Switch from T-5's to Kessil A360WE?

[bipolarbear]

So I have been running T-5's on my tank for the last 10 years and have gotten decent growth out of my SPS. I have a 5 bulb fixture with 36 inch bulbs currently and was considering replacing it with 2 Kessil A360W-E fixtures.

My coral have always been a little pale when it comes to color, they never get the deep purple and blues, they have always been like a light pastel color.

I know John at Yourreef got rid of his LED's and it looks like he went back to all T-5, and I know a few other people in the club that didn't like their LED's but I wanted some additional opinions.

Has anyone in the club switched to the Kessil's and stuck with them? I hate to throw away $700-800 on LED's that I won't like.

 

[Justbecause]

I run 350W. Definitely don't get the same growth as MH. I haven't ran T5 so can't say much about that. Definitely wish I had the A360 for the controllability.

 

[Diamond Jack]

I would guess you have a low nutirent issue. I had the same issue with pale sps. Started feeding the tank more and now have amazing colors. I am running a pretty low light setup (only 4bulb t5 on a 70g).

I would expect some color change/shift when changing from t5 to led, but I don't know if the pale color will change.

I run a kessill in my sump and am getting good growth. However, the red planet frag I have has turned mainly green under the kessil. Fwiw.

 

[robert s b.]

I had great growth and color with my sps that was on the upper end of the tank and the lower part, not so good , I had 3 360w and 3 360we above my 300. Their shimmer and their sharpness of the light it produces is unmatched, I should've had bought 3 w's and 3 n's and a couple of T5's and I probably would still have them. If your tank is 24" or taller, get the Narrow if your going SPS dominant. Theyre awesome lights, I still have one a360we running on my 50 cube and the sps I have sitting on the upper end of my tank is growing great. And to be honest, the color and sharpness is unmatched and looks better then my ATI led powermodules that's on my 300. If I had the N instead of the W's on my 300, I probably would still have them.

Check out this thread of Kmooesf's tank, he has 7 Kessils all narrow, it will erase all the doubts about Kessils not growing SPS.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2126138

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ul5658ProK8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[trhaynes]

For close to the same price you could to 2 hydra 26's. A far superior light with way more control. And full spectrum. I do like the kessil look, but I believe you can find better lights in that price range.

 

[trhaynes]

If it's a 36 inch tank, you may even be able to do 1 Radion gen 3. Right at that 700 price and you do not have to have a controller, you can program it via your computer. Again full spectrum with way more control.

 

[bipolarbear]

So honest question, is there a review thread or study someone has done that you can point me to that indicates that these would be a better choice of light due to par, coral growth or color?

 

[trhaynes]

An official study, not that I have seen. I have seen a video with Sanjay talking about LEDs and he only really endorses 3 led lights. Ai, radion and mitras. I have seen all of them in use, and have received honest feedback from the user. They have had the worst performance from Kessils. Ai's and Radions both are working great.