Kessil LEDs + Acro = Bad Combo??

[Sharksfan94]

Hey ya'll..

Quick question..

I was recently informed by a LFS that Acros and Kessil LEDs do not play nice. So I left, and went home to research this topic. But I was unable to find any info. So I turn to you with this question:


Is there any proof to back this claim up etc?

 

[jcarbone61]

LEDs have come a long way but not all do well under them.....I have never heard of anything specific about kessil.

 

[ros_sco]

I had a Kessil a350w over my 24x24 frag tank and sold it due to 2 reasons. The PAR dead center with the light 12 inches over the water barely hit 150 with both channels 100%, and the single point light did not color the acros well. In the center, They looked ok from the top, but the rest of the coral was basically shaded and looked as such. Acros in the surrounding areas lost color and didn't grow.LPS and zoas did fine. I switched to a 60 watt panel, color and growth came back, and am much more satisfied.

 

[nameissoftlover]

I have not had a kessil but for the cost, go with a dimmable multi led fixture, more options for Color.. Just my 2 bits.

 

[epicurus84]

I don't know about the Kessil. But Led is is possible. LEP (plasma) is slightly better then LED. At least thats what i saw in a dutch magazine. They researed LED vs LEP. Where the LEP would win. But don't know what they exactely used.

 

[Johnyman]

Well, i have a friend who have 2 Kessil 350W in a SPS´s Reef Tank... he had some issues in the beginning but after the acclimatization the tank looks amazing!!!

 

[Sharksfan94]

I have not had a kessil but for the cost, go with a dimmable multi led fixture, more options for Color.. Just my 2 bits.

I would totally go that route but I currently have a Kessil A150w. Grr. I will definitely keep that in mind for the future though.

I had a Kessil a350w over my 24x24 frag tank and sold it due to 2 reasons. The PAR dead center with the light 12 inches over the water barely hit 150 with both channels 100%, and the single point light did not color the acros well. In the center, They looked ok from the top, but the rest of the coral was basically shaded and looked as such. Acros in the surrounding areas lost color and didn't grow.LPS and zoas did fine. I switched to a 60 watt panel, color and growth came back, and am much more satisfied.

Hmm. Interesting. I have a A150w over a 25 gallon tank so chance are I would have the same problem..Dang it!

LEDs have come a long way but not all do well under them.....I have never heard of anything specific about kessil.

Okey dokey. Yea, this is the first I'd heard and my LFS has their Acro under LEDs (not kessils) but the frags look amazing!

I don't know about the Kessil. But Led is is possible. LEP (plasma) is slightly better then LED. At least thats what i saw in a dutch magazine. They researed LED vs LEP. Where the LEP would win. But don't know what they exactely used.

I have never heard of LEP used for lights before. Definitely something I will be checking out!

Well, i have a friend who have 2 Kessil 350W in a SPS´s Reef Tank... he had some issues in the beginning but after the acclimatization the tank looks amazing!!!

That tank does look amazing!! I will probably end up buying two $10 frags and place them as high in the tank as possible and pray for the best. If I have to I can always gift the corals to some one in the local reef club.


Thank you all for the info!

 

[Touring]

johnny thats a beautiful tank.

OP your LRS has no idea what they are talking about

 

[Touring]

Sharksfan- you need a 350 over a 25.....

 

[temple2101]

Sharksfan- you need a 350 over a 25.....

Can you provide more info on your reasoning? I'm asking because I have an A150W I'm using on a Biocube build and have been wondering if it will be enough. Are you saying a 350 if you want to do SPS? Thanks!

 

[Frick]

You could do most SPS with the A150W Sky Blue or Amazon Sun, but the Ocean Blue and Deep Blue would not be strong enough for SPS, unless it is deepwater. And even then it is not for sure. The A350/A360 Kessils are the way to go if you are planning on SPS.

Here is a 29bicube at my work that has had an A150W Sky Blue over it originally and was growing SPS, now has the A350N turned down to 30% power and still growing SPS.

 

[jda]

Is there any proof to back this claim up etc?

There is very little proof in this hobby. Anecdotal hobbyist experience is about as good as you will get, and some of the best that you will get if you figure out who has the breath and depth of knowledge to rely upon. If you are ever looking for proof on one side of an argument, stop first and try and find proof on the other side - there is not really much.

I would also caution to be very wary of proof or claims from people online and especially people with something to sell. Go and see stuff for yourself with your own eyes and use your own brain and you will be OK.

 

[Moser]

http://hanseriff.de/?p=193

Not sure if Ralf tried them….
Mo

 

[Touring]

Can you provide more info on your reasoning? I'm asking because I have an A150W I'm using on a Biocube build and have been wondering if it will be enough. Are you saying a 350 if you want to do SPS? Thanks!

unfortunately i went strait to a 350 for my bc29 from a 6 bulb t5 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2289155

i was at 100% on both blue and white. if your serious about your tank (SPS)sell the 150 and get the 350. :thumbsup:

there will probably be about 20 that are going to chime in and say a 150 is fine and that im wrong but i assure you, the 350 is the way to go

 

[Aquatron]

I believe Kessil led's were aquarium 2012 leds of the year you would think if they won this they work if installed right per specs

 

[Peter Eichler]

I got rid of my kessil A350w 2 weeks afetr purchase. The light output over a 45 cube was pathetic. I personally wouldn't use one on anything other than a nano when it comes to sps.

 

[chad p]

I had a Kessil a350w over my 24x24 frag tank and sold it due to 2 reasons. The PAR dead center with the light 12 inches over the water barely hit 150 with both channels 100%, and the single point light did not color the acros well. In the center, They looked ok from the top, but the rest of the coral was basically shaded and looked as such. Acros in the surrounding areas lost color and didn't grow.LPS and zoas did fine. I switched to a 60 watt panel, color and growth came back, and am much more satisfied.

^^^This^^^

I had one over a 28 gallon nano cube. Will it color up acros? Yes. It will color up most acros anyways, and quite nicely. But as others have pointed out there are just some SPS that don't thrive under LEDs.

Bus as ros_sco said I'd avoid the Kessil due to the single point of light output. I ended up with a bunch of SPS with great color...except on the side that was not facing the light. That side was dull or brown.

Initially I liked my Kessil but after trying other options I can't really recommend it.

 

[Frick]

I got rid of my kessil A350w 2 weeks afetr purchase. The light output over a 45 cube was pathetic. I personally wouldn't use one on anything other than a nano when it comes to sps.

I have two A360Ws over my 75 and the coverage is great. A 45 cube is not much bigger from a 30gallon nano tank unless they were installed improperly I can't imagine why two A350Ws wold have bad coverage.

Bus as ros_sco said I'd avoid the Kessil due to the single point of light output. I ended up with a bunch of SPS with great color...except on the side that was not facing the light. That side was dull or brown.

I found the single point light would be comparable to a halide which is also a single point light source. You will get the same brown dull effect from that on the bottom of the corals. Multiple Kessils that overlap will prevent this somewhat. It would be pretty difficult to get the bottoms of a colony lit up.

 

[chad p]

I found the single point light would be comparable to a halide which is also a single point light source. You will get the same brown dull effect from that on the bottom of the corals. Multiple Kessils that overlap will prevent this somewhat. It would be pretty difficult to get the bottoms of a colony lit up.

Right but a single metal halide bulb is mounted within a reflector which bounces and spreads the light over a larger area. I'm about to try a Hamilton Cayman Sun over my 20X20" cube. The reflector is 12X12" so the coverage is much better even though the source is one halide lamp. The Kessil has a reflector (if you want to call it that) that is maybe 3" across?

And I'm certainly not saying that I'd expect great coloration on the "bottom" of a colony with any light. Just that in my experience I had frags that were only maybe 6" from the center of the light source that had majorly shaded areas. But mine was the narrow version too so...

I'm not knocking the Kessil. Not intending to anyways. I had mine up for close to a year and I was actually quite happy with it. I'm just saying that a single Kessil can give you some coverage issues and for that reason I wouldn't go with one again personally. So far my AI Sol blue is holding up the (mostly) nice coloration that I got from my Kessil but with much better coverage. I just got a wild hair so I'm going to try a 14K halide to experiment and see how color and growth changes...if at all.

 

[Touring]

This monti is 32 inches away from the light and is growing more than a inch a month. you must have more than one light to get different angles to the coral.