Number of Kessils Needed

Fishphi784 · Jan 7, 2016

gus6464 said:
The ap700 does not use a secondary lens. It uses a reflector. The 160/360 has a primary optic and that's it. The ap700 has the same primary optic but then adds a secondary reflector. The reflector is what makes the spread very MH like. It's not about intensity but spread.

Thanks for the clarification.

Busa1340 · Jan 7, 2016

Just installed two over my 90 about 10 inches off water.

Busa1340 · Jan 7, 2016

Two is plenty these things get very bright I'm sure I won't even get close to 100% intensity.

Busa1340 · Jan 7, 2016

Pics are at 55%

gus6464 · Jan 7, 2016

Eyes are deceiving when it comes to PAR. You might think you are pushing a lot of PAR because it's bright but that might not be the case.

Busa1340 · Jan 7, 2016

I'm very confident with two lol

ermartin · Jan 7, 2016

Busa1340 said:
I'm very confident with two lol

I was as well. they lasted a week on my 90 and i went back to my original lights and moved them over to my 57 and they were a perfect fit there. I now have 2 AP700 on my 90.. lots depend on personal preference as well as how you landscape. 2 just would not work for me. also the issue was not intensity it was coverage/shadowing again based on landscape

Busa1340 · Jan 7, 2016

ermartin said:
I was as well. they lasted a week on my 90 and i went back to my original lights and moved them over to my 57 and they were a perfect fit there. I now have 2 AP700 on my 90.. lots depend on personal preference as well as how you landscape. 2 just would not work for me. also the issue was not intensity it was coverage/shadowing again based on landscape

2 ap700 on a 90 wow serous light coverage lol but yes I see your point on the coverage and I can't tell obviously I have nothing in my tank but I played around with them and 12 plus inches over the tank in getting (looks to be over 24inch wide coverage) but time will tell so far I love them small bright easy to get my hands around in the canopy and the controller is cool.

ermartin · Jan 7, 2016

Busa1340 said:
2 ap700 on a 90 wow serous light coverage lol but yes I see your point on the coverage and I can't tell obviously I have nothing in my tank but I played around with them and 12 plus inches over the tank in getting (looks to be over 24inch wide coverage) but time will tell so far I love them small bright easy to get my hands around in the canopy and the controller is cool.

Black friday was good to me

and i obviously don't run them at full speed

Busa1340 · Jan 7, 2016

Lol right on

Fishphi784 · Jan 7, 2016

Great video on LEDs from BRS. Provides PAR numbers on most popular LEDs including 360s and AP700s

gus6464 · Jan 7, 2016

The biggest takeaway from the BRS video are the spectrometer readings of the various LEDs. Basically how radions have absolute trash spread.

Fishphi784 · Jan 8, 2016

gus6464 said:
The biggest takeaway from the BRS video are the spectrometer readings of the various LEDs. Basically how radions have absolute trash spread.

It also indicates the relatively low par and wide spread of Kessils. The OP wants to keep SPS and it is unlikely that two Kessils will provide enough PAR to accomplish his goal. My vote would be for a minimum of 3 clustered arrays equidistant from one another, regardless what type of LED you use.

dochow · Jan 8, 2016

Thank you everyone for contributing to this post. I think there is some great info here that a lot of people can benefit from. I'm going to watch BRS video tonight. I think two is absolute minimum. I'm not sure how the tank would look aesthetically with the 2 360's and a 2 bulb T5 fixture running ATI Blues. I thought the above picture with the two Kessils on the 90 gallon looked great!

dochow · Jan 8, 2016

If you haven't seen the BRS video above on LEDs this is an enormously valuable learning tool

jumplittlechloe · Jan 8, 2016

I have 3 a360we lights on my 120 (48x24x24) I just made the decision to retrofit 2 t5s into my canopy. With the kessils I was ok with par (actually bleached one acro) the problem is shadowing. No matter what optic, placement or amount the coverage still lacks. It made a huge difference adding the T5 as far as filling in shadows and coloring up acros. I think no matter 2 or 3 you may want to consider adding some T5's to round out spectrum and coverage.

dochow · Jan 9, 2016

The BRS video is excellent. Has anyone seen the PAR values on the Kessil AP700 that they measured? Great spread and good par values deep. Much better than most of the stuff they tested including Radion, AI and Kessil 360...

Busa1340 · Jan 9, 2016

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/29473-my-led-journey-and-experiences/?hl=jpowell

Just browsing around and came across this pretty good read.

toaster77 · Jan 11, 2016

I have two A360WEs that are 9-10" above the water on a 120 gallon 48" L X 30" W x 20" H - nice look and great shimmer, but definitely I see the aforementioned shadowing effects on my SPS. I have not measured PAR, but I feel I am getting enough for most SPS, but not quite enough for the really high light-loving SPS. I am at 85% intensity and slowly dialing up. If I were to change anything at this time, I agree that LED + T5 supplement might be the way to go.