I need a Kessil SPS confidence boost

[GregOyeah]

Right now I have 2 Kessil A350WE's with 4 t5ho bulbs over my 90gallon sps dominant tank. Im pretty happy with my tank, any disappointment mostly lies with the way I designed the aquascape.

my sps grow very well, and the colors are nice but theyre not quite on the level of the colors you see from WWC or Jason Fox. Over the past few months Ive let me nitrates go up a bit which have helped with color but I still struggle with the deep dark reds and purples.

ANYWAY. Im a member of a few coral/sps groups on facebook and on one in particular someone started a thread about getting better colors, deeper, richer, more pristine colors in his tank and he mentioned he has the AP700 with 4 t5s to supplement. There was a TON of responses, and the overwhelming majority was to ditch the Kessils and get some radions in the tank. Most saying Kessils are great for LPS and softies and are ok for sps but if you want to get the best, most vibrant colors out of your corals, then you need to get Radions if youre going with LEDs.

Id love to know if the people in this community feel the same way or if they think thats a bunch of nonsense. If you think its a bunch of nonsense, post some pictures of your tank to prove it!

 

[Thor2j]

Complete nonsense. Look at the brs tests.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

I bet it has more to do with the sheer volume of water they all deal with. They have excellent stability and tons of flow. Also their lights are hung way up high and they use a ton of them.

 

[HB AL]

I just have 5 160's lighting my tank and have no complaints. Good enough for me. Here's some unedited cell phone pics.

 

[GregOyeah]

Complete nonsense. Look at the brs tests.

if i remember correctly brs tested for par, i think the argument these people were making was about proper spectrum.

though i think the brs160 is lit by kessils and i believe they have great coloration in the tank

 

[Prestomagic17*]

I have a kessil 160 in my 29 gal, but not sure really what intensity to keep it at. Iv been experimenting with it just got an acro, but not looking to hot. could use some tips

 

[HB AL]

I keep mine at 100% all the time.

 

[Prestomagic17*]

I keep mine at 100% all the time.

what size tank do you have?
is it a 160?

 

[HB AL]

It's a 92g, there's 5 160's

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

Those photos they take are filtered to give the corals their best colors. I've seen the WWC in person and the colors are good but the guy said straight up it's about flow. Flow let's them exchange waste and nutrients which gives them color. I have the t5 led hybrid with an ap 700 on my tank and my colors are good. My par at the top of the tallest coral is about 225.

 

[hart24601]

My only concern with the kessils would be this. I have found some acros color not necessarily better, but differently at higher PAR amounts. 300-400 was, generally, the range where colors start to shift for me. Now if you can hit those levels will the setup you have I suspect you will see those colors develop. Kessils are fine lights but not particularly powerful so people tend to get a lot, or use narrow angle, or supplement with another light.

That being said many vendors are a bit "generous" with the coloration you see in photos.

 

[hart24601]

Ah you asked for pics. Ok here is my old 120. White balance done on camera, but no photoshop or other mods. Most the acros I aimed for 350-500 to.shift colors. Shoot I thought I had more close up pics of some of the corals. In particular I noticed reds coming out more in that range. Again I think kessils can do it. It's more an intensity ime.

 

[Scorpius]

You need a ridiculous amount of Kessil's to keep sps happy and shadow free.


OP your T5's are doing all the heavy work of growing your coral.

 

[Thor2j]

if i remember correctly brs tested for par, i think the argument these people were making was about proper spectrum.

though i think the brs160 is lit by kessils and i believe they have great coloration in the tank

No, they tested for 6 different things including spectrum. On most kessil was better then radions.

 

[Hemmdog]

I had the same setup as you with 360’s

It wasn’t enough for sps to grow the way I was looking for. Upgraded to the aquatic life hybrid. Worlds of difference.