Are Kessil a360x enough or do I need more?

[Duzzy]

Hi there,

I’m looking at getting 2 x kessil a360x for my 4 x 2 x 2 build and was wondering If they are enough for a mixed reef with sps or do I need supplementary lighting like either 2-4 Reef Brite xho blue led or 2 orphek or3 blue with 2 orphek or3 day

Im not sure and the more I read/watch I get confused. Ihis was so much easier when it’s fresh water or marine with hallides

regards Duzzy

 

[Reefer911]

They will definitely grow corals. I had two on a 36” tank and I had some good color and growth. I really like their footprint and that shimmer is great

I have a larger tank now that I’m running Radions on, so my kessils may go up for sale soon. They were only used maybe 8 months.

 

[Duzzy]

They will definitely grow corals. I had two on a 36” tank and I had some good color and growth. I really like their footprint and that shimmer is great

I have a larger tank now that I’m running Radions on, so my kessils may go up for sale soon. They were only used maybe 8 months.

Do you mean your kessil alone grew coral? And are you growing sps?

im in Australia otherw I’d make an offer here the a360x are $850 the a500x $1350 it’s bloody insane!

the reason I’d like to know before trying is I’m designing my light rack and if other lights are needed I want to plan for them.

 

[Spare time]

They are good for a 24x24 inch area for a mixed tank, and a 20x20 area for sps.


If you don't mind loosing some shimmer, adding a reef brite or blade on each side wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

[Duzzy]

They are good for a 24x24 inch area for a mixed tank, and a 20x20 area for sps.


If you don't mind loosing some shimmer, adding a reef brite or blade on each side wouldn't be a bad idea.

Cutting back shimmer is fine I actually think the kessil shimmer just a pince too much, just my opinion

is blade a brand?

 

[piranhaman00]

You will want fill light

 

[JustinGr]

I have a 48x24x16 and have two 360x and the ReefBrite add on hangers and they are perfect. I have the Apogee PAR meter and at the sand the PAR is 170 ish at the corners.

 

[Reefer911]

Do you mean your kessil alone grew coral? And are you growing sps?

im in Australia otherw I’d make an offer here the a360x are $850 the a500x $1350 it’s bloody insane!

the reason I’d like to know before trying is I’m designing my light rack and if other lights are needed I want to plan for them.

Yes I had the Kessils alone. It was a new tank so I wasn’t successful with sps. Definitely wasn’t the lights’ fault.

 

[Duzzy]

I have a 48x24x16 and have two 360x and the ReefBrite add on hangers and they are perfect. I have the Apogee PAR meter and at the sand the PAR is 170 ish at the corners.

Wow! Is that running both the a360x’s and the reef rites at 100%? Are the reefbrites programmable?

 

[Duzzy]

You will want fill light

Thx I think I’m learning that way just wanted a few opinions before designing my frame

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

You will want fill light

I second this! Kessil a360x is a great light, but since its a single point of illumination, its pretty easy to shade. It will become more problematic as the SPS get wider and start shading themselves. But with that being said, you can get some great results out the gate.

 

[Acros]

As mentioned above, you want fill light for SPS. My experience using Kessil ap9x on an SPS dominant 24” nano is that it will provide good PAR, with a lot of shadowing. One way I noticed it is that my acros developed the cool colors only on the top, the sides and bottom looked just green or a base color. Switched to XR30 pros and the cool colors started showing up on the sides as well. I know it is the lights because I used Radions with LED light bars before experimenting with Kessil, and after.

 

[minus9]

I would do at least three 360x's with LED bars front and back. With acropora, one 360x will cover roughly 12" to 18" square area. They're great lights, but because they are point source, you're gonna need more for coverage and/or fill light. Ask @Lousybreed if he ships Quanta Pro bars to Australia, as they would be my choice for LED bars. In fact, I would use 3 - 4 bars and a couple 360x's to give you shimmer/contrast and the tank would look really nice. Why not use the Dalua X4's? You could easily fit a few with their nice mounts and have a nice looking setup.

 

[neonreef3d]

 

[JustinGr]

Wow! Is that running both the a360x’s and the reef rites at 100%? Are the reefbrites programmable?

No, max at 60%, and the ReefBrite are also controlled and dim and ramp in accordance with the Kessil.

 

[JustinGr]

This is what they look like.

 

[Reefer Matt]

They work great until the coral grow out. Then the shading starts. This is a four foot standard 75 gallon tank. All sps coral. The lights peak at 55% for about 300 par up top, 100 on bottom. I am going to add this reefbrite hybrid soon for fill in.

 

[areefer01]

Honestly you are going to get a lot of mixed replies, mine included, regarding any lighting. The Kessil a360x has been out for a bit now and it is very well built, easy to use, and expanded upon if using their wired, or wireless, controller. That being said I'd recommend doing some light reading on articles by Dana Riddle to get a better understand of what PAR is as he had done actual studies in oceanic conditions as it relates to coral growth and health.

The video below which you may have already watched will at least give you a basic understanding of the spread of the light as it relates to mounting height. Know that the a360x also allows the use of lens which can be used to change mounting height and spread which also gives a bit more PAR should that be something you need.

Sounds like you are setting up a new display so the corals may be on the smaller size, new frags so you won't encounter the contrast or shading right away. Depending on how long you stay in the hobby vs the growth rate you may not run into any issues for a bit. My suggestion would be to allow additional mounting that way should you need it you can always add a light with no issues.

If you want to look at a panel design then I'd recommend looking at the ReefI 2.0 kits. They are pretty popular, solid, and provide a lot of PAR for the money. They will produce more light than the Kessil's.

 

[Duzzy]

I would do at least three 360x's with LED bars front and back. With acropora, one 360x will cover roughly 12" to 18" square area. They're great lights, but because they are point source, you're gonna need more for coverage and/or fill light. Ask @Lousybreed if he ships Quanta Pro bars to Australia, as they would be my choice for LED bars. In fact, I would use 3 - 4 bars and a couple 360x's to give you shimmer/contrast and the tank would look really nice. Why not use the Dalua X4's? You could easily fit a few with their nice mounts and have a nice looking setup.

I looked at dalua they didn’t really do much for me but I’ll have another look. I’d thought of getting 3 x a360x or getting 2 a500x then adding the led bars of what ever brand.

I also wonder if I could run the led front to back instead of length ways running them on either side of the kessils so 2 kessils 3 or 4 led bars.

 

[Duzzy]

Honestly you are going to get a lot of mixed replies, mine included, regarding any lighting. The Kessil a360x has been out for a bit now and it is very well built, easy to use, and expanded upon if using their wired, or wireless, controller. That being said I'd recommend doing some light reading on articles by Dana Riddle to get a better understand of what PAR is as he had done actual studies in oceanic conditions as it relates to coral growth and health.

The video below which you may have already watched will at least give you a basic understanding of the spread of the light as it relates to mounting height. Know that the a360x also allows the use of lens which can be used to change mounting height and spread which also gives a bit more PAR should that be something you need.

Sounds like you are setting up a new display so the corals may be on the smaller size, new frags so you won't encounter the contrast or shading right away. Depending on how long you stay in the hobby vs the growth rate you may not run into any issues for a bit. My suggestion would be to allow additional mounting that way should you need it you can always add a light with no issues.

If you want to look at a panel design then I'd recommend looking at the ReefI 2.0 kits. They are pretty popular, solid, and provide a lot of PAR for the money. They will produce more light than the Kessil's.

ive been in the hobby 30 years wirh fresh water and had a marine tank 8 yrs ago then a family tragedy had me out of the hobby for 2yrs and never returned to salt. Freshwater is one thing but marine is a whole new animal and as with my freshwater I want to do it right the first time