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My LED Journey and Experiences


Jpowell490

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I just saw a youtube review where the guy indicated one of his lights was malfunctioning. He said that when a light is replaced under their two year warranty the warranty on the replacement starts over with a fresh two years. Have you heard this? BRS has the Kessils at 10% off right now. Very tempting!!!

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Anyone else have any experience with the 350 / 360's?

I have 4 360N kessils over my 90 gal and zero complaints. Colors are great, I'm getting excellent growth. They're very quiet. The lights themselves get warm and they do warm up the tank, but it's not too bad. I have mine controlled by the apex, both the intensity and spectrum changes throughout the day. I'm very happy with the decision to switch!

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Really sounds like it's the opinion of everyone who uses them, that kessils are the best non metal halide ligjting option on the market. You guys are really selling me on these. I may just hang on to my t5s and save up for the next year and get them.

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Yea Jimbo,

They are great lights. The new A360WE is out now as well for the same price, I would get those.

I did hear of a very few issues with the A360W's like I have now, but not a ton by any means. BRS should have the new ones in any day now.

You won't have any issues with them.

Bpb, are you asking what or how many Kessils, or another set up of LED?

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Was referring to kessils in this instance. Though I know the answer I'm sure. I'd bet 2 a360w would be ideal over a 55 gallon, or 4 a150w. I'd want the ability to dim them and change spectrum through the day though so the 360s are pretty much the only option. Hopefully over the next 6 months to a year the price will drop on them some. Will be a while before I can swing it

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Thank you mr. Powell for he write up.

I have AI sols, and am pretty happy with them. But I was thinking about upgrading them to the AI hydras. In addition to the reds and greens, it also says it adds 400 nm UV. And the chart in the link it shows some plectrum in the UV and the IR spectrum. http://www.aquaillumination.com/lighting/hydra/

I have mostly LPS and softies, but also display macro. It looks like the upgrade will cost about $300 ($200 for the lights and $100 for the wireless controller). I like the way my sol covers my 36" x 16" tank, but think I'd need two kessils and would completely change my lighting since right now I have some dim areas at the edges that would be eliminated with two.

I'd appreciate any thoughts you may have.

Thanks

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Hello Planeden,

I don't think you would gain a tremendous amount upgrading to Hydra's, it would be more of a lateral move.

Red and Greens in LED is virtually useless unless used in a very small amount. It will cause some algae growth.

As you can see in the video I posted, I don't have shadowing with the Kessil really. I do think the AI Sol was their best fixture.

With LPS and softies, you might get a bit more coloration out of the Hydra's, but nothing major.

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Hello Planeden,I don't think you would gain a tremendous amount upgrading to Hydra's, it would be more of a lateral move.Red and Greens in LED is virtually useless unless used in a very small amount. It will cause some algae growth. As you can see in the video I posted, I don't have shadowing with the Kessil really. I do think the AI Sol was their best fixture. With LPS and softies, you might get a bit more coloration out of the Hydra's, but nothing major.

To say that red and green in LED is virtually useless, requires more explanation.

I know for certain, that greens grow deep water red macros like red grapes and dragons breath. If I want to bring out the color red in a fish or a macro, I would use a red LED.

Patrick

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Thanks Guys,

Either I didn't research lighting as much as I should have (possible) or a lot of ideas about LED technology have changed in my 9 months in the hobby. I wasn't planning on doing any upgrade immediately, so maybe I will see what is available, and what research has come out in the next few months and reevaluate.

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If you want to bring out color, sure, that is what I posted. However, if you think Red and Green have anything to do with coral growth, they don't for most deep water species.

Almost all if the corals we have in our tanks are considered deep water. Certainly deeper than 10 feet.

If you have some coral that resides on shallow water, then it would be beneficial.

Red and Green create algae in the water column and in the ocean.

I have ran Red and Green and saw no benefit in my tank other than increased algae production.

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If you want to bring out color, sure, that is what I posted. However, if you think Red and Green have anything to do with coral growth, they don't for most deep water species.

Almost all if the corals we have in our tanks are considered deep water. Certainly deeper than 10 feet.

If you have some coral that resides on shallow water, then it would be beneficial.

Red and Green create algae in the water column and in the ocean.

I have ran Red and Green and saw no benefit in my tank other than increased algae production.

Check the latest articles by Dana Riddle (looking for links myself right now). He did an extensive presentation on color spectrum at MACNA this year and found that greens are definitely used. Reds are used but can be detrimental at significant levels if I remember properly.

Link here

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If you want to bring out color, sure, that is what I posted. However, if you think Red and Green have anything to do with coral growth, they don't for most deep water species.

Almost all if the corals we have in our tanks are considered deep water. Certainly deeper than 10 feet.

If you have some coral that resides on shallow water, then it would be beneficial.

Red and Green create algae in the water column and in the ocean.

I have ran Red and Green and saw no benefit in my tank other than increased algae production.

Check the latest articles by Dana Riddle (looking for links myself right now). He did an extensive presentation on color spectrum at MACNA this year and found that greens are definitely used. Reds are used but can be detrimental at significant levels if I remember properly.

Link here

cue our resident lightologist george monnet jr. for interpretation of these results. it is an interesting article, but at a depth of 2" it will be a far cry different from what jpowell is discussing at 10'. or at subsea's typical depth of 30'.

of course, this tells us what color is there, it doesn't tell us what color is helpful. if someone were to do the equivalent measure of me they'd see that i have a lot of ice cream. doesn't mean i need it, though. grumble...lights make my brain hurt.

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Let us make it a little deeper. At 80' in unlimited visibility water, 70% of the green spectrum remains. I suggest that most corals are collected in less depth than this. I also suggest that corals grow best where they got what they need.

Mother Nature knows best.

Patrick

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I don't know that you can draw that correlation (i.e., reds/greens killed his tank) when he went from panorama pros to Hydras at 90% RB. The dude just nuked his tank because he started off too high.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that an EXTREMELY sparse number of R/G LEDs may be useful for coloration, but achieving good balance/spread/blend with point source like LEDs is tough. That's why i think people like kessils/lumias so much is that they're all packed so close that it's a much better blend than the DIY units. It's one of the reasons I went back to a 20k radium :)

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