Kessil Penetration

[Devi]

That title sounds dirty. So I have the JBJ 45 rimless and one Kessil 360WE. I also have some interesting rock work. Before I made my scape I contacted Kessil and asked if this light would be appropriate. They said it would. And it would be if I had a boring flat rockscape.

I can't keep SPS unless they are at the very top. The tank is 19 inches deep, and with the gooseneck and attachment the light sits another 12 off the water. No matter how I tried to get that gooseneck to work the light would be off center making even more shadows. So I had to rig up some picture wire so now the light is 4 inches off the top of the water. Which made even more shadows, but now some SPS will survive in the brightest section, but really it fries everything directly below it.

I have exactly 300 bucks to spend on something different. Someone suggested I go with the chinese blackbox led, but I love the way the kessil looks and I love the way I can control it with controller, which you can't do with the blackboxes (as far as I know). They are also known to melt. So I was thinking of getting another Kessil, like the 160, move the 360we up higher and use the 160 to spotlight, I guess.

Unless anyone has some better ideas. I'm annoyed.

 

[TheEngineer]

Does your rock work provide too much shade? I'm pretty confident the light source itself isn't the problem.

 

[Devi]

Right that's what I meant by shadows. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the light, I am sorry I gave that impression. It is not working for my application. I want SPS and this light can not penetrate the tank for SPS. So my question was, should I try another kessil, maybe with two they can reach, or switch lights on my small budget?

 

[TheEngineer]

Gotcha. T5 is going to give you much better "de-shading" if your rock work blocks light. That said, I don't see what would be causing a shade problem for you unless you are putting corals on the right face of that tower.

 

[Devi]

I'd like to put some there. That poor yuma is reaching as hard as it can for light. On the back side are some plain mushrooms that have four inch stalks they are trying for light. It's a lot of real estate in a small tank. On the back left there where the clowns are, is in shadow, just stupid xenia so that doesn't matter all that much. Even the stupid hammer and octospawn cast long shadows! I am unsure if T5's are in my price range. Do you think adding the 160 would be over kill on that right side of the tower? Or maybe I should just do a whole tank of sun corals? However with T5 I can not have the ramping up I so enjoy.

 

[TheEngineer]

Any reason not to rethink your aquascape to alleviate the problem? That solution is free.

 

[Devi]

Well there is a pvc pipe in there, that extends out pretty far under the sand. It would almost be, no it would be a complete tear down.

 

[Chrisfish]

Hey Devi , I'm having the same issues with my kessil but I have a 30 gallon jbj with a kessil 160. I really didn't think I needed the 360 at the time and now it's to late to send it back and upgrade so I'm trying to figure out if I want another 160 or try a 150 sky blue but like you said with the goose neck it's awkward. They also have a different bracket you can buy for it , maybe that would be cheaper and better??

 

[bmac16]

I have a 20L with a kessil 150, and it wasn't enough as I also had shadowed areas. I cut a hole in the center of a 4bulb t5 fixture to house the kessil. The shimmer is still there with 2 t5s on. The added t5s take care of all shadows and add par/color for sps. I got an odyssea fixture with controller built in for $50

 

[bmac16]

 

[TheEngineer]

Well there is a pvc pipe in there, that extends out pretty far under the sand. It would almost be, no it would be a complete tear down.

Easier to do now than after it is covered in coral. Just something to consider. Adding a light might be an aid but there's an easy cure.

 

[mcarroll]

Get a [HASHTAG]#lux[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#meter[/HASHTAG] so you can fully assess your situation.

Start by downloading a $free (yes, $0) app that uses your smartphone's cameras. If you have iPhone, "Galactica Luxmeter" seems to be getting reliable results, but there are lots on iPhone and android to choose from. Just make sure it's using the correct camera and double check your results the first time you use it. A handheld lux meter like my [HASHTAG]#lx1010B[/HASHTAG] is only $15 from any online retailer like Zebay (to kill the auto-link to the .com R2R apparently adds when I just type the letters e b a y together) or amazon, but that takes time to get there. Get the app now!

Correct me if I'm wrong on any details...

If your lamp has 90º lenses, then I think you should get pretty good coverage between 8" and 10" from the water. Is that about what your mounting bracket delivers?

If your coverage across the surface seems good...

• Next, check what the peak lux reading is that you can find at the water surface.
• Also figure out how far from the peak you can measure until your reading is below 20,000 lux.
• Last, see what readings you get around the perimeter of the tank.

If all that checks out, then I'm gonna say you just have your rocks in a dim part of the light's coverage.

Restack it, or get more creative with SPS placement...ignore the stack and grow some in the sand - right under the spot. It's one idea.

Hope this helps!

 

[mcarroll]

Forgot to include the...."if that doesn't check out" part..

If you find coverage lacking, then you either need to figure out a way to hang the Kessil differently or make some other change to account for it.

If you are satisfied with the look of the tank - lighting-wise - in it's present condition, then the same restocking and creative placement options above would be my first options to try.

 

[Chrisfish]

Forgot to include the...."if that doesn't check out" part..

If you find coverage lacking, then you either need to figure out a way to hang the Kessil differently or make some other change to account for it.

If you are satisfied with the look of the tank - lighting-wise - in it's present condition, then the same restocking and creative placement options above would be my first options to try.

Even though this isn't my thread I posted a concern with my lighting with the kessil 160 that it might not be giving enough coverage so thank you for your suggestion and help.

 

[mcarroll]

You're welcome!

Since you said that, we can spread the word a bit more:
[HASHTAG]#kessil[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#kessil160[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#lighting[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#led lighting[/HASHTAG]

 

[mcarroll]

@Devi Tell me if I got the wrong pic.

I added two 20º bars just to accent the light rays you can see in the photo...looks like a little turbidity after cleaning the glass or something, but it give you a decent idea of the coverage and angle of light entering the tank. That's a 40º light field between the bars. It would be better if the photo was dead-on, so there's probably some skew to the 20º...still good to let you see what's happening.

All mostly just FYI until we can see the lux readings I mentioned in post #12.

 

[SteveSTL]

If you can come up with another 25, you could add a second Kessil http://reef2reef.com/threads/kessil-sale.234938/ which should take care of your problems.

 

[Chrisfish]

You're welcome!

Since you said that, we can spread the word a bit more:
[HASHTAG]#kessil[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#kessil160[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#lighting[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#led lighting[/HASHTAG]

I see your from virginia, do you mind telling me where? I'm in Virginia beach.

 

[Chrisfish]

@Devi Tell me if I got the wrong pic.

I added two 20º bars just to accent the light rays you can see in the photo...looks like a little turbidity after cleaning the glass or something, but it give you a decent idea of the coverage and angle of light entering the tank. That's a 40º light field between the bars. It would be better if the photo was dead-on, so there's probably some skew to the 20º...still good to let you see what's happening.

All mostly just FYI until we can see the lux readings I mentioned in post #12.

Btw i really like your Aqua scape

 

[bmac16]

@mcarroll hey can you explain using the lux meter and what I am looking for. I used it a few days ago and got the same readings from the top of my scape all the way to the sand bed and in some spots the sand bed has a higher lux than the top of the scape