thoughts on kessil A150 Led...

Yea the guys at 3seas are the reason I started looking at these lights.I told myself when they take the plunge and put them on there show tank that I would feel like they really trust the lights.it is nice to see the place upgrade and I agree they have a good selection.so mike what's your thoughts on my 72 inch 135. You think 4 would do it
 
I straight asked him about buying one and he basically said he would not recommend it, so take it for what it is worth, but most stores do not tell you not to buy something unless there is a reason..

Be careful on LFS recommendations, more often than not it is because they have another product coming in that they get higher profit margins on. Remember these are the guys who sold Seaclones and Skilters and Miracle Mud. They may be telling you their honest opinion and experience, but always take it with a grain of salt. Their motivation is to make money and unless they have a personal relationship with you, their priority is to make money. I have known several LFS owners over the years, and had them tell me not to buy a product that they gladly sold other people. Just my experience and hopefully there is nothing wrong with the Kessil but time will tell. :-)
 
I was at one of the LFS in the area that is featured on kessil's website promoting them. The guy said they dont recommend the lights anymore because they suffer a bad burn in after a few months.

I straight asked him about buying one and he basically said he would not recommend it, so take it for what it is worth, but most stores do not tell you not to buy something unless there is a reason...

They have the new model coming out sometime in the next few months (allegedly), maybe it has some of the burn in issue tuned up because the emitter itself is definitely top of the line and I am not going to lie, it looks great when new.


Which LFS are you refering to?
 
There were only three LFS in the Bay Area that were heavily promoting the Kessil A 150 from the beginning, which I will not post their names.

I have one of the pre released A 150's that is still working great and I used it as supplemental center lighting for my 90 gallon reef.

As for bashing Kessil or thinking their product is no longer good to buy on the word of a LFS store, that's not right at all.

I've called Kessil on several occasions, and they are very open and honest to what ever question I've asked them. I'll call them later in the week and ask them directly if they are having any problems with this latest production run of their A 150. Stay tuned for their answer.

Sure, some units may fail prematurely, but I'm sure Kessil stands behind their products 100%.

As early adopters of the tech world, we all take a small risks with the evolution process that sometimes hits our pocket books. We think about it twice, but still go for more.

Believe me, I'm one of them,
Randy
 
Sorry for my ignorance, but what's a 'bad burn in' mean?

It is when the light intensity fades over a period of time, it is one of the concern with LED fixtures because they are advertised as lasting 10 years, but nobody has had one running for 10 years to verify so that is all in theory.

They have a 2 year warranty but do you run a par meter on yours every month to verify it is the same par as day 1? I would imagine that with a warranty they are banking on people only returning the product if it actually suffers hardware failure, not light dimming which is only visible to a trained (Or OCD) eye.

I am only going off what someone told me, but it is a valid concern with a new diode. They said the par dropped after ~4 months. From what I have read the diode they use is really tailor made for aquarium use and coral growth which is a GREAT thing and I hope it works because it would make everyone else step their game up. I would hope I am totally wrong, but please don't say I am wrong just because you have one on your tank and think it looks good. I am tired of all the LED arguing without any hard facts, if I am wrong get a par meter and show me (and everyone else) the day 1 and day 30 60 90 120 150 par readings. The majority of these LED discussions are all subjective where people say they like this vs that without any reason besides they 'think' it looks better, which is subjective and biased since you spent the money on the fixture.
 
Well I bought the Kessil Ocean blue last week and installed it on my 54 corner bowfront. I had a Current Nova Extreme 6 lamp fixture previously. I have the live rock arranged in a horseshoe pattern with most of my corals in a footprint of about 20 inches. The Ocean Blue is quite blue which I like, and the shimmer is off the charts.Cprals seem to be doing very well especially my zoa's and frogspawn. Shrooms are expanded and seem to like the new light. I am going to stay with one even though I know two will probably be the trick, but would like to see how just one will perform. It's a pie shape so there is less area to cover. All in all I like the light so far even though I do not have the kind of info alot of you are looking for. This is just information off my thoughts of what I see. If things look good for a period I will probably buy one more. I really like the being able to see in through the top of the entire tank and look down at my reef. Lot less clutter. Also I do like the appearance where some have said they don't like the design of the gooseneck. So we will see what happens. From early observation it seems to be doing just as good as my other unit but I have really noticed a pop in the colors of the corals with the Ocean Blue. The zoas especially....
 
Some updates;

Pay no attention to the jellies in the front.
d217ba57.jpg

I have got some nice blue tips on the Tenius.
dcc7e548.jpg

The Blues seems to be keeping.
ef9f4da6.jpg

The birdsnest has got some noticeable growth.
ce748904.jpg
 
If there's a concern, then why wouldn't I check them every month or so with a Par meter. Takes a few minutes to do. If I notice anything, then you bet I'll be sending them in with my warranty for the 2 years.
 
Has anyone put in a call to Kessil, or someone else in the know, to find out what is the expected degradation of output?

Regardless of format, we should all expect a loss of output over the life of any lamp. I am sure Kessil has some data on what is the expected decrease in ouput, especially for the first 2 years in order to know if an item is defective or operating within spec.
 
Has anyone put in a call to Kessil, or someone else in the know, to find out what is the expected degradation of output?

Regardless of format, we should all expect a loss of output over the life of any lamp. I am sure Kessil has some data on what is the expected decrease in output, especially for the first 2 years in order to know if an item is defective or operating within spec.
 
i've been dping research on kessil and i havent found any on growth and color of sps...will they grow even the toughest sps that need more light? How is the growth compared to a mh or t5 fixture?
 
Going to tag along i am very interested in these as well. So anyone that has had these up for 6+ months please drop in and let us know what you think.

PS Mike my tank is the same as yours except that mine is 18" wide I was thinking of using 5. Do you think you would benefit from a 5th or would it just be a waste?
 
Last edited:
i've been dping research on kessil and i havent found any on growth and color of sps...will they grow even the toughest sps that need more light? How is the growth compared to a mh or t5 fixture?

For your red planets and torts you might want to wait for the 350 that will be here soon.
 
Mustang. I would advocate using 5 and mounting them closer to the water than mine. Therefore you cover front to back adequately and don't waste light out your front glass to the floor in front of the tank and with 5 you would cover left to right with some overlap of light cones that are emitted from the kessils. Maybe 9" spacing between lights and @2-3" above the water. You would need a cover for the potential splashing. Just an opinion.
 
Remember they are about the size of a soda can, so if you are speculating on your tank just take 5 coke cans and speculate a cone of light coming out the bottom of them.
 
I am thinking about changing over from my AI Blue Sol to the Kessil. I am going to wait till the a350 comes out to do so. I have a 34g tank. Would one light be enough?
 
Back
Top