clearsky57 January 8, 2013 Share January 8, 2013 I have been reading up on Kessil LED lights, specifically the AP350W and the A150W products.. Anyone able to give me any input on these lights. I am planning on changing out my twin 175 wt m/h lights, and want to consider LED options.. thanks david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin January 8, 2013 Share January 8, 2013 i will be tagging along as well. looking at the a150 over my 24 cube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearsky57 January 9, 2013 Author Share January 9, 2013 I was in Daytona Beach this past weekend, and visited with several fish stores while there... One in particular I like to visit, just moved recently into a bigger newer location (Poseidon) and while he is not up completely running, there are still over a dozen salt tanks running.. They are builders and suppliers of RO/DI systems, and have some neat things on their shelves for sale... One thing I picked up was a new (to me dry food) "Sustainable Aquatics" dry Hatchery Diet. .5mm slow sinking pellets I have tried some dry foods on my fish but they didn't really take to them, although I will say they probably get a little spoiled with all the frozen foods, and live b/s.... anyhow, they told me that this is the stuff used in hatchery breeding programs so i decided to buy a bottle.. (4oz bottle/ 7.99) when I got in last night, I decided to feed the tank just a bit before lights out and boy i was pleasantly surprised.... Everyone was eating it, which made me happy... now on the lights.. He just got in the brochures, but said the lights would be in any day..... I wouldn't have bought them just on one persons opinion, especially at the price, but figured I would like to hear from others, and maybe someone that has got them. I know they are new and a newer technology, so I am excited to hear the reports... I was told the par readings are good, so let's see.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 9, 2013 Share January 9, 2013 Aquarium One in Rockville apparently have 3 over their huge tank if you want to see them, according to their Facebook. Also, I think I remember Steve at Quantum reefs saying they had gotten one over their frag tank if you're in VA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khalid January 9, 2013 Share January 9, 2013 I have 6500K Amazon Sun A150W over my 37G Cube marine planted tank and I love it. Hopefully I'll be adding softy frags in in there too soon. I definitely will say it's not as strong as a 175 Watt MH. If you are going to have SPS's high you should be fine and if it's a softy tank you should be ok anywhere in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals January 9, 2013 Share January 9, 2013 Copps had one over his frag tank at the last meeting and it was pretty impressive. Hopefully he chimes in soon and lets us know if he's still happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k January 9, 2013 Share January 9, 2013 David Beasley has 2 of them over his 90. Ask him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearsky57 January 9, 2013 Author Share January 9, 2013 As I don't know most of the people personally, I hope they will catch this thread and ring in...... thanks david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davjbeas January 9, 2013 Share January 9, 2013 I like the kessil lights. zygote2k recommended I try them. I have 2 350W and it was just what I needed. no more need for a chiller as the halides required. They are also so simple. Just put hem on a timer , turn the knobs for both blue/white intensity. hot and cold Parameters are more stable = happy corals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quantum Reefs January 9, 2013 Share January 9, 2013 if this helps, we ordered 2 of the 350W to see what they would look like a couple of months ago. They are hanging above our large frag tank. it's enough to cover a 48x36x16 tank... 16 inches above the water surface. Yep, 2 pendants covering that size tank... all the corals have responded very well since we switched out from our previous led fixtures, great color and shimmering... The Kessils, along with Acan LED Fixtures, have become our LED fixtures of choice and both are highly recommended. We will be stocking both the 350W and the 150Ws (Sky Blue, Ocean Blue, Deep Ocean Blue) along with the goosenecks (which we definitely recommend for a nice clean look). They are on route and should be here by weeks end or early next week. If you'd like to come by and take a look, let us know. We'll have the various units on our tanks so you can determine if they suit your needs as well as they exact color to get. they also have a calculator you can use on their site to see how many fixtures you would need to provide full coverage, although we've seen generally the 350W coverage area is around 30x30 and the 150W is around 24x24 if hung about 12-16 inches above the water surface. http://www.kessil.co..._calculator.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin January 9, 2013 Share January 9, 2013 is it good enough to grow sps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quantum Reefs January 9, 2013 Share January 9, 2013 is it good enough to grow sps? Plenty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearsky57 January 9, 2013 Author Share January 9, 2013 I looked at their calculator, and unless I didn't find the right spot to navigate to, their calculator was set up for the 150's.... However, everyone I have spoken to says the 350s are enough for sps's..... I was interested in any negatives from the folks that have had them for a while now..... I'm not that current on the technology for these type led's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes January 15, 2013 Share January 15, 2013 I picked one up for a nano build (looking for a 14 or a 29g cube, btw ;-)), and I can say that the ocean blue is more like 20k than 14k. Overall, I've heard quite good things from people who don't try to get them to do more than reasonable (1 a150w over a 40g is asking too much IMO). Color of the ocean blue seems to be quite good if you like it blue. Sky blue is quite pretty for a 'white' bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin January 15, 2013 Share January 15, 2013 I picked one up for a nano build (looking for a 14 or a 29g cube, btw ;-)), and I can say that the ocean blue is more like 20k than 14k. Overall, I've heard quite good things from people who don't try to get them to do more than reasonable (1 a150w over a 40g is asking too much IMO). Color of the ocean blue seems to be quite good if you like it blue. Sky blue is quite pretty for a 'white' bulb. i am planning to get the 10k a150 for my 24 g cube. let me know how the corals react to the light when you get your tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS January 15, 2013 Share January 15, 2013 (edited) I'm staring at a 350w over my tank right now. Its on a gooseneck and the head is about 8" above the water. Both the white and blue channels are turned up all the way. My overall thoughts: the color is a nice crisp white. Doesn't have the Radium blue. Light spread is pretty decent. The light cone reaches the front and back of my 30" tall, 24" deep tank. I would need 3 to cover the entire 6' length. There's a good amount of shimmer in the tank. The main problem for me to use this as a primary is that it's not bright enough. The light reaching the bottom seems just enough to keeps things from being dark but I'm guessing only low light corals would survive there. Keep in mind that I'm an SPS guy and normally have 3 400w MHs blasting my tank. If I had to guess, I'd say it's the equivalent light output of a 175w MH bulb. If anyone cares, maybe I'll be motivated to take par readings. Hlem was building some nice lights that I think they would be similar to this unit. They had lots of LEDs clustered and a big lens over them. If you can DIY, it may be worth going that route. For my SPS growing interests, I think the options are either stick with MH or DIY LED. With the DIY, you can space out the individual LEDs and lens them so that you get a nice coverage spread. My current fixture has higher par readings than my new 400w Radiums... Just my 2 cents worth. Edited January 15, 2013 by DaveS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes January 15, 2013 Share January 15, 2013 (edited) To build on what Dave said, another problem with LED pendants is that point-sources introduce a lot of shadowing even if they 'cover' a wide area. If you want to grow LPS/softies, not an issue, but for SPS there will be substantial die-off and it becomes harder to maintain large colonies that still look good. The par readings can be deceiving as well since LED light is often such a narrow band-width. Brightness also typically isn't a great cue, as our eyes are much less sensitive to the deeper blues that LEDs often produce in abundance (no doubt the kessils don't compete with 400w MH, though!) . I think time over corals is the best indicator, and that info is just starting to come in... Edited January 15, 2013 by Wes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k January 16, 2013 Share January 16, 2013 I disagree with this statement -, "If you want to grow LPS/softies, not an issue, but for SPS there will be substantial die-off and it becomes harder to maintain large colonies that still look good." Maybe you actually have never used point-source leds before or any other LED's. I've been using an array of 12) Par 38's over a 90 SPS tank for nearly 3 years and the corals grew faster under these lights than with the 720w of T5/MH combo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes January 16, 2013 Share January 16, 2013 I specifically said "LED pendants;" arrays are different than a single point source since there is substantial overlap from each individual LED. This is definitely not the same as hanging a single kessil. I also just said it becomes harder, though certainly not impossible. I disagree with this statement -, "If you want to grow LPS/softies, not an issue, but for SPS there will be substantial die-off and it becomes harder to maintain large colonies that still look good." Maybe you actually have never used point-source leds before or any other LED's. I've been using an array of 12) Par 38's over a 90 SPS tank for nearly 3 years and the corals grew faster under these lights than with the 720w of T5/MH combo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k January 16, 2013 Share January 16, 2013 So what's the difference if I have one or 12? In the case of 1 bulb or 1 kessil, whatever is directly underneath it will do just fine. Optics play a really big part here too- The wide kessil has a 140 degree lense and if you want more punch from it for deeper corals, then switch to the 60 degree lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes January 16, 2013 Share January 16, 2013 You're absolutely right, whatever is right underneath it will do just fine, but most SPS corals have growth patterns that will shade parts of the colony, typically leading to uneven color and often to die-off of the shaded parts of the colony. It's a natural thing, just not aesthetically pleasing. Natural movement of the sun combined with very large refraction of light from waves makes it happen less on the actual reef, but it certainly does happen even in natural settings. It happens to some degree even in tanks that are lit very broadly as colonies get extremely large. However, it becomes pronounced much more quickly when lighting by a single stationary point-source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearsky57 January 17, 2013 Author Share January 17, 2013 So........... in reading what everyone has said here, is still making me question whether they (Kessil) are the ticket.... I would like to think I don't have to be so fussy as to what I grow, and it would appear as stated earlier, there isn't enough data in yet (long term data that is) to make a qualified judgement, as to whether or not they are "growing" corals... While I like the lower electric bills, and less temperature fluctuations, not having a cooler, I would like to see some more data or for that matter practical experiences before I invest.... I have been hedging on looking into diy project, but there seems to be more success there... david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes January 17, 2013 Share January 17, 2013 While I don't think LEDs yet qualify as "tried and true" like halides or t5s, I have very little doubt they will grow most corals. I think the biggest difficulty is the wide variety of options in LED setups.. I think that the true test is 5+ years under the same fixture. As that becomes more and more common, I think it will become clear that LEDs are the top option. The kessils are sleek and cool, but IMHO not my top choice for a full blown SPS tank. I did decide to use an a150w over a mixed reef nano, however. I also feel like I should say that while I am hesitant to give a 100% endorsement, I'm still choosing LEDs for both of my current builds. By the way, if you have a 3' tank, check out the max spect razor. It seems like about the best option, LED or otherwise, for that size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basser9 January 17, 2013 Share January 17, 2013 The ocean blue has a nice chip mix that really brings out the red and blues well. The problem is you can get a razor for the price of a 350w.......get a razor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 All of Quantum Reefs tanks now use these over the tanks. You have to see they are absolutely amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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