Kessil Club

[ca1ore]

I am running my Kessil lights in a somewhat non-'traditional' way - essentially as supplements. It is my supposition that if the Kessils have a draw-back it's the shading that results from the light being a point-source. Thus I also run a pair of Photons which are a line-source light. Best of both worlds - though, of course, my tank is just a sample size of one.

So, I run the dual ReefBreeders Photon lights (synched to a single controller) 12 on/12off, running up to 60/50 on the dual channels. The five Kessils I run 8 hrs per day. Starting out at full blue, I ramp color up to 70% (appears about 15K to my eye) over a two hour period; and then back down the same way at the end of the day. Intensity starts out at 15% (light won't dim down any lower) running up to 80% over the course of one hour; and then back down. Mine is a 30" tall tank, so YMMV.

I did have some SPS STN coincident with the installation of the Kessils (replacing a trio of MH). I had made some other changes, so correlation dies not mean causation. Though I do think, as with any lighting change, caution is the order of the day.

 

[moondoggy4]

difference

difference

What's the difference between the 160 and the 360 N? They seem like the same thing to me.

The 360 n is a narrow model more for a 20x20 tank or deep the 160 has a wider light source. Both are controllable and dimmable unlike a 150 model. When the 150's came out they were a game changer but kinda of fell back a little because they were not dimmable but still really popular. Kessil has kept ahead of the curve ball with their commitment to excellent C/S.

 

[oblio]

In response to Ca1ore's statement about kelvin at a given %.
I contacted Kessil about this very subject, it seems to me that they "should" be able to tell me that there light at X% of color is = X Kelvin. There response to me was that the 360We's (the ones I own) can produce 10k to 20k light, so if you run them at 50% then it should be 15k, 16=16k and so on. They did say this was a "close approximation" but thats really all I was after.
It seems to me that if you run Kessil lights, and you run there controller (again my scenario) then the controller should display kelvin rating. This has always seemed like a bit of a fail on there end.

 

[bryanr]

What do you all run for moonlights with your Kessil's?

 

[jtgrimes]

Here is mine. I currently have a strip on my gooseneck. But looking to get one to wrap the outer bottom edge of kessil. Camera showing brighter than it is.

 

[rlbuhler]

What do you all run for moonlights with your Kessil's?

I have two of the Apex moonlights tied to the gooseneck with zip ties.

 

[RobNJ]

My wall mounted vortech drivers double as moon lights

 

[ca1ore]

In response to Ca1ore's statement about kelvin at a given %. I contacted Kessil about this very subject, it seems to me that they "should" be able to tell me that there light at X% of color is = X Kelvin. There response to me was that the 360We's (the ones I own) can produce 10k to 20k light, so if you run them at 50% then it should be 15k, 16=16k and so on.

With the APEX at least, its the other way around. I start mine at a color of '20%' which is very blue, and then run it up to 70% at which point it appears to be in the 15K range. Running them up to 100% gets you to something like 10K, but it doesn't seem linear to me.

 

[Chris135reef]

I love my kessils i have 3 360we and ati t5 mixed love the color and growth!

 

[fishin710]

Hey all, I am a new Kessil owner! I bought the A160we and controller! I have a 10 gallon nano tank and this light is amazing. I have it on the gooseneck approximately 6" from the water. In just 6 days I have noticed a huge response from my corals. I switched from a T5 fixture because I wanted controllability and I also loved the shimmer effect on the Kessil. I am acclimating my corals to the light but I am not using the acclimation feature. I have it set on a sunrise/ sunset with a low intensity. It is as follows:

Color/Intesity

7:00 AM 0/5%
9:30 AM 20/15%
12:00 PM 40/30%
3:00 PM 30/20%
5:00 PM 15/10%
7:00 PM 0/0 %

I will up the intensity once my corals get used to the light. It is very Bright! I wil post some photos once I figure out how to upload them lol.

 

[fishin710]

figured it out...

 

[kidkams]

Has anyone heard any more information on the ap700. I am planning adn upgrade amd want to stick with Kessil. Any idea how long it is going to be, I've heard both 36 and 48

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

That's awesome.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Has anyone heard any more information on the ap700. I am planning adn upgrade amd want to stick with Kessil. Any idea how long it is going to be, I've heard both 36 and 48

I talked to the guy at Kessel and he said it'll be out by summer and looking at doing longer versions in the future. Right now it's going to be one size retailing between $700-900.

 

[moondoggy4]

^^^^^ Were you at RAP?

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

^^^^^ Were you at RAP?

Yessir

 

[ca1ore]

With the kessil controller, they come on at 5%intensity

I'm running mine off an apex, and they come on at around 12%. I wonder if it's a 'real' difference or not? Anyone tried both ways?

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

I'm running mine off an apex, and they come on at around 12%. I wonder if it's a 'real' difference or not? Anyone tried both ways?

The only difference is the apex has more points compared to the Kessil controller which has 6. And if I'm not correct, the Kessil turn on at 5% compared to the apex which is 10%. Am I right ca1ore?

 

[ca1ore]

Yes on the apex; dunno on the Kessil controller since I don't have one. My only real 'disappointment' with the Kessil is that it doesn't dim down to zero. I know it's possible because my old TruLumen strips do.

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Yes on the apex; dunno on the Kessil controller since I don't have one. My only real 'disappointment' with the Kessil is that it doesn't dim down to zero. I know it's possible because my old TruLumen strips do.

Different technology but the guy from Kessil says they're working on the.

On the other hand I do have the Kessil controller and my lights come on at 5%.