Kessil A360X light setting recommendations

[SixtyFeetUnder]

I’m new to Kessils and coming off old cheap LEDs. The lights put off a spectacular shimmer and I’m quite pleased with the cleaner look and performance so far.

 

But one complaint is that the spectral x controller gives very minimal instruction. Ok you have a preset and an acclimation setting, yahoo. Is that preset for softies or high or SPS? Zero recommendations on mounting height in reference to tank depth - seems like including a simple chart here would be a good product marketing move.

 

I have a 75g, 21” deep, mixed reef. Sps up top, LPS and ricordea near the sand bed. The LPS and softies seem very malleable to high or low light. In planning for the sps With these lights I know I need to get a PAR meter (anyone have a cost effective recommendation or used one I’m all ears).

 

But that all said does anyone have experience with kessils and a recommended intensity set up over a photo period that has worked for them? Thanks for any thoughts.

 

 

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[madweazl]

The club has a PAR meter you can borrow/rent with a small wait list. With that said, I have the same tank with Kessils and can eliminate most of the guesswork for you. I'm assuming you have two Kessils? The new X model has a very wide angle lens and will cast light outside your tank at any height 2" over the tank. This results in a lot of wasted light that cant be reflected off the glass back on to your corals. The downside here is twofold; you lose PAR and you lose the reflected light that helps illuminate the shaded areas of corals. With that said, you cant really mount the light low enough to eliminate this as it will almost be in the water. 

 

From a PAR perspective, the X produces the most intensity at 50% color setting (regardless of intensity setting). This has to do with the way Kessil logic works (it turns banks of emitters on/off based on color and intensity but 50% color always produces the most PAR). Mount the light 5-6" off the water. 

 

PAR map based on two A360WE which actually produce slightly higher PAR at the same mounting height (but roughly equivalent). 

Notes:
1) Location 3 is centered under one light right to left but not front to back (approx 4" behind the center line front to back).
2) Locations 6 is very close to the center of the tank (left to right and front to back).
3) The lights are centered over the tank front to back and 15" apart (7.5" left and right of center).
4) The lights are mounted 5" above the water line.
5) There is a bit of light spillage on all viewing sides of the aquarium so the lights could be mounted closer to the water to increase PAR values without losing coverage.
6) PAR values were measured on our local clubs Apogee MQ-500 with full spectrum sensor using an immersion correction factor of 1.32.
7) Standard 75g Marineland aquarium 48"x18"x21" (LxWxH).
8) Two Kessil A360WE with two 54w T5s on LET retrofit (Blue+/Coral+)
9) MP40s set to feed mode while measurements were taken.
10) Return from sump remained on but has fairly low flow and doesn't agitate water surface much.
11) Kessil H80 mounted 8" above refugium produced 132 PAR just under the surface directly under the light.

 

Some A360X specific data points.

 

Dont put much thought in to the PAR levels, they were collected in a manner inconsistent with how you'll be using them. The reason the PAR is higher for the X model in that table is because it was mounted 3" lower than the WE. Mounting height has a huge impact on Kessil PAR levels and anything over 6" comes at a huge loss; mounting the light at 9" will reduce PAR by 50%. 

 

Once we went acropora dominant, I decided to add some more light but couldnt add a third Kessil because the tank had a center brace so I decided to supplement with T5s (PAR map below). 

Notes:
1) Location 3 is centered under one light right to left but not front to back (even with top of rocks on the back side of these two corals).
2) Locations 6 is very close to the center of the tank left to right (a couple inches closer to the front glass front to back).
3) The Kessils are centered over the tank front to back and 18.5" apart (9.25" left and right of center).
4) The fixture is mounted 6" above the water line.
5) There is a bit of light spillage on all viewing sides of the aquarium so the lights could be mounted closer to the water to increase PAR values without losing coverage.
6) PAR values were measured on our local clubs Apogee MQ-500 with full spectrum sensor using an immersion correction factor of 1.32.
7) Standard 75g Marineland aquarium 48"x18"x21" (LxWxH).
8) Two Kessil A360WE (60% color) with four 54w T5s in a 48" Aquatic Life Hybrid fixture (2 Blue+, 1 AquaBlue Special, and 1 Purple+)
9) 16" side rails mounted on the Aquatic Life to narrow the unit 2" from how it ships.
10) MP40s set to feed mode while measurements were taken.
11) Return from sump remained on but has fairly low flow and doesn't agitate water surface much.
12) Hybrid column represents the Aquatic Life fixture with only the T5 on.
13) LET column represents past results of the LET T5 retrofit kit for comparison.
14) The LET retrofit had two 54w T5s (1 Blue+ and 1 Coral+ at the time).

[SixtyFeetUnder]

This was an outstanding answer madweazl; gave me more than I could have hoped for to think on. I am still acclimating them and have them 10” over so I will slowly lower them. After the acclimation period is over.

What do you run your intensity levels at during your photoperiod? With how detailed your charts on regarding PAR do you have a handy snapshot or chart of your color and intensity settings by hour?


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[madweazl]

Color ramps from 0% to 50% two hours in the morning and back down two hours in the evening. Intensity ramps from 0% to 70% for six hours and then back down to 0% but I supplement T5s for eight hours as well so you'll have to figure out what you want to do in that regard based on desired PAR.