Kessil A350

[jerpa]

This is just simply not true, and it is statements like this that made me set my expectations too high and resulted in my general disappointment with the output of the Kessil. :headwallblue: Have you ever actually seen a Kessil 350, or a 400W halide for that matter? It absolutely pales in comparison to a 400W MH...

In my opinion even calling it equivalent to a 250 is a long stretch. To be clear, all 250W halides are certainly not created equal. I was using DE 250W Phoenix 14k bulbs on Bluewave HQI ballasts. Based on both my PAR measurements and just simple visual comparison it falls short of my prior 250W halide setup.

I agree with you to a point. The Kessil is not as visually bright as a 250W MH, it is supposed to grow coral effectively over the same areas/depth a good 250W MH setup would. I havent had the new one long enough to verify this but my Kessil A150 replaced a 150W 10k metal halide with 2x65W PC actinic supplements. It didn't look as bright but growth was identical and I thought it improved the colors.

I would argue that comparing par numbers between LEDs and MH are apples to oranges. We already know blue is greatly underrepresented by the Apogee meter and part of the selling point of LEDs is that we are getting more useable PAR by focusing on specific wavelengths conducive to growth and color. This is part of the reason LEDs appear dimmer while frying peoples corals. Speaking from experience I have gotten decent growth from several Montipora in an area of my tank that received less than 50 PAR from the Kessil A150.

 

[joelespinoza]

I would argue that comparing par numbers between LEDs and MH are apples to oranges. We already know blue is greatly underrepresented by the Apogee meter and part of the selling point of LEDs is that we are getting more useable PAR by focusing on specific wavelengths conducive to growth and color. This is part of the reason LEDs appear dimmer while frying peoples corals. Speaking from experience I have gotten decent growth from several Montipora in an area of my tank that received less than 50 PAR from the Kessil A150.

This^

For as long as reef tanks have been in existance the thing to strive for is more light. As long as you can keep the temp down and can afford the electric bill keep keep that sucker as bright as you can.

Now with LEDs thats not actually the case, especially with modular setups. So you are not sure if 1 will get it done, so what? Have the money in the bank for 2, but buy only 1 and try it out.

You can fry a coral in a couple hours with too much light, but how long is it going to take to harm a healthy coral if it is getting 50-75% of what it needs for good growth? The answer to that most usually is quite a while. Start low, and see how the corals respond, if in a couple days they all look good, give it a couple weeks and see how growth is.

Its totally contrary to Reef Lighting mentality, but with LED lighting, often less is more.

That being said, I think my DIY light is comming apart soon to have the optics removed and some LEDs taken out.

 

[Toadally]

Here lately I've been rethinking the whole thing about how much light. It's my thinking that you can have too much light, of course depending on the animals you're trying to keep. I'm currently running a fixture over my 57 Illuminata with 2 x 250 and 2 x 39 watt T5's. I'm going to down grade to 2 x 150's soon. My tank is all SPS and the colors have paled and growth has all but stopped. Now I'm sure there will be some people that will disagree and say that there are too many variables to pin the problem on lighting. But nothing has really changed since I went from an ATI Sunpower to MH. One thing that got me thinking in this direction is that I cut the lighting period by three hours and my coral has started to show better colors. I guess time will tell.

 

[Nanook]

Don't forget that it sometimes takes a few months for corals to adjust to major changes like lighting.

 

[inktomi]

Here is a shot of my 150 gallon with two A350Ws that I installed last night. They seem to give good coverage! They are each centered above the tank front - to - back, and 15" in from each end (60" tank length). That gives a 30" space between the two lights, and they seem to have no dead spots with that arrangement.

They are approximately 7 or 8 inches above the water level.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HKeEcH3yY1M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sharkdog22]

So now that the lights have been out a few months how are they doing? How many people on here have them? Im looking at getting some but Im doing the long long dance with research beast and would love to have more feed back on the people who actually own/owned the 350s. not the 150. also what size tank are they on and what are the dimensions of it? and can you post lot and lots of pictures of them please.

 

[mike&kel]

Great coverage!

 

[jerpa]

I owned the 150's but upgraded to two A350w. It's only been a little over a week but I'm pleased. I'm at about 60% power. It's a bit too blue on full power for me but I like my tank less blue than most. It's early but the corals have responded well so far.

 

[Sharkdog22]

jerpa what tank is that on and what are the dimensions? and can you post pictures, lots of them please lol

 

[gb530]

Took these with my phone so quality isn't that great but here are pics of my new standard 90g tank with 2 Kessil 350W. I have not placed any corals under them yet, so I cant talk much about growth but they're very clean! The pictures make the light look bluer than they really are. However they're still a little blue for my taste too but turning down the blue a little solves that (like Jerpa said). It does really depend on your taste of light because my friend said if he had these he would turn down the white to have more blue (for more color pop)

^^Both blue and white LED's turned all the way up^^

^^Blue turned completely down, white only^^

^^White turned completely down, blue only^^

^^Close up of the Kessil^^

^^Close up of the Kessil^^

^^Color looks great on the True Percula (Burton)^^

 

[jerpa]

jerpa what tank is that on and what are the dimensions? and can you post pictures, lots of them please lol

I have them over a standard 120(4x2x2). They are mounted ~4" above water level. White at 100% and blue at about 50%. I only have one pic and it is a cell phone camera.

 

[Sharkdog22]

im loving them thanks for the pictures, if you got more keep them coming. You guys are making my choice in buying one of these easier but then on the other hand harder because now I got to figure out do I want the A350 or the 350W??? humm not sure lol. I think for my frag tank im gonig to toss one of them on there and see how they do before I toss it on my 300DD. The frag tank is a 30g dimen 24x24x12. any thoughts anyone?

 

[sfmacguy]

Here's my a350w on my RSM250. Apologize for the cellphone pics.

 

[gb530]

For you frag tank, I would get the A350W. You will have some spillover light but the A350 would be to much on such a shallow tank. The A350W covers a 3ft by 3ft area up to 24in deep.

However it sounds like you will eventually be putting them on your 300, how deep is your 300? .... if its more than 24in then I would go with the A350 and when testing them out on your 30g frag tank, just turn down the output of light.

 

[jerpa]

I have one of my old A150's over a frag tank that exact size. The 350 would be overkill IMO but if you go that way get the wide version. For the 300DD I would go with the narrow lens and more units if you're going SPS dominant. For a mixed reef I would go with the wides.

 

[Sharkdog22]

ya im not to worried about the over spill on the light cause the 30g will be right next to and plummed together (dimensions on the 300dd is 72x36x27 by the way). But if I end up going with the 350s for the big tank im thinking about going with 6 - 350w and then maybe 2 of the A350 in the middle. but we will have to see on that and have to start saving for it too lol. but its way cheaper than going with maxspect or radions.

 

[gb530]

Yeah I would get the A350 for that size tank. I was on the border of getting the A350 with my standard 90g (24in deep).... and when on the frag tank, turn them down some.

 

[chuckbuc]

Gb 530 did u go with the 350 or 350w I hVe a 120 gallon which is 24 inches deep I run halides but have a fee dead spots I figured get one of the kessils for the dead spot but I'm not sure if I should go with the wide version I have mostly sps and chalices whatta u think ? Also concider if I like them I may dump the halides and go all kessil how many would I need on my 120 its 48x24x.24 ,and what angle reg or wide

 

[jerpa]

I have 2 wides on my 120 and expect them to be sufficient for SPS. I do have mine mounted very close to the water however. If your planning on having them more than 10"+ I would go with the regular otherwise the spread probably won't he great.

Sharkdog I think 6 regulars would be sufficient. You will only be covering a 24"x18" square with each one. I think 8 would be more than is necessary. You can always buy more but I would start with 6.

 

[chuckbuc]

24 x18 is the regular ones and 24x24 is the wide angle spread ? Is that realistic or just sugar they recommend I know manafacturers alway say more than it really is .my tank is mostly sps