Kessil A360X Re-Visited! New PAR data and NEW setup guide.

[splitting_lanes]

does this light have enough spread for red sea reefer 170?

Absolutely. It’s a great light for a reefer 170

 

[zapbap99]

watched video what settings does Ryan use on his LPS tank wit hthe a360x I see he has torches at top of the tank like myself

 

[Papin]

How about with an Aquatic Life 4 T5s Blues and 2 A360Xs?

 

[KatesReef13]

How about with an Aquatic Life 4 T5s Blues and 2 A360Xs?

I have this same question.

 

[Papin]

I just rented a PAR Meter from BRS, here are my settings:
A360Xs

Aquatic Life T5s

 

[splitting_lanes]

I just rented a PAR Meter from BRS, here are my settings:
A360Xs

Aquatic Life T5s

What kind of par are you getting with these settings?

 

[Papin]

What kind of par are you getting with these settings?

74 - 178

 

[Miller535]

@randyBRS , I have a question about your BRS investigates videos about the kessil lights. BRS has done at least a few videos on the A360X. And in them recommends basically a really blue/violet setting for the color. Kessil recommends a shifting spectrum with a mostly white spectrum at the time of day with the peak intensity. At least I assume this is what they recommend when this is what their default setting is on the dongle labeled default tuna blue. This seems to contradict what BRS is saying. Especially since in the videos you guys always say to go with the manufacturer's settings and don't play mad scientist. I am not trying to call you or BRS out, just want to understand the discrepancy as I use these lights. I am inclined to think that Kessil is right being that their parent company Dicon is run and founded by biologist and botanist. But would really like to hear what you have to say. Maybe I am just missing something.

 

[User1]

@randyBRS , I have a question about your BRS investigates videos about the kessil lights. BRS has done at least a few videos on the A360X. And in them recommends basically a really blue/violet setting for the color. Kessil recommends a shifting spectrum with a mostly white spectrum at the time of day with the peak intensity. At least I assume this is what they recommend when this is what their default setting is on the dongle labeled default tuna blue. This seems to contradict what BRS is saying. Especially since in the videos you guys always say to go with the manufacturer's settings and don't play mad scientist. I am not trying to call you or BRS out, just want to understand the discrepancy as I use these lights. I am inclined to think that Kessil is right being that their parent company Dicon is run and founded by biologist and botanist. But would really like to hear what you have to say. Maybe I am just missing something.

I am not answering for them but I believe with the Kessil lighting you are getting their built in logic and tune to your eye. Meaning the light at a "on" state will have the Kessil Logic enabled which is safe for the corals health and growth. The hobbyist at that point can change to their own look and feel.

 

[Miller535]

I am not answering for them but I believe with the Kessil lighting you are getting their built in logic and tune to your eye. Meaning the light at a "on" state will have the Kessil Logic enabled which is safe for the corals health and growth. The hobbyist at that point can change to their own look and feel.

What you are saying is definitely what BRS has stated in some of their videos. BUT if you adjust the lighting to BRS recommendations opposed to Kessil's, it's a literal night and day difference in color. Regardless of Kessil logic, that has to be pretty impactful on the spectrum. Is Par the same because of Kessil logic, I would bet yes, but is spectrum the same, I bet no.

 

[User1]

What you are saying is definitely what BRS has stated in some of their videos. BUT if you adjust the lighting to BRS recommendations opposed to Kessil's, it's a literal night and day difference in color. Regardless of Kessil logic, that has to be pretty impactful on the spectrum. Is Par the same because of Kessil logic, I would bet yes, but is spectrum the same, I bet no.

Correct. The spectrum would be changed. I think the underlying Kessing Logic spectrum is still present though. What that does though I do not know. I have a trio of them though over my tank and have run them using an adjusted spectrum. I'm actually going to slowly change them back to default Kessil since I like a less blue/violet look and feel. I wish they had more lime green / green channels.

Great lights though although I do apologize that I don't really know the answer.

 

[randyBRS]

What you are saying is definitely what BRS has stated in some of their videos. BUT if you adjust the lighting to BRS recommendations opposed to Kessil's, it's a literal night and day difference in color. Regardless of Kessil logic, that has to be pretty impactful on the spectrum. Is Par the same because of Kessil logic, I would bet yes, but is spectrum the same, I bet no.

The main message we try to share about the Kessil and the Kessil logic is it's simplicity. Unlike other LEDs that give you the keys to the entire rainbow of spectrum offering and you make your best guess as to where they should be adjusted...Kessil uses a wide blue spectrum band approach that is locked down in those blue ranges, where really all you need to do is adjust the "color" knob until the tank looks good to you personally. For some reefers that may be more blue, for others that may be more white.

If we look at the spectrum band using the color knob from 0, 10, 20....to 100%, we can clearly see that this is the case. The spectrum band remains well represented in 420-500nm ranges, while you can add in more white (green, yellow, orange) until it pleases the eye.

Basically, unless I'm trying really hard to screw this up, I can set the color knob anywhere from 0-100% and trust that it's going to grow coral and meet my coral's energy needs (Kessil Logic). (Trying hard meaning turning only the red channel or green channel on with nothing else).

Ryan gives a thorough explination behind the concepts of why we target as much of a wide blue spectrum range from 400-500 as possible across any light we mount above our tanks in this video HERE

 

[oreo54]

Correct. The spectrum would be changed. I think the underlying Kessing Logic spectrum is still present though. What that does though I do not know. I have a trio of them though over my tank and have run them using an adjusted spectrum. I'm actually going to slowly change them back to default Kessil since I like a less blue/violet look and feel. I wish they had more lime green / green channels.

Great lights though although I do apologize that I don't really know the answer.

"Kessil logic" is just supposed to keep power output equal regardless of "color" setting.
Intensity adjusts the baseline for Kessil logic.

 

[Miller535]

The main message we try to share about the Kessil and the Kessil logic is it's simplicity. Unlike other LEDs that give you the keys to the entire rainbow of spectrum offering and you make your best guess as to where they should be adjusted...Kessil uses a wide blue spectrum band approach that is locked down in those blue ranges, where really all you need to do is adjust the "color" knob until the tank looks good to you personally. For some reefers that may be more blue, for others that may be more white.

If we look at the spectrum band using the color knob from 0, 10, 20....to 100%, we can clearly see that this is the case. The spectrum band remains well represented in 420-500nm ranges, while you can add in more white (green, yellow, orange) until it pleases the eye.

Basically, unless I'm trying really hard to screw this up, I can set the color knob anywhere from 0-100% and trust that it's going to grow coral and meet my coral's energy needs (Kessil Logic). (Trying hard meaning turning only the red channel or green channel on with nothing else).

Ryan gives a thorough explination behind the concepts of why we target as much of a wide blue spectrum range from 400-500 as possible across any light we mount above our tanks in this video HERE

I understand what you are saying. And I do believe that kessil lights will grow coral at 20% color or 80% or anywhere in the middle. But Spectrum has to be different at 20 then 80. Like if you put a spectrum meter under a Kessil A360X with the color at 20% and intensity at lets just say 60%. And then did it again at 80% color and 60% intensity again, using the spectrum meter under there again, the spectrum would have to be different. I am just using this as an example, I don't think anyone would want 80% color on a Kessil. Both would grow coral but somewhere in there would be an ideal. You said in your video I believe that 20% color was ideal because of where it fell in the spectrum. But kessil default is different. Although I suppose maybe different people think there is a different ideal spectrum and that is where the difference lies. Anyhow, thanks for your time. And I really like the videos and have learned a lot from them.

 

[randyBRS]

I understand what you are saying. And I do believe that kessil lights will grow coral at 20% color or 80% or anywhere in the middle. But Spectrum has to be different at 20 then 80. Like if you put a spectrum meter under a Kessil A360X with the color at 20% and intensity at lets just say 60%. And then did it again at 80% color and 60% intensity again, using the spectrum meter under there again, the spectrum would have to be different. I am just using this as an example, I don't think anyone would want 80% color on a Kessil. Both would grow coral but somewhere in there would be an ideal. You said in your video I believe that 20% color was ideal because of where it fell in the spectrum. But kessil default is different. Although I suppose maybe different people think there is a different ideal spectrum and that is where the difference lies. Anyhow, thanks for your time. And I really like the videos and have learned a lot from them.

Ahh, I understand what you're saying. There's absolutely a spectrum change across the different percentages. The first link I embedded in my last response is to the exact timestamp in my video that shows how the spectrum changes as you change the knob and as you'll see it does get "whiter" from 0% to 100%, but throughout each step there still remains a peak of blue spectrum and spectrum band within that 400-500 range we aim for.

I think the confusion here is trying to define "optimal, ideal or best" setting or spectrum mix using the Kessil. In this case specifically, I believe that anywhere on that 0%-100% is a solid choice for growing corals...however for the purposes of providing some direct recommended setting, we personally like the look of the recommendation made in the video which is actually how we chose that setting.

Is it ideal or the best? Definitely not in any type of way we were able to measure unless we set up a very long and arduous experiment. The point we try to make anytime that we talk about the Kessil is that it doesn't matter where you place the settings...you will be successful at any of them, so just choose a color that looks good to your eye. This is why I believe the Kessil is one of the most simple, easy to use lights currently on the market.

 

[JJGESSAY]

I Have an a360x over my 29 gallon (I know a mistake cause its rectangle). If I put it at the 8" but cut intensity to 50%, do the par ratings equal out? I don't have access to par meter at this point and am not sure if I raise light and intensity, or lower light and lower intensity. Any help is appreciated?

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

I Have an a360x over my 29 gallon (I know a mistake cause its rectangle). If I put it at the 8" but cut intensity to 50%, do the par ratings equal out? I don't have access to par meter at this point and am not sure if I raise light and intensity, or lower light and lower intensity. Any help is appreciated?

Your best bet is likely going to be to raise the light further off the water surface, then increase the intensity to compensate. You'll get more light spill from front to back, but this will be the only way to increase coverage length-wise without adding additional lighting. 30" is a bit out of the max 24" area that we'd normally recommend, so keep that in mind when placing your corals.

 

[Ctovarg]

Sure, we may have bored you to death with our last BRStv Investigates episode of the Kessil A360X....

This time, we're telling you how to set one up using that boring data!

Hello Randy and everyone, forgive me for bothering you all on an old post but let me start by saying thank you. You alongside the rest of the brs team have done so much for me that i cant express how appreciative i am. I have a question about the spread of par with the kessil a360x that im hoping someone can answer. What kind of par do you get on the top corners on a 24x24 cube? And i mean just below the water level close to the glass on the tanks edges im afraid i dont fully understand the spread sheet you made as i dont know when you refer to the edges you mean the top, mid or sanbed of the tank and i would appreciate some elaboration on this as i wanted to know if its okay to have frag racks just below the water level without frying your frags thank you and i appreciate all everyone does for us novices.

 

[Bulk Reef Supply]

Great questions! We don't have saved data at the very top of the tank, reason for doing this is that the typical tank of this size won't have corals in this portion. With that said, we tested PAR 6" below the water surface, 12" below the surface, and 18" below the surface of the water.

The closest data we have to the spot you are looking for would be with the measurement 6" below the surface. The front corners being 114-117 micromols, and the back corners (due to black painted back) being 81-86 micromols.