Kessil Narrow Reflector and Adjusting Light Program with it's use

pledosophy · Jun 10, 2020

I have the reflector on order. Mainly because when I sit at my desk I get a glare from the light and my wife is making fun of the post it note I have on the light covering the glare.

My tank is mainly SPS with a few LPS (acans, trach, frogspawn) on the sand.

I have read and seen studies that the reflector will increase the output of the light by 3x. To compensate for that is it best to run the acclimation mode on my light and welcome the increased PAR, or to turn down the intensity on the program itself. I am not sure if to much PAR is a thing, but based on the other studies I have seen the top of my tank would be around 1100 par at 100% intensity.

Also.... I tweaked the preprogramed Kessil settings to include more UV and also to make the light run longer (14 hours). I would really welcome any advice on settings you are having success with on your Kessil.

Thank you for the advice.

Big G · Jun 10, 2020

pledosophy · Jun 10, 2020

Homie at Kessil wrote me back with this. I would still like to hear from others who have done/tried it.

" I’d suggest lowering the instensity about 10-20% each point if you’re adding a narrow reflector - or raising up the light a few inches. I’d then run an acclimation mode just to be safe."

GainesvilleReef · Jun 10, 2020

I would agree with that. That was my experience going from the wide to narrow older models.

Breadman03 · Jun 10, 2020

I didn’t know the new lens existed until a few days ago, but I’d treat it like a new, brighter light. Reducing intensity a bit, then working back up slowly while watching for signs of potential issues. A PAR meter would make it super simple, so consider renting from an LFS or BRS. BRS holds a deposit to cover the meter, but the final charge is reasonable.

pledosophy · Jun 11, 2020

I heard back from a guy that works at Kessil and this was his recommendation.

" I’d suggest lowering the instensity about 10-20% each point if you’re adding a narrow reflector - or raising up the light a few inches. I’d then run an acclimation mode just to be safe. "

Aardvark1134 · Jun 11, 2020

It makes 0 change in the total light output. What it does is focus the light into about 3x smaller area. This higher # in a smaller area is not more light, just more focused into a smaller area. They are for really deep tanks where you have no choice but to use them to get enough to the bottom. It also drops the coverage area from about 30x30 to about 18x18 meaning with the narror beams you will need to have alot more of them to get coverage.

pledosophy · Jun 12, 2020

Aardvark1134 said:
It makes 0 change in the total light output. What it does is focus the light into about 3x smaller area. This higher # in a smaller area is not more light, just more focused into a smaller area. They are for really deep tanks where you have no choice but to use them to get enough to the bottom. It also drops the coverage area from about 30x30 to about 18x18 meaning with the narror beams you will need to have alot more of them to get coverage.

From the tests I have seen so far on them the area 6-8" directly under the light has an increase in PAR of just under 3x.

When they focus the light to a narrower area, it also increases the intensity of light in the smaller area. The change in intensity is noticeable to your eye.