Neptune Aquatics

Help with new kessils

B

brettandlyndis

Guest
BARcard
Hi all, so I just made the lighting switch on my 90 gallon mixed reef from 2 current usa marine orbits, to 2 kessil a360we with spectral controller. love the new lights, but want to make sure I do it right, as I know the kessils are far more intense than what the marine orbits have been putting out. so a couple of questions:

1. What would be a good lighting schedule to get everything used to the new lights? I had my marine orbits on from 8 am to 8 pm, with 30 minute ramp up and down, and moonlight for 4 hours.

2. How long should it take (approximately) for my corals to color up more? Some of the colors are dulled, from the limitations with the marine orbits, so under the kessils, I'm hoping some of the corals will color up more.

3. What are others using to supplement their kessils? I can use the all actinics on the marine orbits if need be, to get some more coloration, and reduce shadowing, but not sure if its necessary.

Thanks!
 
I just recently made the change as well thanks to Jess at Diablo Corals. He used to work at Kessil and here's what he set me up with to start:

A ten hour cycle.
- At turn on 0 color/5 intensity for 1.5 hours
-15 color/25 intensity for 1.5 hours
- 50/45 for 5.5 hours
-15/25 for 1.5 hours
-At the ten hour mark 0/0 (off)
 
1) 12 hours of lighting may be too much, I would shoot for 8-10 hours depending on intensity.
2) Changing lighting is a big change, your corals will adapt - but it's best to make sure you eliminate other changes/stresses while they do. Also, pick a lighting pattern and stick with it for at least 2-3 months. It's easier for corals to adapt to a fixed lighting configuration than many changes/tweaks.
3) Is your tank a standard 90 gallon? If so, you've got both a lot of water to penetrate in terms of depth and 48 inches of width to cover. The A360Ws will each cover a 24x24" or so area but may not penetrate well.

You've got some nice lights! I'd set them up and enjoy them, then try not to think about them for 2-3 months before you re-evaluate or make any changes.
 
I just came here to post a very similar question about mine.

My mixed reef tank is 72" long, 22" top to bottom and 18" front to back. I previously had 4 of the $75-$80 Chinese panel LED's that ship out of San Leandro. Those are what I started with when I got this tank in October last year. They've grown coral very well but they aren't programmable and won't work with any controllers. Plus I just think the Kessil lights have a nicer look so yesterday I installed three new 360 W's. I got the controller but haven't hooked it up yet. I manually set the intensity and color knobs to about 70%, they're on a timer for 8 hours a day and they're about 10" above the water surface. The previous lights looked MUCH brighter with both the blue and white lights turned up to about 70% of their available power. These new Kessil's are much more beautiful to my eye but not as bright even when at max intensity. I'm not sure if that's just my eye's impression or reality. I don't have a par meter so I can't measure it so I set them at about 70% thinking that would be safer.

My questions are many: Should I get another one for a total of four 360W's? The Kessil website lists 3 as being ok or the minimum for my tank size but I'm not looking for minimum. I'm looking for optimum. I'd like to start trying some stony corals and some clams at some point and I hear they need a lot of light. Should I add a T5? Am I in the right zone here initially by leaving the knobs manually set at about 70% even though it looks darker than my previous lights? Would it be a good idea to put two of those Chinese lights back on so I have one on each side of the center light?

Marc
 
I also have a 72" tank. I set it up with three 360's, but will be adding the fourth this week. You can probably get away with three if you're careful about how you set your corals. Each light covers 24" so you're getting no overlap and the "edges" will get less usable light. So if you want optimum I'd go with four.

Get yours a on the controller as soon as you can. It makes setting them much easier -- right now you're just guessing any color and intensity. I actually got Jess from Diablo Corals to give me a set-up guide for the Kessils. He's installed hundreds of them and he used to work for Kessil.

He recommends a ten hour cycle as follows: (where the first number is color and the second is intensity)
First 1.5 hours 0/5
Next 1.5 Hours 15/25
Next 5.5 hours 50/45
Next 1.5 hours 15/25

This initial setting will acclimate your corals to this light without burning any. After the first 30-45 days you can bump up by 10% on your midday settings. From there you'll have to eyeball your corals and decide, but in most cases non one runs much above 60% from my understanding.

I don't have a lot of experience with other lights, but I've read numerous times that Kessil's do appear to be less bright (to our eyes) than other LEDs, but the usable light they give off is more intense - which is why they grow corals well.

When I set up my Kessils I also did a lot of research on whether to add anything additional and the resounding answer from everyone was it would be a waste of time and possibly harmful.
 
I have to agree that two kessils over a standard 90 is probably not enough. Depending on what you want to keep. I know they say that you can keep corals under a 24 X 24 square, but you also need to understand that the edges of that square will not be as bright as the center. Even with optics. So a little overlap is a good thing, in my opinion. I have a 7' long tank that is 30" from front to back, and 26" from top to bottom. 290 gallons. I have 5 Kessil Narrows across the front of the tank, and two Kessil wides in the back (one on each side of the center overflow). This gives me a nice bit of overlap between each light, so I can effectively use the entire tank for corals. I still have darker area's that I keep low light LPS or softie's. This is overkill for most types of coral, but I keep SPS.

My point being that in general, more light is better. I personally would consider a third Kessil. You can always turn them down if you are having problems. Although I feel most people under light when using LED's. I talk to many who run their lights at 50%. I'm not sure I get that. I have about 830 watts of LED over my tank.......generally about 11" off the water. I run them all at 100%. I have never seen a coral actually burn before. At worst, they may not open for a day or two, or lose a little color while they acclimate. I just start all corals on the bottom, and move them up when they start looking happy.

Kessils do appear less bright. I supplement with some LED strip lights. I use Ecoxotics, but there are a ton of cool options, including standard T5's. The kessils will do great on their own, but I like to have options with the lighting. I often turn off all supplemental and just watch with the kessils. It is very beautiful, but when I turn on the brighter white strip lights it's a little easier to see details in the colors and coral and gives more of a daylight feel. I don't think they do much for actual coral growth accept corals that are close to the top of the tank.

Anyway, I hope you like the new lights. I think you made a great choice. Lot's of good advice already given, so good luck.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
brettandlyndis said:
Hi all, so I just made the lighting switch on my 90 gallon mixed reef from 2 current usa marine orbits, to 2 kessil a360we with spectral controller.
Click to expand...

We are contemplating getting 2 Marine Orbits for our 90g mixed - it's our first saltwater tank.

How long did they keep you happy before you wanted to upgrade?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
L/B Block said:
We are contemplating getting 2 Marine Orbits for our 90g mixed - it's our first saltwater tank.

How long did they keep you happy before you wanted to upgrade?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

In my case just a few months. I almost immediately decided I didn't want to be so limited in what I could have in my tank and I had seen no growth from at all.
 
L/B Block said:
We are contemplating getting 2 Marine Orbits for our 90g mixed - it's our first saltwater tank.

How long did they keep you happy before you wanted to upgrade?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

If you looking into getting kessil for your tank. I have two 1 month old A360WE kessil for sale. It comes with gooseneck and 90 degree adapter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top