, yes, Halides are special in the fact of light coverage and intensity. I also believe that Acropora feed on many things including bacteria. I think the UV and other wavelengths of the MH destroy certain "bad" bacteria that LED cannot.

I mean people can get upset all they want, but it's a proven fact that a tank with Halides is much easier to maintain coral health than LED. If you get an Acropora that'd going downhill, you can put it under Halides and about 85% of the time, it will recover.

 

[slogan315]

Okay so this keeps evolving. I bought a used t5
Fixture on the marketplace and new bulbs (2B+ and 2C+). The fixture gets here tomorrow. Maybe I’m just hyper fixated on lighting, but I swear my kessil 360x fan has gotten louder. It’s not loud like a 10 year old laptop, but I can hear the fan. It being a few feet from my desk in the office combined with 10 hour work days, is making me think I should pick up a new led for the hybrid. Still going to use the kessil on the hybrid for a bit to see what I like/don’t like. Also will give me time to shop and find the right deal.

So the question is, what led would you chose for a t5 hybrid system? For now I don’t want to pick up any supplemental bars. So I’m hoping the light is a good mix of growth and color pop. And I like shimmer. Also important, the system will be about 6-8” off the water, so the led can’t be 15” off the water to get enough spread.

Considerations so far for budget being around $250. (Would consider going a little above budget if the light was just that much better):

• New/lightly used noopsyche k7 pro v3
• Used kessil 360x
• Used hydra 26 or 32 probably
• (Above budget) New Reefi uno 2.0 pro
• (Above budget) kessil ap9x

 

[minus9]

Okay so this keeps evolving. I bought a used t5
Fixture on the marketplace and new bulbs (2B+ and 2C+). The fixture gets here tomorrow. Maybe I’m just hyper fixated on lighting, but I swear my kessil 360x fan has gotten louder. It’s not loud like a 10 year old laptop, but I can hear the fan. It being a few feet from my desk in the office combined with 10 hour work days, is making me think I should pick up a new led for the hybrid. Still going to use the kessil on the hybrid for a bit to see what I like/don’t like. Also will give me time to shop and find the right deal.

So the question is, what led would you chose for a t5 hybrid system? For now I don’t want to pick up any supplemental bars. So I’m hoping the light is a good mix of growth and color pop. And I like shimmer. Also important, the system will be about 6-8” off the water, so the led can’t be 15” off the water to get enough spread.

Considerations so far for budget being around $250. (Would consider going a little above budget if the light was just that much better):

• New/lightly used noopsyche k7 pro v3
• Used kessil 360x
• Used hydra 26 or 32 probably
• (Above budget) New Reefi uno 2.0 pro
• (Above budget) kessil ap9x

Stick with the Kessil. Do you clean the Kessil? Compressed air once a month goes a long way in keeping them happy. Which reminds me, time for me to clean mine. No other LED will give you shimmer like Kessil. Plus, if you ever change the mounting height, just pop on one of their lenses (55 or 35) depending on height.

 

[slogan315]

Stick with the Kessil. Do you clean the Kessil? Compressed air once a month goes a long way in keeping them happy. Which reminds me, time for me to clean mine. No other LED will give you shimmer like Kessil. Plus, if you ever change the mounting height, just pop on one of their lenses (55 or 35) depending on height.

Yea I got the setup used and it came with it. Actually took it apart yesterday and it looks like it hadn’t been cleaned probably ever. I’ll try this one for a bit and if I like it, may replace it with a newer one and sell the one I have for less with the louder fan disclosure.

 

[jackiemon]

Okay new question: t5 hybrid with kessil 360x OR 2 noopsyche k7 v3 pros?

again this is a 24x24x24 cube. Mixed reef. Also keep in mind resale factor, as I always like knowing I can sell equipment if I want to upgrade

Hi! I have a 60g cube 24*24*24 and was wondering which light you went for ?

 

[slogan315]

Hi! I have a 60g cube 24*24*24 and was wondering which light you went for ?

TLDR: I think the kessil looks better, but the noopsyche gives better growth. I’d go with a single noop to start and a second (or other fill lights) if you need more spread. At 80% blues, 50% whites, it was bleaching corals previously at 300 par with the kessil + t5.


Hi, so I ended up going with the t5 hybrid and keeping my kessil. The look was great but I was topped out on power. Also I suspected my old rusty kessil may have been dying. I ran that for about 8 months. Recently, I ended up buying a Noo-Psyche k7 pro to replace the kessil. I’m still working to get the noopsyche dialed in and currently am running it with the t5s off since I almost bleached some sps.

Goes without saying, this is my opinion from my limited experience. Not looking to start a debate.

Here are my thoughts having used the kessil 360x, kessil + t5, noopsyche + t5, and just single Noo-Psyche.

The T5s overall added about 100 par everywhere. It works as advertised by being a blanket of good looking light. I am looking to switch to led bars just out of curiosity when it comes time to replace the bulbs. But t5 is t5.

Comparing the 360x and Noo-Psyche:

The kessil looks better. The spectrum blending is better, and the preset hues are more balanced. That’s because they adjust the channels for you based on color and intensity. So less customization of channels, but it looks good. The kessil has a wider reflector, so it lights up the whole cube top to bottom where the noop comes down narrower and you can see the cone of light.

All that being said, the noopsyche is what I’d choose over the 2. My growth and color have dramatically improved since switching. I think the extra power and wide spectrum are why. I’m still working to tune the spectrum. So far it is more harsh looking and not as balanced as the kessil, but I imagine I just have to keep tweaking. And there are some concessions to be had by getting a light 2x as powerful for 1/3 the cost.

Also I have them both up in the office, so I have the side by side comparison. If I just had the noop up, I don’t think I’d be able to really remember the kessil looked “better”.

 

[jackiemon]

TLDR: I think the kessil looks better, but the noopsyche gives better growth. I’d go with a single noop to start and a second (or other fill lights) if you need more spread. At 80% blues, 50% whites, it was bleaching corals previously at 300 par with the kessil + t5.


Hi, so I ended up going with the t5 hybrid and keeping my kessil. The look was great but I was topped out on power. Also I suspected my old rusty kessil may have been dying. I ran that for about 8 months. Recently, I ended up buying a Noo-Psyche k7 pro to replace the kessil. I’m still working to get the noopsyche dialed in and currently am running it with the t5s off since I almost bleached some sps.

Goes without saying, this is my opinion from my limited experience. Not looking to start a debate.

Here are my thoughts having used the kessil 360x, kessil + t5, noopsyche + t5, and just single Noo-Psyche.

The T5s overall added about 100 par everywhere. It works as advertised by being a blanket of good looking light. I am looking to switch to led bars just out of curiosity when it comes time to replace the bulbs. But t5 is t5.

Comparing the 360x and Noo-Psyche:

The kessil looks better. The spectrum blending is better, and the preset hues are more balanced. That’s because they adjust the channels for you based on color and intensity. So less customization of channels, but it looks good. The kessil has a wider reflector, so it lights up the whole cube top to bottom where the noop comes down narrower and you can see the cone of light.

All that being said, the noopsyche is what I’d choose over the 2. My growth and color have dramatically improved since switching. I think the extra power and wide spectrum are why. I’m still working to tune the spectrum. So far it is more harsh looking and not as balanced as the kessil, but I imagine I just have to keep tweaking. And there are some concessions to be had by getting a light 2x as powerful for 1/3 the cost.

Also I have them both up in the office, so I have the side by side comparison. If I just had the noop up, I don’t think I’d be able to really remember the kessil looked “better”.

Thank you for your detailed reply! I'm gonna go with 1 noops and start from there. I also ordered the diffuser, hopefully that will help with evening the par throughout the tank