Kessils or Radion
- Thread starter Capt_Dan
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Get ready for a million different opinions. Your best bet is to read up on both and gonwith the one you think will be better. I ended up going the unconventional route and am mixing them in my system.
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inktomi
Aviator
Locito - I have both as well, but the kessil's are in a box not being used. Can you post a couple photos of your tank with them mixed?
I'm currently using Radions, and they work great. If I had a smaller tank, maybe a 60g cube, I'd be using Kessils. They're a little more spotlight-y than the radions, and create a little more shimmer as well.
I'm currently using Radions, and they work great. If I had a smaller tank, maybe a 60g cube, I'd be using Kessils. They're a little more spotlight-y than the radions, and create a little more shimmer as well.
Zacktosterone
Active member
I'm going to agree with the above post......
BUT
I'm a halide guy myself, if I had to pick I would hands down pick radion .
Why?
I've owned both
Kessils twice
Pros vs cons in my experience? Strong emphasis on my experience
KESSIL a360we ran for 6 months then sold then tried again 6 months
Cons
-I've had multiple kessils chained together and have had them all look slightly different even though they were controlled with the spectral controller. I had a lot of them returned and to no avail it was the same problem. That screams lack of quality control to me.
- exessive amounts of shadowing and I had 4 over 60"
- poor coral coloration ( I know it was because of the kessil@kessil.com because as soon as I added t5,s my blues and pinks boosted over 2 weeks )
- lowest par I've seen on leds ( not including cheap brands like fluval etc), even bulk reef supply used the same par testing and compared to racoon and ai. I had more par coming out of the leds on the ati led powermodule I had.
-overwhelming shimmer (and i love shimmer)
- needs wiring to connect to one another
Pros
- Awesome customer service, super friendly vert helpful all the time and every time
- low profile looking
- simple to program with spectral controller
- price is literally half of the racoon but you need more in my opinion
- zero discoball effect unless focusing on the edges of the light
RADION PRO
Cons
- I've never had a good customer services experience, they're always so impatient with me. Unlike kessil
- expensive
- worst most unfriendly user interface and most frustrating user interface I've ever used with echosmart love. Hated it so much I sold the radions.
- slight discoball effect
Pros
- can get around crappy user interface with apex
- sleek looking not a lot of wires
- way brighter
- corals looked way better and grew way faster especially sps
- wirelessly connect
- very very high par readings
- great spread
- easier to hang evenlt
- never had a quality issue with them
- attention to detail (even the power supply looks great)
- quality control (even the power cord is high quality)
To play devil's advocate lol
Halides
Cons compared to led
- Bulb replacements
- Heat
- Power consumption
- not as diverse in programability as led ( but why does that matter? Coral grows from stability not from fancy programming)
Pros
- perfect color blending
- incredible par
- best shimmer and coverage compared to led
- proven and is found over some of the best sps tanks in the world.
- customer services (for example) Dave from Hamilton tech has given me the best customer services out of anyone I've ever spoken to in the hobby with regards to lighting and professionalism.
-simple programming. Get a timer, set and forget
- can do pendant style or can find in a combo fixture.
- full spectrum
Enjoy and good luck!!!!
BUT
I'm a halide guy myself, if I had to pick I would hands down pick radion .
Why?
I've owned both
Kessils twice
Pros vs cons in my experience? Strong emphasis on my experience
KESSIL a360we ran for 6 months then sold then tried again 6 months
Cons
-I've had multiple kessils chained together and have had them all look slightly different even though they were controlled with the spectral controller. I had a lot of them returned and to no avail it was the same problem. That screams lack of quality control to me.
- exessive amounts of shadowing and I had 4 over 60"
- poor coral coloration ( I know it was because of the kessil@kessil.com because as soon as I added t5,s my blues and pinks boosted over 2 weeks )
- lowest par I've seen on leds ( not including cheap brands like fluval etc), even bulk reef supply used the same par testing and compared to racoon and ai. I had more par coming out of the leds on the ati led powermodule I had.
-overwhelming shimmer (and i love shimmer)
- needs wiring to connect to one another
Pros
- Awesome customer service, super friendly vert helpful all the time and every time
- low profile looking
- simple to program with spectral controller
- price is literally half of the racoon but you need more in my opinion
- zero discoball effect unless focusing on the edges of the light
RADION PRO
Cons
- I've never had a good customer services experience, they're always so impatient with me. Unlike kessil
- expensive
- worst most unfriendly user interface and most frustrating user interface I've ever used with echosmart love. Hated it so much I sold the radions.
- slight discoball effect
Pros
- can get around crappy user interface with apex
- sleek looking not a lot of wires
- way brighter
- corals looked way better and grew way faster especially sps
- wirelessly connect
- very very high par readings
- great spread
- easier to hang evenlt
- never had a quality issue with them
- attention to detail (even the power supply looks great)
- quality control (even the power cord is high quality)
To play devil's advocate lol
Halides
Cons compared to led
- Bulb replacements
- Heat
- Power consumption
- not as diverse in programability as led ( but why does that matter? Coral grows from stability not from fancy programming)
Pros
- perfect color blending
- incredible par
- best shimmer and coverage compared to led
- proven and is found over some of the best sps tanks in the world.
- customer services (for example) Dave from Hamilton tech has given me the best customer services out of anyone I've ever spoken to in the hobby with regards to lighting and professionalism.
-simple programming. Get a timer, set and forget
- can do pendant style or can find in a combo fixture.
- full spectrum
Enjoy and good luck!!!!
Lights go on today
water and fish are in. Got 8 Radions 6 Kessils and 2 48 inch ATI T5s. got the Kessil narrow lenses to penetrate so I can spotlight certain corals near the lower end of the 48" tank.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I chose an AP700 over Radions for a couple reasons:
- I love the natural look and shimmer
- Price for the amount of coverage is excellent, especially since I got it on a 25% off sale
The Radion G4s look awesome, but the price is just crazy. A G4 Pro is basically the equivalent of an AP700 except that they put the pucks too close together so you get poor spread by comparison. So you need 2xXR30w Pros for the same coverage as an AP700... That's $700 more in cost even with the AP700 at full price. For your tank you'd probably be looking at 2xAP700 ($1,800) vs 3xXR30w Pro ($2,100), so a price difference of about $300 overall.
I guess the advantages of the Radions is being able to use Ecosmart Live and/or Apex to control them. Kessil hasn't integrated the AP700 into Apex yet. I actually prefer having components on separate controllers so there isn't a single point of failure anyway so it doesn't matter to me.
- I love the natural look and shimmer
- Price for the amount of coverage is excellent, especially since I got it on a 25% off sale
The Radion G4s look awesome, but the price is just crazy. A G4 Pro is basically the equivalent of an AP700 except that they put the pucks too close together so you get poor spread by comparison. So you need 2xXR30w Pros for the same coverage as an AP700... That's $700 more in cost even with the AP700 at full price. For your tank you'd probably be looking at 2xAP700 ($1,800) vs 3xXR30w Pro ($2,100), so a price difference of about $300 overall.
I guess the advantages of the Radions is being able to use Ecosmart Live and/or Apex to control them. Kessil hasn't integrated the AP700 into Apex yet. I actually prefer having components on separate controllers so there isn't a single point of failure anyway so it doesn't matter to me.
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I chose an AP700 over Radions for a couple reasons:
- I love the natural look and shimmer
- Price for the amount of coverage is excellent, especially since I got it on a 25% off sale
The Radion G4s look awesome, but the price is just crazy. A G4 Pro is basically the equivalent of an AP700 except that they put the pucks too close together so you get poor spread by comparison. So you need 2xXR30w Pros for the same coverage as an AP700... That's $700 more in cost even with the AP700 at full price. For your tank you'd probably be looking at 2xAP700 ($1,800) vs 3xXR30w Pro ($2,100), so a price difference of about $300 overall.
I guess the advantages of the Radions is being able to use Ecosmart Live and/or Apex to control them. Kessil hasn't integrated the AP700 into Apex yet. I actually prefer having components on separate controllers so there isn't a single point of failure anyway so it doesn't matter to me.
There's a module on Apex for kessil.
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Not for the AP700.
The AP700 doesn't have a 0-10v variable port, it can only be controlled wirelessly. Supposedly Kessil is planning on working with Apex to get integration over wifi... Who knows when though.
Potatohead
New member
Zacktosterone
Active member
Haha
burton14e7
New member
Lights go on today
I love how you matched your tank to your cat. Superb.
