Dump Kessil or get more?

[Adillis]

So I currently have 2 Kessil 360we over my 75g 48"x18"x20" with a center brace. I'm having some issues with shading around the base of my acros, and worried that this is either going to cause issues or that I may not have enough light overall. I have them 11" above the water in an effort to eliminate shadows, but it doesn't eliminate them.

I was considering picking up a third Kessil for the center of my tank to help alleviate this issue, but the thought crossed my mind to ditch them altogether and just go with a T5 setup. I don't really want to supplement the Kessils with T5 lighting as I would rather just keep a single type of light if possible.

I saw where there were older threads were people mentioned having the same lights, but nothing recent that I found to know how it worked out. If anyone has been using these lights for any length of time to know how well they grow acros I would appreciate some feedback.

 

[PatrikD]

I have grown several acros in a 65 g tank with two Kessil at 100% intensity for a year. Good growth and colors for most of them. I'm also using FM zeolight.

To eliminate shadowing I use a light mover. Since two months I'm trying T5 also. I see a little better coloring in red and pink but I think this is simply because there's more red light in my T5 tubes.

 

[C.Eymann]

So I currently have 2 Kessil 360we over my 75g 48"x18"x20" with a center brace. I'm having some issues with shading around the base of my acros, and worried that this is either going to cause issues or that I may not have enough light overall. I have them 11" above the water in an effort to eliminate shadows, but it doesn't eliminate them.

I was considering picking up a third Kessil for the center of my tank to help alleviate this issue, but the thought crossed my mind to ditch them altogether and just go with a T5 setup. I don't really want to supplement the Kessils with T5 lighting as I would rather just keep a single type of light if possible.

I saw where there were older threads were people mentioned having the same lights, but nothing recent that I found to know how it worked out. If anyone has been using these lights for any length of time to know how well they grow acros I would appreciate some feedback.

If this is an open top tank I understand your reluctance towards adding T5 as it can take away from the clean look of having kessils hanging over the tank but it can make a world of difference and would the cheapest and easiest way to remedy your problem.

 

[Adillis]

If this is an open top tank I understand your reluctance towards adding T5 as it can take away from the clean look of having kessils hanging over the tank but it can make a world of difference and would the cheapest and easiest way to remedy your problem.

It is an open top tank.

 

[C.Eymann]

If this going to be a predominantly SPS tank with Acros especially

I would either

A. Sell the Kessils and get a nice high quality T5 fixture.or maybe find someone who's up to trade

B. Build your own hybrid fixture by basically making a wood box, and suspend that from the ceiling by wire hanging kit. Mount kessils and some T5 retrofits in there with good reflectors. Think low profile suspended canopy, trim it out and paint to look nice. Seen it done, looks cleaner than kessils on goose necks if done right.

Could also use a ice cap vho ballast to over drive the T 5s, not sure if people still do that anymore, will definitely give them more punch, but bulbs will need to replaced more often and running some muffin fans mounted on the side of your DIY suspended canopy blowing down the length of the bulbs would be wise.

Just my .02

 

[Adillis]

That's a bit disappointing since I like the Kessils so much.

 

[C.Eymann]

That's a bit disappointing since I like the Kessils so much.

Thats why If it were me I would incorporate them into a DIY suspended canopy /fixture

 

[Adillis]

The only way I could do something like that would be to have it stand on the tank somehow since I rent the place I'm living in and can't start hanging things from the ceiling.

 

[C.Eymann]

Ah, gotcha. Could add 2 more kessils and angle them a bit. I'll let other all LED SPS keepers give more suggestions with that route though.

 

[Adillis]

Ah, gotcha. Could add 2 more kessils and angle them a bit. I'll let other all LED SPS keepers give more suggestions with that route though.

I don't mind at all buying more to put over the tank. I just wanted to know if with more Kessil fixtures if I would have sufficient light for acros, before I went out buying more for no reason.

Also if I add a third one to my setup then I should be able to lower them closer to the water since I'll have better coverage.

 

[WaReefer458]

I have a 40b I started with 1 360. Hated it so I bought a second one. Still hate it. I'm 1000$ into lighting a 40 gallon tank and still unhappy. If I could do it all over again I would have just went t5. You don't get the shimmer but it sure cuts the shenanigans out of it and it's a plug and play light. For about 500$ I could have just gone t5 and been done with it. I'm not going to say they don't work but you have to have so many to get the coverage that it really isn't worth it as stand alone lighting. When I go up to a 200dd later I'm just going to add a t5 6 bulb fixture and use the kessils for ramping.

 

[Adillis]

I have a 40b I started with 1 360. Hated it so I bought a second one. Still hate it. I'm 1000$ into lighting a 40 gallon tank and still unhappy. If I could do it all over again I would have just went t5. You don't get the shimmer but it sure cuts the shenanigans out of it and it's a plug and play light. For about 500$ I could have just gone t5 and been done with it. I'm not going to say they don't work but you have to have so many to get the coverage that it really isn't worth it as stand alone lighting. When I go up to a 200dd later I'm just going to add a t5 6 bulb fixture and use the kessils for ramping.

I did some playing around with the 2 kessils that I have now putting them both on one side of the tank to simulate how it would look if I had 4 across the tank. I was pretty happy with it since it eliminated the shadows on my acros on that half of the tank. At this point I'm thinking I'm just gonna order 2 more and have 4 360we across my tank.