Led lighting question

[ffmedic]

So been doing some reading on leds and was wondering many people seem to think full spectrum lighting is the way to go. What are the Kessel lights considered? are they fill spectrum or no and will you get the same great coloring of corals using a Kessel vs a custom led set up like rapid or similar?

 

[jthao]

kessil is considered not full spectrum but it works great for softies and zoas. colored up my zoas like mad. how well it works for spa, idk.
I believe full spectrum is considered having white, blue, red, green, uv. those are the basic that it must have to be considered a full spectrum led light.

 

[Rarend99]

I do know that a buddy of mine runs kessil and has a hard time sustaining enough light to keep a clam alive

 

[swk]

I think the best leds for sps seems to be radions and hydra 52s. Others will work obviously but as far as the most plug and play success, those seem to be the top choices from what I see around this forum. I had some chinese leds and I really struggled with sps. I think they were smarter than me...

 

[ffmedic]

Huh if the Kessel lights arnt that great why are less of people running them? Cost? And would they provide enough light to support a nem

 

[jthao]

Huh if the Kessel lights arnt that great why are less of people running them? Cost? And would they provide enough light to support a nem

Depends how big of a tank. If you are running 2x a360e on a 36x24 tank then it'll be ok for nem. But if you plan to run 2 on a 120g, then you'd have a harder time.
I will say that there's no other led on the market than shimmers like a Kessil though
But the guys above are correct, kessil only would not be a great choice for sps, idk about clams. But hydra52, radions, and mitras are the main ones people run when doing SPS and clams. Others may work, but this seems to be the norm.

 

[ffmedic]

makes since thank you all for your responces

 

[woodnaquanut]

But the guys above are correct, kessil only would not be a great choice for sps, idk about clams.

I've seen some fabulous SPS tanks lit by Kessils. Perhaps the skill of the reef keeper has something to do with it?

One of the stops on the Kessil factory tour is a tank lit by only the blue channel of a 350(IIRC). The tank is dominated by a dinner plate sized chalice. It's really healthy, just looks odd to me because the light is so blue. There must be enough 'good spectrum' even on the blue only settings because there is health and growth.

 

[Reef Bass]

In the lecture I attended by Dana Riddle discussing coral coloration, the only color he felt was unnecessary to have a specific emitter for was red. He felt there was sufficient red available in the light from a white led. He showed pics of corals being kept under single colors, and the red only coral was not happy.