Official Kessil Lighting Lit Reef Tank Thread

[Salty1962]

I'm less than 2 years in with mostly LPS/softies and prior to my move, I had several small SPS colonies (lost them during relocation). I have experienced great growth on everything under my Kessils. I've posted in a few other Kessil threads that my only complaints are shadowing, the lack of a true sunrise / sunset (because they shut off at 12% on Apex) and a minor issue with getting a color I REALLY like, I find it either too blue or too white, but I think that is just due to my years of MH/T5. So it's just nitpicking.

Thx for the info, I will have some LPS but mostly SPS frags in this tank.

 

[ReefCartel]

SIDE 1 (Current)

SIDE 2 (last year)

Currently Using 2 Kessil 360N Linked to Apex on a Ramp Dusk Dawn setting. 8 Hours only. I Had supplemented T5HO but it took from the shimmer and I did not like the glow as well. Considering getting another 2 Kessil 360N-E

 

[Monster reefer]

Looks to me like most people running the a160 tuna blues kessils have LPS and softies in the tanks.
And people with the 360s are having good luck growing the sps. @Salty1962 I would run the 360 for sps.

 

[1stNoel]

I have a Kessil A360WE over my frag tank. No complaints. The picture below is old. Corals have been growing well with excellent coloration. Plus the small footprint of the light allows for easy tank maintenance.

Just started moving the corals to my 300g display tank, which has 2 Kessil AP700s; so it's too early for a verdict on this tank...but I like it so far. I'll start a thread on this soon.

 

[Saltine]

SB reef light w/2 Kessils.

 

[reefknight]

Yeah I would like to see a picture along with a lighting schedule if he's got one. Does he run an apex or other controller for the lights?

He uses the Kessil Spectral controller to ramp the LED's through the day. The T5's are simple on/off via Reefkeeper. His is a standard 180g. I'll have to see if I can find a photo to share. I believe that he has the Kessil's up to 80-90% intensity at peak time of the day. T5 lamps are Coral+ & Blue+.

My display is 60"Lx 30"Wx25"H 185g. I'm a firm believer that no one lighting technology is "the best". I don't want to start a debate, just voicing an opinion. Hence, why I am blending T5 & LED. I believe that the Kessil's are about the finest LED available for two reasons. First, they are the most like MH. Being single point light sources. They provide a stable light source, in a defined area. Do they leave shadowed areas? Sure...so did MH and we used VHO or T5 to cover those areas. Second, the proprietary algorithm. Kessil designed the fixture so you could only adjust the intensity or color, but not how much of each channel plays into the overall output. Control is great, but when we begin playing too much we become our worst enemy. Is there a hobbyist reefer that has put more research into mixing the channels for optimal growth conditions than what Kessil has in house? I seriously doubt it and I don't mean to offend anyone. Somethings should be left to professionals. We made huge advancements in reef keeping with metal halide and had nowhere near the control. Lol, I'll put away the proverbial soapbox. Truly I do hope this all helps!

 

[DMan]

Anybody notice that Kessil doesn't show reds very well. I notice comparing to other led units the Kessil seems almost washed out. I've been a long time Kessil user, but my love affair is ending. Just not getting the results I've seen with other fixtures. Another thing I've been noticing lately, especially with the Kessil users is there doesn't seem to be any close ups of their tanks and coral. In not implying anything but makes me wonder

 

[Keepswiming]

I have the new kessil 160 that my buddy gave me on my cube. I am going to start throwing Sps in there so it will be interesting to see how they do. I have yet to see a bright sps tank ran by kessil but I guess I will see. My 125 display is running on 2 radions + 2 T5, all Sps will be coming from it.

 

[radar_17]

• I've got a Kessil AP700 over a 75 gallon mixed reef. All LPS and softies are growing great. I've got several varieties of LPS (favia, goniastrea, acanthastrea, caulastrea, euphyllia) all growing on the bottom of the tank. 4 different types of monti's in the top third growing very quickly (especially capricornus and spongodes), 3 different chalices in the lower third doing very well. 3 different birdsnest corals growing quickly. Just joined the acro world about a month or two ago and my three little frags are all doing well so far ORA Red Planet doing the best, spreading off the plug). The impressive thing to me is the spread from this fixture. I've got consistent light from one end of the tank to the other, with the exception of a bit of a shadow created by the middle support brace (about 3" wide... had the same shadow with other fixtures). Software for iPad allows full control of the light... full dawn/dusk fading, all colors of the rainbow, moon-cycle, acclimation settings, etc... Never owned Radion's or any other controllable LED fixtures so can't offer comparisons. From what I read it would have taken 2 radions to cover a 75 gallon (4 feet long). This one fixture is providing good coverage. I'll try to get a good pic posted later.

 

[brandon429]

heres my closeup, fishbowl+coral and kessil set to mid level blue/white. I agree missing reds as a con for the fixture.

 

[Monster reefer]

They sell red LEDs for cars that could be added just to supplement the red colors lol

 

[Salty1962]

I'm not so much worried about the color as much as growth. The Nuvo 20 is only 13" deep so the light doesn't have that far to go. I downloaded a program on my S5 and I'm getting @8900 to 9200 lux. I don't know yet how to convert that to par so if anyone has the info I'd appreciate it. Or if there is an Android program out there to read direct par I'd like to know what it is. I don't have access to a par meter.
Thx

 

[Monster reefer]

I'm not sure if the phone would give you a good par reading due to in changes under the water.
Most local clubs have a par meter that people can barrow if they are a payed member or just get buddy buddy with the guy who owned one lol

 

[Monster reefer]

The more white over blue you give the corals the better the red colors probably will be better

 

[Reeflogic]

The more white over blue you give the corals the better the red colors probably will be better

But then you lose "pop" which is one of my 3 complaints with Kessils You cannot get true colors of corals / fish and retain the "pop". It's either too white or too blue Again, I'm being nitpicky, because it does look "good", just not what I had hoped for. For instance, I picked up a Nanobox Tide Plus from Nanobox.com and the colors Dave has on his array are the closest LED I've seen to what I had when I was running MH/T5. It's gorgeous, perfect blending and spectrum. I'm thinking it's more of the 400-420 nm range that is missing in Kessils, based on a few other threads here on R2R. But as far as growth, they definitely grow any corals.

 

[Chrisfish]

Not a great picture but I have a kessil 160 and 360 on my 30 gallon and my corals live them.

 

[Monster reefer]

I got in contact with kessil in regards for growing corals they said "For the 4'x3'x2' tank, we recommend 3-4 x A360WE- tuna blue to provide maximum coverage and penetration. The additional ones are to accommodate the width size because one unit covers a 24"x 24". It will also assist with sps corals if you decide to make it dominant."
Also I asked about the 160s waiting on reply.

 

[Salty1962]

I got in contact with kessil in regards for growing corals they said "For the 4'x3'x2' tank, we recommend 3-4 x A360WE- tuna blue to provide maximum coverage and penetration. The additional ones are to accommodate the width size because one unit covers a 24"x 24". It will also assist with sps corals if you decide to make it dominant."
Also I asked about the 160s waiting on reply.

Thx Man!

 

[Josh King]

I have 2 a150s and an Aquaticlife edge. The growth has been good lately with alk and Cal stable.

 

[Monster reefer]

Here's the info on the 160s over the 4'x3'x2' aquarium
"With the 160s, you can place 2 in the front and 2 in the back. The results will not be as fast as the 360s but it will work for a easy mixed reef with few sps."