kessil led review

[clevebill]

i got 3 150w 15k kessil this week and all i have to say is wow.i used to have ai sols blues i did like them got good coral growth but the colors was not there either it was to white or to blue.i have a shallow tank so the 150 where ideal than the 350 version.the color of these lights are between a phoneix and a radium metal halide bulb and the brightness is like a 150watt metal halide iam sure the 350 version is way brighter being its 92 watts.the shimmer effect is exact like a metal halide bulb and ya even get the shimmer lines on the ceiling if ya have open top tank.so far the corals responded in a positive way only time will tell as the months go on.if ya never seen these in person your more than welcome to stop on by seeing on videos is not the same.i talked to the rep from kessil he said there was 7 differnet blue leds also white mixed in and uv leds for something like 30% white to 70% blue.i also like that they have a 2 year warrenty on them.the only negative thing is that if the leds start going out to apoint there not effective then ya have to replace the whole unit.from what i read they have a led life of around 30,000 hours i think that was 7 years at 12hrs a day.i figure by that time leds have advanced something new will take its place.

 

[Kreeger1]

So no green or red led?

 

[Big E]

Just some Fyi,

Kessel uses multichip LEDs so they have the whole spectrum covered for color. The shimmer is better because they are point source more so than the other LED set ups..........less disco ball.

I questioon if Red & Green LEDs are needed. They mostly just color the water and put fake color on the corals.

From my research the 350 wides don't have enough par vs depth for most Sps tanks. The regular 350's would work better but they do cast a narrow light, so coverage is not as wide.

I've been looking into the Orphek PR72............ they are priced similar to the Kessel 350 & have higher par ratings. Intensity is important now that these newer models are finallly getting the overall spectrum correct when running at 100%. Any LED unit you can't run at 100% & color SPS correctly without burning them up is garbage(for SPS) in my opinion..........it basically means they don't have the right combination of diodes in spectrum or the number of diodes in combination is wrong.

A lot of the multichip setups are going to fix many issues because you can get these to hit higher legit K numbers too.

For anyone that wants more info on LEDs I made this thread a while back for informational purposes & offers up some basic guidelines. It's mostly applicable for Sps dominant tanks-----

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2198810

 

[clevebill]

yea i just have softies and lps in my tank.i thought going back to metal halides but the cost to run 2 250 watt and some t5 its like 702watts is not waht i want to do again.i like t5 but when it all lit it looks to flat to me almost like looking at a picture on the wall no life to it.

 

[Kreeger1]

That pr72 looks promising. Can't find a price on it though. I'd have to say I've been pleased with my sol blues, I understand the hole logic behind not using 100 percent on but I don't seem to need it on my tanks and have gotten good color and growth. Is there room for improvement, yes purple acros don't look great for me. Will I upgrade when the next gen lights show improve? Yes, but that's a big part of the hobby I like play with the latest and greatest.
Big e please keep me informed on the 72 bulb, I'd like to play around with something different soon. For Xmas I'm jumping up a couple gals and going with a 24x24x 30 tall tank. I don't have room to go wide in this house just taller.
Sorry for side track op
Erik

 

[Big E]

PR72 are $329 each. They are boasting high par & covering of 24x24". They need to prove themselves though so we'll see. Not much feedback from anyone yet.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2219481


Sorry clevebill........I don't want to side track your thread. I like your choice & if you ever go with a deeper tank or more Sps you can add a 350. There is a picture/link on the web of a 350 & 150 combined that looked good.