KESSIL VS CHINESE BLACK BOX

sricorals · Sep 13, 2017

elisa h said:
So I recently purchased an approximately 30 tall and 30 wide 90 gallon hex tank (my first saltwater tank). I know the dimensions are not ideal but the deal was way too good to pass up. My question is is there really that much of a difference between say the kessil a360w ($400) compared to a cheaper light such as lightimetunnel ($100)? I only want to keep softies, zoas, and some lps. I could afford the kessil but it is hard for me to justify $400 for a light and it's not like I'm trying to keep high demand sps coral. Also, the dimensions of my tank have me wondering if I could get away with one light if I made a deep sand bed and just refrained from putting coral near the edges and bottom of the tank? I would love some advice!! Thank you

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Kennedy46 · Sep 13, 2017

Mars Aqua makes a decent affordable LED. I would be more afraid of a deep sandbed then chinese leds.

Reefrookie220 · Sep 13, 2017

I'll just put it out there, kessil fan boy tanks are full of tiny sps frags, haven't seen many colony pics of purely kessil lit tanks... always kessil and t5.

In my opinion, and I work with kessils everyday, is that they are a vastly superior supplemental source of metal halide shimmer and spot lighting, but not the greatest stand alone option

dsh92056 · Sep 13, 2017

I've had both. Bottom line like anything else in life you get what you pay for. Can a new Chevy volt or a new BMW 600 series get you to where you are going. Of course they can.

Reefrookie220 · Sep 13, 2017

Add in the fact that they gouge you another 100 bucks on mounting options, and to me it's a no brainer.

dsh92056 · Sep 13, 2017

Also I can tell you with kessils I've had zoa colonies double in size in 2 months never had that with Chinese box LED

saltyfilmfolks · Sep 13, 2017

dsh92056 said:
Also I can tell you with kessils I've had zoa colonies double in size in 2 months never had that with Chinese box LED

Maybe the Bb's only works for acros

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a-little-over-2-months-growth.325289/#post-4030744

dsh92056 · Sep 13, 2017

Dont know can only speak from experience with kessil and galaxyhydro

DSC reef · Sep 13, 2017

I think it comes down to personal preference. I'd suggest trying to see a tank in person with both types of led lights. They both can grow coral, no problem. That shimmer that kessils produces is amazing and tanks on here with black box led lights look phenomenal. I will say that world wide has a tank near the register all lit by kessils and man is it amazing! It's growing everything as well with no supplement T5. It comes down to what you want to see everyday

Crabs McJones · Sep 14, 2017

Reefrookie220 said:
I'll just put it out there, kessil fan boy tanks are full of tiny sps frags, haven't seen many colony pics of purely kessil lit tanks... always kessil and t5.

In my opinion, and I work with kessils everyday, is that they are a vastly superior supplemental source of metal halide shimmer and spot lighting, but not the greatest stand alone option

That's not really a fair statement. I have kessil's only on my tank, and i've had great growth out of all my corals. No supplement lighting at all. My Jedi Mind Trick Monti and my Red Cap Monti and my Reverse Superman Monti have tripled in size over the past few months.
This is my Reverse Superman Monti when I first got it.

This is an older picture taken about a month ago

I'll try to snap a picture tonight when I'm done with work. But all my SPS corals are doing great under just Kessil lights only.

Brian W · Sep 14, 2017

Ive done par readings on my Mars Aqua Black Box and the numbers were shockingly high. If you go the black box route make sure you keep the light higher so you do not bleach your corals.
I was hitting 800 - 1000 at the bottom of the tank when I had my light 12"-18" above the water surface. good luck in your choice, you cant go wrong with either light.

elisa h · Sep 14, 2017

Anybody have an opinion on the ocean revive t247 lights? I was looking at those on amazon

saltyfilmfolks · Sep 14, 2017

elisa h said:
Anybody have an opinion on the ocean revive t247 lights? I was looking at those on amazon

Also a good choice.

Daniel Waters · Sep 14, 2017

elisa h said:
So I recently purchased an approximately 30 tall and 30 wide 90 gallon hex tank (my first saltwater tank). I know the dimensions are not ideal but the deal was way too good to pass up. My question is is there really that much of a difference between say the kessil a360w ($400) compared to a cheaper light such as lightimetunnel ($100)? I only want to keep softies, zoas, and some lps. I could afford the kessil but it is hard for me to justify $400 for a light and it's not like I'm trying to keep high demand sps coral. Also, the dimensions of my tank have me wondering if I could get away with one light if I made a deep sand bed and just refrained from putting coral near the edges and bottom of the tank? I would love some advice!! Thank you

I think you should go look at both in person. I can't speak to the BB, but I love the shimmer on my Kessils and that was the selling point for me. As far as your coral choices of softies, zoas, and some LPS, I think either light will provide you enough par for the softies. Most zoas will do fine in lower PAR levels in my experience. Your LPS, depending on what you get, may need to be strategically placed.

Lovemyreef2015 · Sep 14, 2017

DSC reef said:
I think it comes down to personal preference. I'd suggest trying to see a tank in person with both types of led lights. They both can grow coral, no problem. That shimmer that kessils produces is amazing and tanks on here with black box led lights look phenomenal. I will say that world wide has a tank near the register all lit by kessils and man is it amazing! It's growing everything as well with no supplement T5. It comes down to what you want to see everyday

I agree, it's personal preference.

Kyl · Sep 14, 2017

Reliability with most LED from cheap junk to high end comes down to heat management, or better, heat removal. #1 source of failure is overheating or prolonged high operating temperatures, so make sure the fans and heatsinks are clean. Some blackbox come with very poor fans that are worth upgrading in terms of CFM improvements, and acoustics.

Kessils need to be regularly cleaned or they can have premature failures, just like everything else. Moreso if you have a dog / cat, or live in a dusty environment.

chipmunkofdoom2 · Sep 14, 2017

I have a Galaxy Hydro black box over my new frag tray. I've only moved a few frags over to the tank, and I'm still working on nailing down water chemistry, so I can't comment on how well they grow corals. I will say that I did a lot of research before making the decision to buy a black box. There are plenty of first hand accounts out there of these things growing SPS. There are also lots of user-provided PAR levels, and the reefing community has even gone as far as to document how to replace burnt-out diodes, connect them to aquarium controllers, etc.

Keep in mind that there are tanks out there with trusted and reputable light sources (brand name LEDs, T5s, etc) that cannot grow corals. Light is not the only factor that leads to success growing corals. It's important, but flow, water chemistry and stability are just as important.

Brian W · Sep 14, 2017

elisa h said:
Anybody have an opinion on the ocean revive t247 lights? I was looking at those on amazon

I love my ocean ewvive t247. Ive seen it grow stuff like crazy on a friends tank, so i put it on my tank. So far no issues.

Crabs McJones · Sep 14, 2017

crabs_mcjones said:
That's not really a fair statement. I have kessil's only on my tank, and i've had great growth out of all my corals. No supplement lighting at all. My Jedi Mind Trick Monti and my Red Cap Monti and my Reverse Superman Monti have tripled in size over the past few months.
This is my Reverse Superman Monti when I first got it.

This is an older picture taken about a month ago

I'll try to snap a picture tonight when I'm done with work. But all my SPS corals are doing great under just Kessil lights only.

Replying to my earlier thread, here is a picture of my Reverse monti today. Grown exclusively under Kessils

elisa h · Sep 14, 2017

crabs_mcjones said:
Replying to my earlier thread, here is a picture of my Reverse monti today. Grown exclusively under Kessils

Beautiful! I'm still debating just pulling the trigger and buying the kessils.. for the clean look, simplicity, and all the success stories. The main thing stopping me is blowing another 100 on a little controller.. with that money you could buy a bb light that comes with a controller.. just seems like they are trying to milk the most money they can out of you. Do you think it's necessary to have the controller with the kessils?