Choosing among the Kessil lights for an Acro dominant setup

[flyfisher2]

I'm looking for advice on a Kessil light choice. The tank is 60 X 24 X 24. It will be an Acropora dominant set up. I've spoken to hobbyist and read numerous threads recommending the Kessil A360's, the ap 700's, or the AP9X for mixed reefs and or combined in a hybrid set up with T5's, LED strips like the Orphek Blue strips or ReefBrights when going for the extra coverage needed in Acro dominant reefs. I'd rather not have to supplement with a secondary light source.
Would the a500 be adequate for this type setup without the need for supplemental lighting in a tank this size if sufficient height were obtained ?
I'd love to hear from people who are actually using the lights and can share their experience with these lights. Thanks in advance reefers!

 

[flyfisher2]

Take advantage of the violet channel if you haven't already. Just go slow with adding it if you haven't done so?

I'd appreciate your input on the violets as they are totally new to me. I'm running the AB+ with the Ecotech XR-15's so that's what the corals have been growing under at 90 % Intensity.

 

[flyfisher2]

3 500x with a couple reefbrites or orphek strips or 4 360x or 2 apex. 2 500x will be too shadowing and spotty

Thanks for your input. As it stands after talking with Kessil extensively they recommended I go with the AP9X's as the lights of choice for my size system and my needs. The rep,Mason felt the 500's were too much for the depth of my tank and the 9x's would more than suffice plus I'd have 4 pucks (light sources) vs 2 for about the same cost. He confirmed that more light sources would be better as it would give me more coverage and help with shading. Both tanks have the same 60" X 24" footprint so It's going to be interesting watching them side by side.

 

[minus9]

Your intensity seems low to me, but as long as you check with a par meter and make sure you're hitting 250-350 micro moles during peak hours, you should be good.
I try to keep it simple when programming these lights. 6-8hr peak time with an hour or 2 ramp up and down.
I'm currently running this with six 360x's and two OR2 blue plus bars.
Time - Color - Int - Vio - Rd - Grn
7:55 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
8:00 - 0 - 10 - 0 - 0 - 0
10:00 - 25 - 92 - 100 - 0 - 0
14:00 - 35 - 100 - 100 - 0 - 0
16:00 - 35 - 100 - 100 - 0 - 0
18:00 - 25 - 92 - 100 - 0 - 0
20:00 - 0 - 10 - 0 - 0 - 0
20:05 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
I use 2pm and 4pm to add a little bump in the middle of my peak time. This also allows me to raise the intensity in smaller increments. I can raise the middle two hours, then wait a few weeks and bump up the start and end peak times to match. I was using a little red and green (maybe 5% or so during peak hours), which added just a little bit of color, mostly highlighted fish color. Since I have everything in a holding tank, I'm only looking from above, so it doesn't give me anything.
You can simply have a basic ramp up, peak, ramp down and be done. Pick what color speaks to you and you'll be fine. Kessil logic will not allow you to dial in a bad spectrum for your corals. Regardless of how you set it, know where your numbers are.
My Orphek bars come on at 9am and go off at 7pm.
Hope this helps?

 

[flyfisher2]

Your intensity seems low to me, but as long as you check with a par meter and make sure you're hitting 250-350 micro moles during peak hours, you should be good.
I try to keep it simple when programming these lights. 6-8hr peak time with an hour or 2 ramp up and down.
I'm currently running this with six 360x's and two OR2 blue plus bars.
Time - Color - Int - Vio - Rd - Grn
7:55 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
8:00 - 0 - 10 - 0 - 0 - 0
10:00 - 25 - 92 - 100 - 0 - 0
14:00 - 35 - 100 - 100 - 0 - 0
16:00 - 35 - 100 - 100 - 0 - 0
18:00 - 25 - 92 - 100 - 0 - 0
20:00 - 0 - 10 - 0 - 0 - 0
20:05 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
I use 2pm and 4pm to add a little bump in the middle of my peak time. This also allows me to raise the intensity in smaller increments. I can raise the middle two hours, then wait a few weeks and bump up the start and end peak times to match. I was using a little red and green (maybe 5% or so during peak hours), which added just a little bit of color, mostly highlighted fish color. Since I have everything in a holding tank, I'm only looking from above, so it doesn't give me anything.
You can simply have a basic ramp up, peak, ramp down and be done. Pick what color speaks to you and you'll be fine. Kessil logic will not allow you to dial in a bad spectrum for your corals. Regardless of how you set it, know where your numbers are.
My Orphek bars come on at 9am and go off at 7pm.
Hope this helps?

Just saw your post. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. I'm creating the program later tonight

 

[flyfisher2]

Your intensity seems low to me, but as long as you check with a par meter and make sure you're hitting 250-350 micro moles during peak hours, you should be good.
I try to keep it simple when programming these lights. 6-8hr peak time with an hour or 2 ramp up and down.
I'm currently running this with six 360x's and two OR2 blue plus bars.
Time - Color - Int - Vio - Rd - Grn
7:55 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
8:00 - 0 - 10 - 0 - 0 - 0
10:00 - 25 - 92 - 100 - 0 - 0
14:00 - 35 - 100 - 100 - 0 - 0
16:00 - 35 - 100 - 100 - 0 - 0
18:00 - 25 - 92 - 100 - 0 - 0
20:00 - 0 - 10 - 0 - 0 - 0
20:05 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
I use 2pm and 4pm to add a little bump in the middle of my peak time. This also allows me to raise the intensity in smaller increments. I can raise the middle two hours, then wait a few weeks and bump up the start and end peak times to match. I was using a little red and green (maybe 5% or so during peak hours), which added just a little bit of color, mostly highlighted fish color. Since I have everything in a holding tank, I'm only looking from above, so it doesn't give me anything.
You can simply have a basic ramp up, peak, ramp down and be done. Pick what color speaks to you and you'll be fine. Kessil logic will not allow you to dial in a bad spectrum for your corals. Regardless of how you set it, know where your numbers are.
My Orphek bars come on at 9am and go off at 7pm.
Hope this helps?

Wow, your intensity seems so high based on what I'm getting with my Seneye. As it stand at my peak the seneye is showing 300's and in hot spots some 400's. Lights are about 12" above water surface and the frags are about 12" below the surface. I'm starting to question the accuracy of the readings but then I check what the Radion XR15's are reading at 90% Intensity at the peak of the AB+ Program and they are very close.
At the same time I'm seeing a few brown frags. No Bleaching. I'm running the acclimation over a 30 day period.
I'm open to any suggestions

 

[minus9]

Wow, your intensity seems so high based on what I'm getting with my Seneye. As it stand at my peak the seneye is showing 300's and in hot spots some 400's. Lights are about 12" above water surface and the frags are about 12" below the surface. I'm starting to question the accuracy of the readings but then I check what the Radion XR15's are reading at 90% Intensity at the peak of the AB+ Program and they are very close.
At the same time I'm seeing a few brown frags. No Bleaching. I'm running the acclimation over a 30 day period.
I'm open to any suggestions

My tank is sps dominant, so that’s why it’s at 100% with my setup. You’ll have to adjust your intensity to your animal’s needs, my schedule was for reference for schedule and color settings. Go very slow and observe your animals.

 

[flyfisher2]

My tank is sps dominant, so that’s why it’s at 100% with my setup. You’ll have to adjust your intensity to your animal’s needs, my schedule was for reference for schedule and color settings. Go very slow and observe your animals.

This particular tank is also SPS dominant so I’ll be paying particular attention to your settings.
Do you think the 30 day acclimation is adequate to go from my present intensity of 27 to 55?
The browning of some of my acros is more likely to be insufficient light than too much?

 

[minus9]

This particular tank is also SPS dominant so I’ll be paying particular attention to your settings.
Do you think the 30 day acclimation is adequate to go from my present intensity of 27 to 55?
The browning of some of my acros is more likely to be insufficient light than too much?

2% - 5% a week increase in intensity should be fine, but watch for any sudden changes. Remember, as you increase intensity, your flow should increase as well. Keep alk steady and track it, hopefully you’ll see some consumption while you increase intensity. Browning is usually not enough light or heavy/too much N&P, but mostly high phosphates. Go slow and be patient. I generally will wait a week after increasing intensity before raising it again, so there’s a week of observation after the increase. Corals can survive much longer in lower light than too much light.
In my schedule I have a 2hr mid day period, this allows me to increase intensity in smaller increments. I’ll first raise the mid day percentage, wait a week or two, then raise both ends of the peak to match. Hopefully this all makes sense?

 

[flyfisher2]

2% - 5% a week increase in intensity should be fine, but watch for any sudden changes. Remember, as you increase intensity, your flow should increase as well. Keep alk steady and track it, hopefully you’ll see some consumption while you increase intensity. Browning is usually not enough light or heavy/too much N&P, but mostly high phosphates. Go slow and be patient. I generally will wait a week after increasing intensity before raising it again, so there’s a week of observation after the increase. Corals can survive much longer in lower light than too much light.
In my schedule I have a 2hr mid day period, this allows me to increase intensity in smaller increments. I’ll first raise the mid day percentage, wait a week or two, then raise both ends of the peak to match. Hopefully this all makes sense?

Yes, it makes total sense as I understand that what happens today may not show up until days or weeks later.
I’ve been monitoring Nitrates and phosphates.
Both are low. Nitrates are at 5ppm and phosphates are between .02 and .04
Im seeing some growth and encrusting by a few pieces.
Based on your suggestion I’ll slow the acclimation process further.
This is my present program.
I reduced it from 55 during peaks to 40 which should put me closer to that 2-5% weekly increase over the 30 day acclimation period.

 

[flyfisher2]

I'll keep you posted on the sps. Just started trying them out again after a couple failed attempts. So far they are encrusting the plugs (which I could never get them to do previously) and some are just starting to show signs of branching and one really has submitted in size size I got it mid October. My system isn't SPS dominated but I do want a decent mix. But where I was going nowhere before, I am now. I'm going to let things ride for now as I'm past making fast static changes. In another few months I'll decide if I want to dump two of the four and replace them with more reefi's

Hey RobB'z,
Just curious as to how the growth was coming under your Kessils?

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Hey RobB'z,
Just curious as to how the growth was coming under your Kessils?

I ended up dumping them for reefi Uno's and quanta bars instead.

 

[flyfisher2]

I ended up dumping them for reefi Uno's and quanta bars instead.

More info!!!
what brought on the change?
Are you satisfied?
More info!!!
LOL

 

[flyfisher2]

Hey all,
It’s been a year since I started this thread and thought I should share the results of my decision
I purchased 2 KESSIL Apx 9’s and two Orphek Blue strips
The Kessils run for 10 hours and the Orphek blues for three in the evening for blue pop
Here are some pics

 

[flyfisher2]

Please note the oldest corals here were put in as small frags in January 2022, other smaller frags were added in May and August of this year.

ALL were frags and have been in system 10 months or less

 

[flyfisher2]

 

[nuxx]

Yup had 6 A360x on my tank. Would say the spread wasn't great... I was more into fish than SPS, so I could have got away with using them if I added a bunch more

 

[flyfisher2]

This is tank in January 2022. when I first added corals

 

[flyfisher2]

Present day

 

[flyfisher2]

Update, still running the Kessils as my primary lighting but changed the Orphek OR3 strips out and added 4 T5's. It's been almost two months since the change and I'm seeing some positive changes in coloration and growth. My main reason for the change was due to shading. Even with the strips on the sides I had corals just not getting enough light. The T5's seem to have remedied this at least for now.

 

[minus9]

Nice! Orpheks don't have great blending and spread when mounted below 14" or so. If you ever decide to move back to LED bars, then check out Quanta Pro bars. With Kessil's, you'll need to cover acropora on all sides to minimize shading, all point source lights are like this, regardless of brand.