Thinking of kessil a360we for my 90

[showard]

Hey all I need some input here I am at a loss. I have 4 of those chinese black box fixtures over my sps dominated 90 and they are great. Well until this morning when one of the blue channel drivers blew and now only the whites/reds/greens work, kind of annoying but expected. I am not sure if spending another 100$ on yet another black box fixture is going to be the right thing to do concerning longevity. Unless someone thinks otherwise, please enlighten me.

I have been looking into the kessil a360we. I feel that two would be good for my tank because of the wide angle. I have a 4 foot 90 gallon tank with lots of acropora and a ton of other sps and lps, a few softies in there somewhere too. Do you think they would be too much for my tank? I just want even coverage and lots of growth.

The 4 fixtures with 2 plugs each takes up a whole eb8 as well, I have two eb8's... kind of a drag because I could do much more with my apex. Not really important but it would free up the space.

Also would 2 radions say, gen 2 NOT pro do the same or better? I love the shimmer of MH lights which is what I started on but they are too costly to run and thats why I like the kessils but people spaz about their radions and how much more growth they have then before. Not sure if thats because you just spent 800+ dollars on some fancy LED lights or if they are as nice as they say they are. Of course they are much better than the evergrow lights but how much better?

Side note: I do not care about simulating thunder storms or all that fancy crud, its neat but won't make my acros grow better (at least I think so). So that is not a deciding factor. I am just trying to grow my corals and possibly get some reliable fixtures in this process.

 

[choff]

Hey showard, I run kessil 360s over my display and 160s over my FT. I originally had radio show over the FT and in my experience the kessils blew the doors off my radion g2 pro. That said, I also run t5s over the dt and will soon be adding a set over my ft. I think combo is the way to go. I'm mostly acros with plates and acanophyllias(meat corals) on the sand bed.

I run 4 360s over my 64" tank, but mine are quite close to the surface so I'm not getting good spread. 2 at proper height will be perfect for a 90.

 

[daves-reef]

I very happy with a pair of Kessil 360we over my 120. But I too supplement with T5. I have similar setup as a MH t5 fixture except I replaced the MH with two kessils. Great shimmer and control on the APEX too.

 

[aresangel]

If you decide to upgrade let me know I would be interested in the black boxes!! If I could afford it I would spend the extra money on AI52's. Instead I have a fluval marine and reef second hand that just went dull recently.

 

[Jim Tansey]

I run two Kessils over my 40" rimless along with two T5s I get comments even from people that don't know tanks about how nice the lighting looks.

Jim

 

[Frag Freaks]

A pair of the Kessils would work just fine over a 90g. If you were able to get good color and growth on your acros with the black boxes, I would think that the Kessils alone would produce better results. I don't think you necessarily need to supplement with T5, although the system would definitely benefit from it. I have done the LED T5 combo in the past and have been very happy with the outcome.

As far as the Radion is concerned, if you were looking at used Gen 2, I would go with the Pros for sure. The non pros are good lights but they do not have the violet spectrum and the power output to that of the Pros. I currently own a few of the Gen 2 non pros and only use them on shallower tanks with mostly LPS and zoas. I house all of my acros under Gen 3 Pros.

As a far as a recommendation, my personal opinion is Radions. I have used both Kessil and Radions, the Kessils have a little too much shimmer for my liking and I have seen better growth under my Radion Gen 3 Pros over any other LED I have used in the past. You can't go wrong with either.

In the end it really comes down to what you really are looking to get out of the fixtures. First and typically the most important is budget, another would be control functionality, mounting, apex integration, etc.

 

[choff]

That's a fair point about the shimmer FF. When I first converted from all t5 to kessils the shimmer was insane. Initially I thought it was too much, but that faded fast and I love it now. When my odd first saw it they said, dad it looks like the ocean.

 

[showard]

What about those pacific sun fixtures? Those seem to be pretty good as well, someone is selling a 48" led t5 hybrid on the forum and I was wondering how those are also

 

[Frag Freaks]

What about those pacific sun fixtures? Those seem to be pretty good as well, someone is selling a 48" led t5 hybrid on the forum and I was wondering how those are also

I don't have any personal experience with these lights but I have noticed lately there have been a lot more becoming available on the used equipment market, not exactly sure why that is. For the most part the common reasoning seems to be "going a different route".

Hopefully someone with some first hand experience can chime in and give you some feedback. Also have you thought about the new Reef Breeder Photon V2s?

 

[dz6t]

I have been testing the new Photon Reef breeders V2.
It basically use the similar LED chips as Radion and AI Hydra.
Personally I will supplement Kessil with t-5.

 

[showard]

Yes someone on RC mentioned it as well. Will the v2 cover my whole tank or would I need to supplement with t5's?

 

[Frag Freaks]

Yes someone on RC mentioned it as well. Will the v2 cover my whole tank or would I need to supplement with t5's?

It should cover the entire tank. We have had some customers purchase them from us recently and have had some really good feedback on them. No disco ball effect, no hot spots, nice light spread. One recent one we sold was the 48V2 over a 120g I believe and he has been using them for roughly a couple months and everything in his tank seems to be doing well from zoas to acros.

How will you be looking to mount your new lighting? Do you have a canopy, planning on hanging from the ceiling, buying the mounting arms associated with the lights?

 

[showard]

I do have a frame of a canopy but if I got the V2 I would use the mounts it comes with that go on the edges of the tank.

 

[dz6t]

I am getting a 48 inch V2 to do show-rooming for Reef Breeders.
You can drop by to see it after I set it up.

 

[dz6t]

Just a little vent here if it is OK, I have spend so much time to show people about the LED, and I sold NONE. Because everyone ordered from RB directly after show and tell.
LOL

 

[showard]

lol how much are you selling the v2 for?

 

[dz6t]

I have to sell it at the price Reef Breeders sells them online, that is the agreement.
They are in CT and shipping is fast.

 

[showard]

Hmm if I don't see anything at OSRAS I will let you know.

 

[Frag Freaks]

Hmm if I don't see anything at OSRAS I will let you know.

I believe Logan will have a booth setup at OSRAS. He had one at FFM with the V2 fixtures setup to look at and play around with.

 

[showard]

Whoo I am very excited for OSRAS! (My first coral show) needless to say Sunday can't come fast enough