Shimmer on Kessil vs Radion

[JTreef]

I own both types. My main display is lit by radions.
My sons tank has a kessil.
In my experience, and this is with frags from the colony that was in my display. LPS do better under kessils. Always more plumped and more polyp extension than under my radions. I don't mind the shimmer, but did not like that you basically only have two colors to choose from.
Also the radions have more light spread and more intensity.

My experience exactly. On a 24" cube (lps & zoa dominated) what I would go with hands down. Shimmer was a plus for me. A screen top to keep fish in minimized this somewhat

 

[rbrtio]

Wow, thanks for all of the replies everyone.

It seems this decision is more personal preference as it seems that both lights work very well.

 

[GoVols]

Wow, thanks for all of the replies everyone.

It seems this decision is more personal preference as it seems that both lights work very well.

+1

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

Love my kessil shimmer. In process of switching tanks and got a wide footprint 80 gallon shallow reef. Not only is the shimmer in tank awesome (to me), but the show on the entire living room and ceiling from surface reflection is pretty intense as well.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

 

[djrice69]

You can have less shimmer by adjusting your surface movement with your powerhead. I love the kessil shimmer looks more natural then disco balls

 

[Foxy-88]

I have the new radion xr15s. The do look a little disco ballish but I love them and the work great with all my lps corals. I had a toad stool in my tank for a little bit and it hated the lights. My other soft coral like some mushroom and a green star polyp were opened the most I ever saw and they bounced between 2 other tanks. I sold all those and tried them out with a sps coral. It responded very will to the lights also. However yesterday I just finished my 4 bulb t5 hybrid with the 2 xr15s over my 75. Best of both worlds. Here's some pics of the shimmer.

It blended it all more with t5s but I still get a little shimmer and it really makes the tank look alive still. The picture below is with the t5 led hybrid. The shimmer is just a little less. Good luck in your decision!!!

 

[shred5]

Kessils have shimmer that no other leds can match because of the tightness of the clusters. Farther apart the leds in the cluster the more you get the colored disco effect.
The shimmer on the kessils can be controlled by how much surface agitation you have. No surface agitation no shimmer. Kessils have shimmer about the same as halides. Kessil take the control-ability away because it just confuses people and one reason you see so many fails with leds.

What I find funny is with the loss of halides people hated to loose shimmer. Now it is distracting.. Shimmer is natural.

 

[Foxy-88]

Kessils have shimmer that no other leds can match because of the tightness of the clusters. Farther apart the leds in the cluster the more you get the colored disco effect.
The shimmer on the kessils can be controlled by how much surface agitation you have. No surface agitation no shimmer. Kessils have shimmer about the same as halides. Kessil take the control-ability away because it just confuses people and one reason you see so many fails with leds.

What I find funny is with the loss of halides people hated to loose shimmer. Now it is distracting.. Shimmer is natural.

Plus with kessils you have one lense so to speak and the new radions have a little over 20 that are rounded to help diffuse light but I think the kessils when on diffusion of their leds

 

[djrice69]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10102234041325377&id=30609025

Quick live video I did last night with the lights

 

[rbrtio]

Interesting, so from what you are saying the Kessil shimmer looks like halides? I am familiar with that look and didn't find it bothersome at all.

On a different note, given the shallow dimensions of the tank 12" and the 24" width, if I went the Kessil route, would the A160 be sufficient? Buying the A360 and running it at 30% seems wasteful if the A160 at 60% will get the job done. All of the reviews and documentation indicate they have the same spread and it is just the power output that differs.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

I'm using the 160s on a 48x24x16. Coverage is fine when empty. I'll see tomorrow after transfer and actually see if shadowing an issue. But I think for my application they'll work just fine.

 

[rbrtio]

I'm using the 160s on a 48x24x16. Coverage is fine when empty. I'll see tomorrow after transfer and actually see if shadowing an issue. But I think for my application they'll work just fine.

Nice, share your thoughts after you have everything settled.

 

[rbrtio]

There seems to be no problems with A160s on this tank. The coloration looks good as well.

 

[nervousmonkey]

I personally like Kessils, but run them with an ATI fixture so the shimmer is not as strong. For your tank though, I'd say the Radions would be a better fit. Better yet, the halide hybrid from @Reefbrite would look awesome, esp with the twin arc 20K bulb and dimmable ballasts for the halides. They have that beautiful distinct ReefBrite blue for pop, plus the 20K bulb puts out a spectacular spectrum. You'll be able to grow anything you want with that fixture, and it's cheaper than the Radions or the Kessil.

 

[Mnk9569]

That's what I played with as well on mine surface agitation definitely make the shimmer more then less water movement at surface also the major verses the minor diffuser s both work different on the amount of shimmer I have a set of both

 

[rbrtio]

Hmm... I'm about convinced to use the A160s for my tank and add a second if necessary down the road if I start having shading issues.

I expect that with a 12" depth this will will be successful.

 

[pugcrush]

Hello everyone!

I am in the process of setting up a new tank, an IM Lagoon 25 (24" wide x 12" high, x 20" deep) , and I am trying to decide on lighting. I am planning to keep LPS primarily with a few soft and SPS.

I am comparing the XR15W G4 Pro vs the A360W-E.

In my research I have seen indications of "disco ball" on the Radions and "annoying shimmer" on the Kessil units. It is difficult to decipher what generations of Radions this is referencing though.

I am looking for feedback on both of the reported "issues" as I don't have the opportunity to see these in person before ordering.

Your feedback would be appreciated!

Any of your LFS have their tanks running with these lights?

The new radion really has come along way. IMO, the disco ball is no longer in play b/c the color blending is so much better. If you look close & at the water line, you can see the individual led's but it is so much better than the previous generations. Kessil still has the best color blending. The kessil shimmer is great. I think video exponentially magnifies the shimmer, similar to the statements on surface agitation. It is very natural in person IMO. But it's best to see the lights in person if you can.

I have a a360we on a 30x24x16 for about 2+ years. Softies have done great under the light. Anything stony has been touchy, but some of that has to do with husbandry.

I've been using a radion xr15 pro gen 4 on a reefer 170 for 3 months. I really like it so far. Everything has been taking off. I haven't had a chance to get a par meter to compare the two but visually, the radion packs a bigger punch.

IMG_2549 by FeedThatReefAddiction, on Flickr

 

[ca1ore]

I'm using both Kessils and Radion Gen4 over my main display. They're quite different lights. I'm also a running a kessil a80 over a IM 10. Looks terrific. I'd def use a 160 over the IM 24.

 

[rbrtio]

@pugcrush is the disco ball effect as apparent in real life as it is in your video?