Anyone Running Kessil 360's with Or 120/90/60's?

[TheOne]

Hi,
I just ordered two OR120's to mount with my 4 kessil a360we's. Anyone have any pics of your kessil and OR light setup?

Thanks

 

[ycnibrc]

Orphek v4g2 with kessil 360x

 

[TheOne]

That is a beautiful tank. Checking out your build thread now. Thanks!

 

[Daniel Waters]

That is a beautiful tank. Checking out your build thread now. Thanks!

Hi,
I just ordered two OR120's to mount with my 4 kessil a360we's. Anyone have any pics of your kessil and OR light setup?

Thanks

I run 4 kessil A360w on articulating mounts with one custom orphek LED bar attached to my 6 bulb ATI T5 fixture.

Pictures are pretty blue heavy right now since I'm still in my dawn ramp up mode. Plus, @ycnibrc tank makes me ashamed to show my pictures after seeing that tank!

 

[ycnibrc]

I run 4 kessil A360w on articulating mounts with one custom orphek LED bar attached to my 6 bulb ATI T5 fixture.

Pictures are pretty blue heavy right now since I'm still in my dawn ramp up mode. Plus, @ycnibrc tank makes me ashamed to show my pictures after seeing that tank!

That's a really nice combo u have there. T5 still very good at growth and led will add pop and the kessil will produce shimmering

 

[TheOne]

@Daniel Waters Is that a 6' tank? I'm trying to figure out how to mount the two or120's above my tank since they are only 4'. My current setup is 6'. I may need to just order two more and stagger them. I guess I'm going to need another par meter to see where my par is with the new or120's. I will be running the kessils down the middle and the or120's on each side like my pic below.

I am wanting to get rid of my 4 t5's and only run kessils and OR120's.

 

[Daniel Waters]

@Daniel Waters Is that a 6' tank? I'm trying to figure out how to mount the two or120's above my tank since they are only 4'. My current setup is 6'. I may need to just order two more and stagger them. I guess I'm going to need another par meter to see where my par is with the new or120's. I will be running the kessils down the middle and the or120's on each side like my pic below.

I am wanting to get rid of my 4 t5's and only run kessils and OR120's.

Yes, it's a 6 foot tank.

The Orphek led bar I have is 4 feet long. It illuminates the full 6 feet of my tank, but I keep it mounted fairly high (the OR bar is 13" above the top of my tank). Because I have the 6 bulbs of T5 and the 4 kessils, I'm not having to worry about par on the edges. Plus, I don't really grow high light corals near the tank edges, so I'm just using my OR bar for some additional actinic pop as I used a combination of 410, 430, and 450 nm leds only in my bar. When it's on by itself, it definitely gives that black light type look! I just use my kessil controller to tweak the overall tank color by adding in more white LEDs.

I'm not going to be much help on mounting ideas, unless you want to do a floating canopy, which is what I use. My canopy is actually a uline rack that sits on top of the brackets that go into the wall. It makes it very easy to mount anything and handle cords. The canopy is 3 sided and just slides on top. I can provide you a picture if this idea interests you. If you're not going to use a canopy, you need some sort of box frame where you can mount the LEDs bars on each side and put kessils in the middle (kind of like the aquatic life hybrid setup but led bars in place of the T5 fixtures). Then mount using the typical hanging equipment for fixtures.

4 orphek bars plus the kessils sounds like a lot of light, but I'm not certain how much par the orphek bar really puts out on it's own. The kessils (assuming 4 on your 6 foot tank) probably give you fairly good blanket coverage of 100 to 150 par throughout the tank depending on your mounting height, color, and intensity settings. I'd start with two OR bars with your kessils and add in as needed. Par meter would definitely be a good idea.

Some things to think about:
(1) Since the OR bars are a set color based on your LED diode choices, you just want to be sure you are getting a base look you are happy with. You'll obviously be able to tweak using your kessils, which shouldn't be a problem with two OR bars, but might be with 4 OR bars (in other words, if your OR bars are whiter than you prefer, the kessils may not be able to provide enough blue to compensate). Typically, in my experience, it's easier to add in additional white as a little bit of increase there seems to have a more noticeable effect than trying to add in more blue to a too white color.
(2) If you have not viewed your tank with just the kessils and OR bar on only (no T5s), you should do so. The amount of shimmer will be much greater and noticeable without the T5s. I like shimmer, but without my T5s on, it can be a bit too much for my personal preferences.

 

[TheOne]

@Daniel Waters Thank You. As soon as my 120's arrive this week I am having my BIL build me a nice floating canopy to house the 4 kessils and or120's. He does woodworking for a living. Me not so much, ha. I threw this together in a day just to get the lights hung. I have a 5th kessil if I need it. Guess I will be buying another par meter, ha.

 

[Daniel Waters]

That's a really nice combo u have there. T5 still very good at growth and led will add pop and the kessil will produce shimmering

Thanks! It has been a progression of mix and match of T5 and LEDs. The T5 / led hybrid is my favorite combination. My kessils and LEDs give me shimmer and controllability and the T5s give me the uniform, diffused look I prefer. I never had any trouble growing corals with just my kessils in the past (but was only doing softies and LPS then), but I do have the T5s providing the majority of the par for my tank now.

 

[Daniel Waters]

@Daniel Waters Thank You. As soon as my 120's arrive this week I am having my BIL build me a nice floating canopy to house the 4 kessils and or120's. He does woodworking for a living. Me not so much, ha. I threw this together in a day just to get the lights hung. I have a 5th kessil if I need it. Guess I will be buying another par meter, ha.

If you have a 5th kessil, I'd use it. With puck style led units, the more the better I think (more point of light sources = less shading). You can always turn the intensity down, which I figure means a longer life for each unit (ideally).

5 kessils and 2 OR bars, and you should be fine par wise I think on a 6 foot tank. With your aquascape, I wouldn't be too concerned about lower par on the edges.

@TheOne, running all LEDs with T5s off, does the amount of shimmer bother you? With my kessils, it's just a bit too much. Almost gives me a headache!

 

[TheOne]

It is alot of shimmer. My wife likes it and since it's in the dining room I can live with it, ha.

Here is with t5s on.

Here is with them off. You can definately tell a difference.