Kessil, Can I get away with one?

MoxVoid

New member
Hello all!

This is my first post at reef central! I have been reading the forums here for a long time, and have been participating in some local general aquarium forums in my area, but I decided that I wanted to get involved in a primarily saltwater community with a wide reach.

I have read through the very long original post about the Kessil A350w/350 that you have here, and while it had a ton of good information it didn't mention my somewhat odd ball tank dimensions.

I recently upgraded from a 20 gallon Long to a Fluval Osaka 260, (68gallon) 41 long, 17.5 wide, and 24 deep aquarium.

I also have a single Kessil A350W arriving sometime tomorrow. Currently the tank is lit with a single Fluval Sea 24-34" led bar, laid across the top at an angle.

My question is: because I have heard about how strong the kessils are (most people run them at 50%) I was wondering if it would be possible, to hang the single Kessil high enough and to cover the whole tank and then turn it up higher to compensate for the hanging hight, then effectively light the whole tank with one light?

Thanks and I will look forward to hearing your opinions!
 
Welcome to Reef Central, you can get away with one unit, but it will only be acceptable in the beginning, you can start to save up for the other one, and by the time you save up the money you will be ready for the second one. You will be fine with the first one, if you want to grow corals placement will be key.
 
For LPS and zoa your fine sps yeah too much shadow unless u go with some really easy birdsnest.

Run 100% blues and 60% whites and work your way up.
 
I am doing the same with a 65g new setup. I should receive my Kessil tomorrow to install. Unfortunately I am a week out before any water goes in the tank, so I can't give you a good assessment on coverage. FYI...I do plan on adding a 2nd Kessil once I get into corals for more even coverage.
 
Thank you for the welcome! I will get some pictures up later hopefully! so that other people can get a clear idea of the coverage.

I am not opposed to getting a 2nd one. I likely will down the road but with the recent upgrade to the new tank for the moment the aquarium has financially crushed me haha. So it could be a few months before another kessil shows up.

I could also just light one side with the kessil and the other side with the fluval sea LED. We will see. It says it was delivered a few hours ago so I will play around when I get home! :D

I am mostly growing LPS and two little SPS (pocilli and a monti) but none of my corals are looking that great since the move. There has been too much recent change, and the current light is FAR form sufficent for the whole tank. Even the xenia is looking sad.

So hopefully after putting the kessil on tonight everything will perk up! I also need to get my protein skimmer up and running. I can't figure out what depth it likes in the new tank. ( thought it would be the same but not so)

I only have a CAD Lights Nano so I am guessing it won't be enough for the tank now. (It's still better than nothing though!)
 
So I cannot possibly imagine needing two at this point one covers my tank perfectly, being just 11" off the surface of the water.

I also am super happy with this light! It is simply stunning the pictures do it VERY VERY little justice as other Kessil owners can attest! :D

DSCF4144_zpsd88ecdf3.jpg
 
One thing you will notice is the glare from how high your light is. I have 4 kessil a360's over my 125 with about the same height above the water line. When I sit in my sofa I get blasted by the light so I have to angle the light away from the front.
 
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