My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics

[slief]

Yeah, honestly we are just guessing on the Kessil thing. It is true that Kessil is not satisfied with the 360, and that some sites no longer carry it. Sometime in the near future I would expect an upgrade based on the aforementioned H380, but any info on that truly is just rumor at this point. You did the right thing.:thumbsup:
I've been watching the LA fishguy's episodes, so congrats' on the guest host gig... Really is kind of a bummer for Jim to have lost clients, but that's the economy that was shoved down our thoughts.:sad1:
The hobby is still growing, so like the man said, "Keep moving foreword".
Daniel. :wildone:

Not sure why anybody wouldn't be happy with the 360WE's. Every tank I have seen under them was thriving and my tank is doing better than ever under the new lights. Polyp extension on my soft corals is better than ever and one of my hammer corals that sprouted up in my tank from nothing years ago and was very white is coloring up under the new lights. I'm really pleased with the results and couldn't be happier. Given that it's been over a month now since the upgrade, I can honestly say this was a very good upgrade with no downside.

 

[scubadan206]

I like them also. The info I got was second-hand. The folks at Kessil are obviously perfectionists. They will want to tinker with any design until they do it to what they consider is the best they can. I like companies that don't just use the bottom line as a gauge for whether a product is satisfactory. We need more like them.
Your tank looks great Scott. Will you add another Kessil to your little refugium next to the tank?
P.S. I hope you and Jim get a little [Quid pro quo] from your little commercial for Spectrapure.:lolspin:
Daniel. :wildone:

 

[Mr. Brooks]

I saw that Spectrapure commercial. You're quite the spokesman!

 

[slief]

I saw that Spectrapure commercial. You're quite the spokesman!

I thought it was pretty clever. Especially for being unrehersed and unscripted. They really liked it too. They took care of him on the RODI and are going to sponsor some future episodes. They are a great company and are by far the best at what they do.

 

[slief]

I like them also. The info I got was second-hand. The folks at Kessil are obviously perfectionists. They will want to tinker with any design until they do it to what they consider is the best they can. I like companies that don't just use the bottom line as a gauge for whether a product is satisfactory. We need more like them.
Your tank looks great Scott. Will you add another Kessil to your little refugium next to the tank?
P.S. I hope you and Jim get a little [Quid pro quo] from your little commercial for Spectrapure.:lolspin:
Daniel. :wildone:

Like any LED company, they are always improving and evolving. It should go without saying that the next model will be an imrovement on the previous version. I tested a borrowed Kessil 350 on my display fuge and preferred the coverage of the maxspect. Especially for what it cost me. A 360WE would be nice over the display fuge but that Maxspect is working fine. The soft corals that are in there have all trippled in size since adding them to the fuge. As such, I am happy with the status quo.. At least for now. Plus the fuge also benifits from natural sunlight coming through the window despite the UV shielding of the glass.

 

[prop-frags]

We are running several of the Kessil fixtures. Three of the 360's in our DT, and a 150 out in the garage over one of the QT tanks. We checked out their new dual-element pendant fixture that's coming out this quarter (they hinted at late November). It was really impressive, with some sweet new features (built in wireless, web controller, etc.) It's not going to be cheap, but you pay for excellent engineering. Their chips and optics are great.

 

[reefermad619]

You ever get those par readings for the kessils?

 

[slief]

You ever get those par readings for the kessils?

I did take a recent PAR reading with about 75% intensity and 85% color. If memory serves me I was seeing around 250-275 par with the lights 12" off the water and measured about 10" below the surface. The par readings are very similar with the current settings to my Reeftech LED's however, as I have read, Kessils don't show great par numbers because a large part of the spectrum doesn't read well with the meters. I also have a ridiculous amount of surface agitation which compromises par readings in a big way. More over, it makes it very hard to get a good reading as the numbers jump all over the map. If I didn't have the surface agitation or shut my pumps off, I am reasonably certain my readings would be closer to if not in excess of 400.

That said, my finger corals and cult corals have been growing like weeds since the new lights were installed and I am seeing better polyp extension on my leathers than I have ever seen. In short, the coral growth seems to have accelerated. In all honesty, I really like the results of these lights and I've even lowered my intensity a bit since I first set them up.

 

[slief]

Here is LA Fish Guys episode part 1 of 3 covering my Kessil install.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CVDyGvrklK4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[slief]

Part 2.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hbv8FbbyD0w?list=UUL4n5cLsJHvCY_3TLM3Gn1A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[slief]

Part 3. This part covers the Kessil setup with Apex fusion.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0sZZHcSxcpQ?list=UUL4n5cLsJHvCY_3TLM3Gn1A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Bilk]

Dude, that is now my favorite fish channel LOL Nice work Steve! Also want to thank you for posting the info on the Ram mounts you used. I purchased some for my Kessil fixtures. They were just what I needed to get the light directed where I needed it.

I'll post pics of my menagerie in my build thread. Nothing cool like your iguana though. I think if I brought one home, my siamese would think it was a meal. LOL

 

[ca1ore]

Like any LED company, they are always improving and evolving. It should go without saying that the next model will be an imrovement on the previous version.

Agreed! Is true of any 'emerging' technology. LED's may have been around for a while, but new applications such as reef lighting or flat panel displays means there's always going to be something better next year. However, since one can't buy next years model, and next year one won't be able to buy the year after that's model ...... the current ones look really nice on your tank! Really like the shimmer.

Also, does the combination of the VDM module and the Kessils give you smooth dimming up from and down to zero? I've become increasingly unhappy with the staggered dim on my current fixture and the fact that it does not dim down completely.

 

[reefermad619]

Really enjoyed the vids!

 

[slief]

Dude, that is now my favorite fish channel LOL Nice work Steve! Also want to thank you for posting the info on the Ram mounts you used. I purchased some for my Kessil fixtures. They were just what I needed to get the light directed where I needed it.

I'll post pics of my menagerie in my build thread. Nothing cool like your iguana though. I think if I brought one home, my siamese would think it was a meal. LOL

Thanks! I will go and check out your build thread!

Agreed! Is true of any 'emerging' technology. LED's may have been around for a while, but new applications such as reef lighting or flat panel displays means there's always going to be something better next year. However, since one can't buy next years model, and next year one won't be able to buy the year after that's model ...... the current ones look really nice on your tank! Really like the shimmer.

Also, does the combination of the VDM module and the Kessils give you smooth dimming up from and down to zero? I've become increasingly unhappy with the staggered dim on my current fixture and the fact that it does not dim down completely.

The Apex controller/VDM provides a perfectly smooth increase and decrease of both color and intensity for sunrise and sunset. There is no appearance of stepping up or down in intensity or color. Instead, it's a smooth, gradual and completely undetectable transition right up until the lights go off at about 12%. That change is noticeable as it's abrupt but the lights are also really dim at that point so it's acceptable. I guess if I were really eccentric about that, I would consider some dimmable LED strip lights to ease that transition but it doesn't bother me in the least and as such isn't worth the effort although it would be easy enough to do.

Really enjoyed the vids!

Glad you enjoyed them!

 

[slief]

I went to Reefapalooza weekend before last and got a Super Dart Gold from the Reeflo booth. My plan was to swap it in place of my Hammerhead Gold return pump in an effort to reduce my power consumption (some more) as well as heat transfer. My tank was burning around 1800 watts during the day when the lights are on. That's about 1/3 of what it used several years back before my sump, pump and lighting upgrade. Still I am always looking for ways to improve the system and reduce it's toll on my pocket book..

The end result was a quieter pump that dropped my power consumption by 1.5 amps (165 watts) according to my Apex. If I shut the doors below the tank, I can't hear the pumps at all. Not that it was an issue with the Hammerhead but it is noticeably quieter. It seems to have dropped my ambient tank temp by 1/2 -1 degree which wouldn't be horrible during the summer months when my tank idles at 82* with the persuasion of a couple 8" fans for evaporative cooling. Hopefully during the colder months my tank will stay at 75* or above. I don't want to use heaters and I'm glad I haven't had to depend on my chiller since switching to the Reeflo's 4 years ago. Worst case, I can always use my Hammerhead Gold during the colder months but I don't think that will be an issue. I already run a Dart gold for my closed loop and the Super Dart Gold is now in place for my return pump. I also run a few Tunze wave pumps and a Koralia and have great flow in the tank. The Super Dart is putting about the same flow at my head pressure as my Hammerhead which I had gated down slightly. I opened up the gate valve slightly for the Superdart to match the original flow to the tank. I can how much flow I need based on the water level of the tank.

It also opened the floor up a bit by the pumps which is nice as it will make it easier to clean the mats under and around the pumps. My Hammerhead Gold will now be my spare return pump and I will sell my spare non gold Hammerhead.

Here is a before and after shot.

Before. Hammerhead Gold on the right and Dart Gold closed loop pump on the left.

After shot. This little pump puts out a lot of flow and does so, extremely quietly! I still need to clean the rubber mats around the pumps as there was a little bit of spillage when I did the pump swap last night.

 

[pmrossetti]

Big difference Scott. Good move.

 

[pmrossetti]

Snazzy little pump.

 

[slief]

Snazzy little pump.

:beer:

 

[slief]

Display fuge upgrade coming.. Just got a 24x24x24 60 gallon cube. It will be replacing my 24x24x12" 30 gallon cube display fuge. Will probably do it this Saturday. To be continued....