Hi all, up coming soon I'm going to be doing a side by side comparison test on my deep blue 60 gallon frag tank of a kessil a360we( which is currently over 1 side of the tank on the spectural controller) I couldn't find anyone has done a comparison so I figured they both are 900$ for either option on a 24x48x12 tank, the radion will hopefully be in on Friday I'll post some pictures up then
Ecotech xr15 pro vs kessil a360we
- Thread starter Ma_reefer
- Start date
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...B-EA0A-4B94-BA83-CC1933775A88_zpsodcfnjeo.jpg
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...B-B1AE-41FF-B961-8D57AA7A9313_zpshb5zy1fx.jpg
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...8-7325-453E-BB17-638AFE6723DD_zpsntk6lovm.jpg
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...D-2539-4103-BD47-F29C1322CC26_zpsvczio8id.jpg
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...B-C398-4DB4-BC28-B2C89025474C_zpseggfczcr.jpg
Just a few photos left is a kessil a350w and right is a360we the 350 will be replaced by the radion
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...B-B1AE-41FF-B961-8D57AA7A9313_zpshb5zy1fx.jpg
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...8-7325-453E-BB17-638AFE6723DD_zpsntk6lovm.jpg
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...D-2539-4103-BD47-F29C1322CC26_zpsvczio8id.jpg
http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums...B-C398-4DB4-BC28-B2C89025474C_zpseggfczcr.jpg
Just a few photos left is a kessil a350w and right is a360we the 350 will be replaced by the radion
I ended up selling the 360 and keeping my 350 and using that with the radion, I like both (xr15 & a350w) if I was to do it again and buy with the a360we or xr15 it would be the xr15 for 2 reasons:
1) programmability: the kessil spectural controller is nice but very lacking I was hoping you could turn down lower before it powers off. it seemed brighter than with just the knobs.
2) customer support : I contacted kessil to get the power supply replaced since the connection went bad on it, and you have to email them you can't just pick up the phone and talk to some one all done via email. I had my vortec pump worked on and ecotech was to notch to deal with.
3) growth of corals: either one grew corals great in my tank and am happy with the spectrums available from both so that's a tie for me neither had a huge margin of growth over the other
I have a maxi mini carpet anemone, a dersa clam, candy cane corals, zoas, montipora cap, montipora digitata. I have it programmed to the max growth setting. Did you set it to acclimation mode when you got the light?
No when I first got the light I due I Admit I neglected that my taught but LFS have all corals under radions. I did have mine on the setting for max growth running for 10hrs @ 45%. I recently went and changed to radiance setting for same time and intensity, after talking to a bunch of people I am still on radiance setting with same time and intensity though lights run 20k through 14k and then back in reverse of the day. I don't know maybe I already did the damage I just worry about buying more corals to just bleach them out. I do have a BTA in the tank that stays near the bottom of the tank which leads me to think lights maybe to strong still but I'm not sure .
Any updates from you guy's on these two? I have the A150w Ocean Blue atm. My hawkfish hides all day but the clowns swim around. I want to get a light for mostly the anemones but also want something that will work well for corals. I'm okay with the blue white of the Ocean Blue but would like to see more accurate colors. So am looking for either the a360we or the xr15. I've heard that radions grow better and the Kessils look good but the growth isn't as good. Most reviews I've been looking at compair the Radion Pro the $700 unit but not paying that much.
My tank size is 24" wide 12" from front to back and 16" with actual water depth is about 13". Looking for links to either reviews or some objective comparisons. Not just I like this or think this is better but concrete info and observations. How does the disco ball effect show on the xr15 vs the 360 etc.
Thank you,
My tank size is 24" wide 12" from front to back and 16" with actual water depth is about 13". Looking for links to either reviews or some objective comparisons. Not just I like this or think this is better but concrete info and observations. How does the disco ball effect show on the xr15 vs the 360 etc.
Thank you,
fitnessitalia
Member
FYI- When I called Kessil they answered on first ring, no auto messaging and the helped me troube shoot
The xr15pro is around 450 I think you might have been looking at the xr30 for 700 IMO you should be able to use a 15 over your tank especially with the water depth you have. That being said there are cheaper alts if you are only going to have anemones all depends what you plan to have in the future. My plan is to have sps someday so that's why I went with the more expensive lighting system
Well I don't have a ton of room so I was thinking about one of each type. I have a GSP for the polyp, I'd like maybe a green toadstool for the softie, Thinking maybe a bubble unless something else is interesting for the LPS. Don't want something that's going to put sweepers all over. I know the bubble has them but it's short. And one or two SPS preferably ones that move. Maybe like a stylophora or pocillopora I think they are called. Then the anemones. I could ditch the LPS and softie though.
Anyways with that for the lights I don't like the brown. I have a lot of green algae I'm working on the phosphates but it all looks brown and is hard to see what's going on in there. The tank looks very different when I put a spot light on. So I'm looking to have that deep dark blue in the evening, a moon light, and then white during the day. The Kessil white looks about as natural as I can tell but the Radion looks like the colors are almost cartoonie they pop so much which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But in the case of these I'd prefer to do whatever is best for the growth of the anemones. But I do have some cyano left and I've heard that 6500k or LEDs with Red can produce cyano. Which the Kessil doesn't have red LEDs so the red comes from the white. So I don't know which will better for the Anemones.
I'm hoping that the Radion can produce the same type of white light but also do the night light which the Kessil can not. I don't care about lightening or anything like that so that's not a factor. Almost all the amazing display tanks I see online like NewYork Steelo and Mr. Saltwater tank are almost exclusively running Radions so I'm guessing that the Radions can definitly do what I'm looking for. Dunno I don't want buyers remorse. But yes I'm looking at the a360we and the xr15 pro.
I should only need one puck. However the other added advantage with the xr30pro difference only being price and the extra puck if in the future I could buy another one and I'd only be out 150 bucks and the pucks would be in separate cases so could be placed better then having them both in the same xr30 casing.
Sorry for rambling this is just my current thoughts on these two fixtures. The two things I really want to know is what will be healthier for the Nems and coral and B how bad is the disco ball effect on the radion.
Anyways with that for the lights I don't like the brown. I have a lot of green algae I'm working on the phosphates but it all looks brown and is hard to see what's going on in there. The tank looks very different when I put a spot light on. So I'm looking to have that deep dark blue in the evening, a moon light, and then white during the day. The Kessil white looks about as natural as I can tell but the Radion looks like the colors are almost cartoonie they pop so much which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But in the case of these I'd prefer to do whatever is best for the growth of the anemones. But I do have some cyano left and I've heard that 6500k or LEDs with Red can produce cyano. Which the Kessil doesn't have red LEDs so the red comes from the white. So I don't know which will better for the Anemones.
I'm hoping that the Radion can produce the same type of white light but also do the night light which the Kessil can not. I don't care about lightening or anything like that so that's not a factor. Almost all the amazing display tanks I see online like NewYork Steelo and Mr. Saltwater tank are almost exclusively running Radions so I'm guessing that the Radions can definitly do what I'm looking for. Dunno I don't want buyers remorse. But yes I'm looking at the a360we and the xr15 pro.
I should only need one puck. However the other added advantage with the xr30pro difference only being price and the extra puck if in the future I could buy another one and I'd only be out 150 bucks and the pucks would be in separate cases so could be placed better then having them both in the same xr30 casing.
Sorry for rambling this is just my current thoughts on these two fixtures. The two things I really want to know is what will be healthier for the Nems and coral and B how bad is the disco ball effect on the radion.
slief
RC Sponsor
The brightness comparison is misleading. The Kessils have much of their spectrum focused on 420nm + including UV spectrum. Much of that range is where most of most of the photosynthesis occurs in corals but isn't as visible to the human eye. Thus the appearance of the Radion being brighter. That doesn't mean that it puts out the same amount of light watt for watt, most particularly where the corals need it. The Radions include a host of colors that are meant to please the eye but aren't necessarily very useful let alone needed for corals but instead are used to make certain colors in corals pop. That's no knock on the Radions because they are great lights and very worthy of consideration. That said, an XR30 pro would be a much better comparison from a PAR standpoint because there is more to this comparison than meets the eye.
tonymission
New member
I'm a T5 MH guy and my wife has a radion above her 30g cube and I've snuck a bunch of SPS in there... You can definitely do anything with them. Nice growth and great color.
I'm going to use them with the arm mounts on my long shallow sexy display tank when we move
I'm going to use them with the arm mounts on my long shallow sexy display tank when we move
Reviving this to ask a question.
Seems like the radion offers better coloration / control and the Kessil offers a smaller form factor and more MH simulation (Sparkle/shimmer/point source).
Can anyone speak to the trade-offs here? How much sparkle/shimmer do you get from the radion? Is there any disco? Does the kessil have a standard LED spectral profile? (strong drop in cyan / boost in yellow+green)
Hoping to hear more about the different qualities of the light produced by these units.
Seems like the radion offers better coloration / control and the Kessil offers a smaller form factor and more MH simulation (Sparkle/shimmer/point source).
Can anyone speak to the trade-offs here? How much sparkle/shimmer do you get from the radion? Is there any disco? Does the kessil have a standard LED spectral profile? (strong drop in cyan / boost in yellow+green)
Hoping to hear more about the different qualities of the light produced by these units.
I ended up going with the xr15. Excellent light. I use the Apex controller to control it. It is very customizable however I only control intensity and color temperature that you'd be able to do the exact same thing with the Kessil. While the storm feature is neat when you first get it, it becomes annoying extremely quickly. There is there a bit of disco but you'll see it only on flat areas of white sand. I have black sand so can't see it at all on that and I don't see it on the rocks. Maybe if your rocks are new clean white. But after stuff grows on them you'll never see it.
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