Lol...I'm not the one with the problem. I was just offering a suggestion lol
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Kessil AP 700 Owners Gather Here!
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Lol...I'm not the one with the problem. I was just offering a suggestion lol
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I find that the T5s provide a much nicer viewing experience mid-day. The Kessils are awesome, but one drawback is they tend to always look dim. When the T5s come on, it gives a nice period of time for the tank as a whole to really pop. And then at night with the AP700 only in deep blue, you get the awesome glow. I am using Coral+ bulbs and they look pretty great. You may want to try 1xC+ and 1xB+... I've heard that combination is perfect.
Unfortunately you can dial up the whites or add green to trick your eyes as much as you want, but an AP700 still will never look as bright as 2 36" T5 bulbs. It's all subjective of course so I am not dismissing your personal taste, just want to clarify that you can't get the same visual brightness from the AP700 than you can from T5. I find having them together to be a nice balance of excellent visibility while still looking natural.
vhuang168
New member
And that's what I don't like about T5s. It's bright because there is so much spillage.
As for natural, if you've ever been diving you'll know a real reef never looks like that. So it depends on what is 'natural'. How you see everyday things or how a natural reef looks.
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As for natural, if you've ever been diving you'll know a real reef never looks like that. So it depends on what is 'natural'. How you see everyday things or how a natural reef looks.
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I'm an experienced diver, so leave your assumptions to yourself!
The Kessils do look natural to a point, but the fact that it's a small box of water causes the shimmer to be too over-the-top. I find that the T5s help to offset the unnatural "glimmer" and you end up with a nice appearance. Again, it's personal taste so I'm not discounting that. If you could somehow magically create a situation where the surface of your tank moved like the ocean, then the Kessils would be a perfect replication... but that's not possible. If the natural reefs looked like what you get from the AP700 in an aquarium, divers would be having seizures under water. It'd be incredibly overwhelming.
I have the slight diffusion lenses and those did a good job of slowing things down. The problem with them is that they had an impact on both PAR and visual brightness that was noticeable. I don't think the PAR was really a problem, but it really made me crave a different option visually. Now I have the AP700 without the lenses, flanked by a T5 on each side. It's pretty nice IMO. I don't have a crazy amount of turbulence but I do like my return nozzles to create some agitation. My Vortechs don't impact surface agitation too much because I keep them at 40%.
You are claiming its subjective then stating your opinion as fact. Some like the Kessil look and think it looks natural and some like the supplement of t5s and think that looks natural.
On another note, I've seen shimmer on shallow reefs make the Kessil look like an Led powered by a watch battery.
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I'm building a floating canopy for my AP700 + T5s. It should look a bit cleaner, but most importantly will eliminate the spilled light that is a bit intense when sitting on the couch not too far away. I'm just building a basic box out of 1x10s with a plywood top (the top will never be seen) and staining it slate. It'll be 40"x20"x10" which will leave room to add more lights in the future if I want. I'm not a wood worker by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I can do this well enough to pass the sniff test. Key words: "I think..." 
Will post pics as it is completed!
Will post pics as it is completed!
What did you use to hang the canopy?
choseneball
New member
I've been trying to figure out if the kessil ap700 would be enough for a 75 gallon mixed reef tank . does anyone run just one for this tank?
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LQT
Active member
Ninjamyst, who chimed in earlier in this thread and who posts all the time on nano - reef runs an AP700 over his a RedSea Reefer 350, which is nearly the same dimensions as a standard 75. His is mixed Reef with a good amount of SPS looks absolutely stunning. He's got a bunch of FTSs in his build thread over there.
choseneball
New member
I have a reefer 425xl and the AP700 lights it up perfectly. I just added T5s as an experiment.
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