Kessil Club

Scott, my buddy runs 2 360's at 100% for most of the day. Slowly ramping them up. He also uses 2 160's that max out around 60%. He isn't sure if hey are giving him enough par in the lower levels of the tank. I use a 250 watt radium, so I have no idea :lol:

Corey
 
Would two 160's be enough for a 48" x 24" x 16" mixed tank with some SPS?
Thoughts?

I would run four 160s on that. I would also suggest the four 160 over two 360. The 16" depth is fine for the 160s and then you get the added addition of spread and less shadowing by having 4 since you don't need the penetrating power of the 360.
 
This is a great topic. I have 2 kessil 360's over my 60G mixed reef. I am currently having a problem with my acros being brown. They blue tips and growing good but the rest of it is all brown. Im currently ramping them up to 85% intensity at highest day and 70% color at highest day. The acros are about 14 inches from the lights. Im not too sure if their not getting enough light or night. These settings seem to be in the sweet spot so it could be nutrient levels in the tank but just wanted to hear other thoughts. Thanks guys.

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I was having the same problem with my acros and it come out that I didn't have enough intensity. So I ended up running them at 100% intensity.

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I'm trying to come up with a clean way of retaining the lights in the canopy. Any good looking solutions for a similar installation?



Not the best picture but here's what I did over my rimless. It matches the design of my stand. The top is open, but above eye level, and I used 1/8" tubing around the kessil cutout to have a perfect fit around the kessil housing.

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Just ordered an A160WE ... intend on hanging it from the ceiling as the tank is on a tallish stand. Anybody hanging their kessil's from the ceiling? 160we owners?


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Are most of you controlling your kessil's with the spectral controllers? Or is manual just fine? Still waiting for my first kessil a160we to arrive


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I use the DAReefkeeper ALC and I love it. I've got a 160 over my 5.5 pico and have seen really good growth. The zoa's seem to love it.
 
Sorry if I missed it but does anyone have a picture of more mature sps tank under Kessil only? Thank you

Kessils mainly, but not exclusively as I also run a pair of reefbreeders photon 32.



Growth and color has been very good. All colonies except the pocillopora grown from frags. LPS, chalice do fine on the sand, but my SPS is all at least 6" up.
 
Are most of you controlling your kessil's with the spectral controllers? Or is manual just fine? Still waiting for my first kessil a160we to arrive


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I don't hang mine from the ceiling, but it shouldn't be a problem. I would shoot for 6-8" above the water. I do run mine off an apex, however you certainly can manually adjust them and put it on a timer, add the controller down the road if you want.
 
I wouldn't worry about PAR. The Kessils never show great PAR numbers but coral growth is great under them which is where the whole PAR vs PUR debate comes into play. The strength of the Kessils is in the 420-460nm range where corals get most of their needed photosynthetic radiation. That wavelength doesn't read well on PAR meters. The Apogee MQ500 dues a better job in that range.but PAR doesn't tell the whole story.

At 30" deep, you will have to place less light demanding corals down low and or run the intensity up higher. In my 24" deep display, I've never exceeded 75% intensity. If I had a 30" deep display, I might be running them a bit higher. If you really want to grow light demanding corals at all depths, then the 360N's may be a better choice or at least a mix of 360WE's and 360N's on the perimeter.
WHy do you think the par reading for the 700 was so much better than the 360we? I have my lights 10" above the surface. Barely cracking 200 par. I also have 3 over a 5' 240 gallon tank. I have 2 2X54W ARUBA SUN V T5HO - HAMILTON over it as well. My SPS is slow growing also. I am thinking about lowering the fixture to about 5" off the surface. Also considering adding 2 more of the t-5 fixtures. I really dont want to add more kessils if I dont have to. I think they are great for softies and LPS. Just not sold on them for SPS yet. Tanks is still fairly young to be making that determination.
 
WHy do you think the par reading for the 700 was so much better than the 360we?

If I had to guess, it's the reflector design on the AP700 as well as the diode mix. That said, PAR isn't the always indicative of a lights ability to grow coral. Especially since most PAR meters don't read the blue channel well. Corals get the majority of the photosynthetic radiation from 420-460nm which is a blue spectrum that PAR meters and the human eye have difficulty in reading/judging the intensity. This is where the whole PUR vs PAR debate comes into play. My corals grow insanely well under the Kessils. I've posted growth shots before in this thread as well as my build thread but have stopped trackng growth because everything I put under the 360WE's grows great and I have a pretty wide mix of SPS in my tank now. I have mine 8" or so from the water and with 10 360WE's over a 4'x8'x2' tall tank, I now peak at 65% intensity.
 
If I had to guess, it's the reflector design on the AP700 as well as the diode mix. That said, PAR isn't the always indicative of a lights ability to grow coral. Especially since most PAR meters don't read the blue channel well. Corals get the majority of the photosynthetic radiation from 420-460nm which is a blue spectrum that PAR meters and the human eye have difficulty in reading/judging the intensity. This is where the whole PUR vs PAR debate comes into play. My corals grow insanely well under the Kessils. I've posted growth shots before in this thread as well as my build thread but have stopped trackng growth because everything I put under the 360WE's grows great and I have a pretty wide mix of SPS in my tank now. I have mine 8" or so from the water and with 10 360WE's over a 4'x8'x2' tall tank, I now peak at 65% intensity.



I'm happy with mine. The whole PUR/PAR thing leaves a bit to be desired inside the debate. Growth alone isn't a good factor for judgement, but growth AND health are.

[emoji106][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122] I'll be lurking for your setup pictures with baited breath!
 
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