Kessil a360x upgrade why not? Anyone have mixed reef with SPS success?

[daves-reef]

For the 120 tech tank reboot 2. I recently checked my current lighting which is 5+ years old with a PAR meter. Custom floating hood with two Kessil a360we a pair of 48" T5 and a pair of Orphek 90 (36") Blue plus bars. Bars angled in slightly from outside edge.

Not totally unexpected the Kessils being 5+ years old the par values are a quite low. Lower than I had hoped for. 5 years I guess is the life expectancy of LED. With all the lights in hood on, PAR values are barely in the low acceptable range. Promoting me to think about an upgrade/new lights (Expensive ).

When I redid tank 5+ years ago (Replaced MH+T5). I had decent success with SPS but mostly non branching. Birdnest for example was a always a problem for me . Eventually I had crash not due to lights and let the BTAs and softies take over.

The lowest cost easiest upgrade is get one Kessil a360x with spectral controller (About 550) . Add it to the middle of the hood (I have no center brace) Push the existing 2 Kessil 360we out little more to edge where centar par values are best. I could add an additional a360x latter when more funds are available or I see a used one for sale. This would require little to no modification to the current hood.

All other options would require scraping or severe mods to the existing hood. Probably have to completely start over and go with aquatic life hybrid and with some other led fixture. Mounting options are limited too. Can't really change what I have.

I have had several knowledgeable reliable vendor/SPS coral growers steering me away from Kessils. They are not Kessil fans specifically the single source light around shading/killing branching sps.

I do love the shimmer though. Anyone have SPS success with the new Kessil specifically 360x and do you run other lights with it like T5?

 

[Cidermaster]

What was you par level ? I just did mine and was extremely unimpressed for a light that’s under a year old

 

[daves-reef]

What was you par level ? I just did mine and was extremely unimpressed for a light that’s under a year old

What kind of light and what were your values?

I didn't write down the numbers. But with just Kesils on. Directly under light just under water surface I was lucky to get 300 par if I got meter just right. Dropped drastically 6 inches down and off chart when you moved from center anywhere. 24" deep tank, around middle or little higher up maybe 150 when lucky and depending on where on bottom less than a 80 to 40 ish. With all the lights I get 200+ or so at highest rock points where I have an SPS frag. 100 to 80ish on bottom, less in edges . It was only adding Kesils (100%) + all others lights that it approached low end recommended for PAR that I see on forums. What I noticed most was 2 T5 and 2 LED bars had about same PAR as Kesils with even spread. Great values for Softies and LPS. But not what you usually see for SPS recs. Not sure but I recall better values when they were new. I used to run no higher than 75%.

 

[Cidermaster]

I have the 2 Kessil a360we on a 120 4’ tank with the aquatic life t5
About 12” down I’m getting around 200-240
Bottom around 100
I even though about adding 4 kessils but when I moved the 2 I have closer it didn’t raise par up enough to make it worth it in my opinion .
I have mostly Sps that are growing but not at the rate I would like ..
These lights were purchased new in November
Think I’m going to order radions tonight

 

[reefer125g]

I am running 3x 360x on my tank . Also go for the wifi dongle instead of the controller. Its 99 bucks and you will need it if you want to connect it to a Apex. Spoke to kessil and they are finishing up some details befor the release soon .

 

[Chris A.]

Even the radions output isn’t that great.
I have 2 g4 xr15s and run them at 100% on my 40b. I’m at 350 halfway down in the tank( like 8 inches ) , lights at 12” from water.

 

[daves-reef]

Also go for the wifi dongle instead of the controller.

I saw your tank it looks great. The reason I would initially go with the spectral controller X is because that unlike the dongle would still control my existing Kessil 360we's. I also think if they do eventually work with Apex it will be with new version specific mod. I still have a classic Apex.

I'd just be adding one 360x in center moving the existing 2 kessils out towards the edges.

I don't remember if you had any larger branching SPS. How is the spread and shading with the 360x? If you have any branching acro's or birdsnest SPS and have you seen any issues with bottom tissue?

 

[reefer125g]

Not all all . I have had great growth and color. Welcome to swing by and take a better look . Frags always available too. Lol

 

[Lucas]

I have two 360’s and a t5 supplement on a 90 sps heavy. They are coming up on 5 years. I’m not impressed with the PAR as well. I get decent growth but have experienced tissue loss on shaded areas. I have a reefbreeder sitting downstairs that I want to put up. I’m nervous about switching lights though lol. I do like the 360’s and they do serve their purpose. But if was going to do a dope new reboot (sps heavy) I would look elsewhere.

 

[Puff Daddy]

Go for it!

I have 4 360X on my 5 foot by 2 foot tank. Coral is doing really really well. I supplement with t5 but went 2 months without turning on the T5s and things were still looking great. When I turned the t5's back on though my clam started bleaching. With the narrow reflectors you can get insane par values. I mostly use them just to eliminate light spill. I run my kessils at 50%. The new kessils have a much wider spectrum than the old ones which may be why my coral responded so well going from the a360we to a360x. The new heat sink is great and runs silently.

To connect them, don't buy the K-link. It is just USB-C. I found these angled ones that work really well. They are 3 feet so you don't have a lot of extra cable either.

Amazon.com: USB C to USB C 3ft 3 Pack Fast Charging Cable Right Angle 90 Degree Type c to Type c Nylon Braided PD Charger Cord Compatible Samsung Galaxy S10 S9 S8 Plus Note 9 8,Moto Z,LG V20 G6 G5 (Black,3feet)

Amazon.com: USB C to USB C 3ft 3 Pack Fast Charging Cable Right Angle 90 Degree Type c to Type c Nylon Braided PD Charger Cord Compatible Samsung Galaxy S10 S9 S8 Plus Note 9 8,Moto Z,LG V20 G6 G5 (Black,3feet)

amzn.to

The wifi dongle is the way to go for forward compatibility. Mine works pretty well. Once is a while it takes a couple tries to connect to it but I don't know if that is the dongle's fault or the fact that I have 20 wifi devices within 15 feet of it.

Another interesting thing on shadowing, The spread without the reflector is a super wide, super even 135 degrees. I have found when I remove the reflector I get a lot of light that reflects off the glass and back under the rock work and ledges. So with glass on each side it is kind of like having 3, wide point sources.

Check out this video I made. I did a deep dive on par values and comparison on all the lights. Let me know if you have any questions:

 

[danzig]

Hi......as per my review on A360X. The A360X is both more modest and more splendid than the 'old' A360 with a 30% volume decrease, generally in the measurement that matters, for a lower profile over the tank. Besides Kessil has made the A360X 25% more brilliant pressing in considerably more force than prior to utilizing a "Sunflower" heat sink, with a high effectiveness vortex fan. Kesssil has selected to make only one wide pillar plot for the A360X which can be fixed to a limited bar utilizing add-on attractive focal point like we've found in the AP700.

Revived quite an oldie here i see... why do i feel like this is a chinese spam bot with poor translation technology. Just joined, from ashburn VA

 

[Lucas]

Revived quite an oldie here i see... why do i feel like this is a chinese spam bot with poor translation technology. Just joined, from ashburn VA

We are 138

 

[danzig]

We are 138

Haha love me some old misfits with glenn danzig hell yeah. Did he get the boot?

 

[daves-reef]

Have no Idea why this is back. But I did upgrade to 2 new 360X. Lots of other changes but Tank looks great.

 

[danzig]

Have no Idea why this is back. But I did upgrade to 2 new 360X. Lots of other changes but Tank looks great.

Because of a spammer revived it pretty sure he got banned.