Kessil A360X vs Ecotech XR15 G5 Pro - Spectrum??

[Aaron Shapiro]

Ignore the noise. If you are looking for an over the counter shrink wrap package then you have a few options and it comes down to personal preference at the end of the day. G5's being the newest kid on the block and a lot of fans of the product to include previous g4, g3, etc. They have a pretty good track record. Kessil also has previous versions and a nice record. Known for shimmer and the so called Kessil Logic. It is a nice feature but the G series has their own AB thing going on.

As noted there are some other units out there that are capable and a new Coral Care light from philips. That looks really impressive and guess what - it also has its own coral growth setting Since you reference BRS videos on lighting they have some tests with others if you want to compare but if you narrowed it down the only thing I can offer is consider mounting, ascetics, and maintenance. Both will grow coral so maybe that will narrow it down for you.

I've personally never owned the radions so can't comment. I do own 4 a360x's and find they do amazingly well. Small form factor, built in kessil logic for corals, option to tune spectrum with controller, several mounting options for height, and amazing support should you ever need it. I've had one light flicker that we couldn't figure out and I opened a ticket. They replied, asked a few questions, we debugged a few things and the next day I had a new light on my doorstep. Overnight mind you.

Should also be noted it is the only light on the market that if you want to increase par or mounting height you can add a narrow lens on it and Bob's your Uncle. In any case if you want an opinion on the Kessil that is all i have outside my DIY multi channel from Blue Acro that I love and use. They are a quality light and will grow corals. I can't compare to the G series and I'd mislead you if I tried.

Have a grand day.

How do you know my uncle Bob?!?!

In all seriousness this is a great response. I think if. I was lighting something larger than a 25g frag system I’d be looking into T5/DIY/Something else, but for this I really just want one turn-key fixture to use. I think Kessil has the best spectrum you can get in a 90w fixture right now. I do think Radions have shown success and show better coloration perhaps in the corals if you’re looking for that black light look. I’m still somewhat undecided, but things are going to start arriving today..... guess I’ll be making my decision soooon

 

[User1]

How do you know my uncle Bob?!?!

In all seriousness this is a great response. I think if. I was lighting something larger than a 25g frag system I’d be looking into T5/DIY/Something else, but for this I really just want one turn-key fixture to use. I think Kessil has the best spectrum you can get in a 90w fixture right now. I do think Radions have shown success and show better coloration perhaps in the corals if you’re looking for that black light look. I’m still somewhat undecided, but things are going to start arriving today..... guess I’ll be making my decision soooon

There are fans of both for sure. Of all lights otherwise why would we buy them In any case Kessil has a pretty good following and their parent company knows lighting if that helps any. Medical and Studio. Not sure if that matters any.

Regardless of your choice sounds like you are off to a great start. It is an amazing hobby with incredible tanks of all sizes. Best of luck to you!

 

[ajm83]

Something else to consider is the light placement. The Radion excels when mounted fairly high (15+ inches typically) while the A360X can produce the same coverage much lower because of it's super wide spread and excellent color blending.

Is that still true of the G5? One of the things I keep seeing mentioned in reviews is that they can be mounted much lower than the G4 but still achieve the same spread.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Is that still true of the G5? One of the things I keep seeing mentioned in reviews is that they can be mounted much lower than the G4 but still achieve the same spread.

Since I don‘t have the light or a test take to play with I lean really heavily on BRS’ data. I think they do extremely comprehensive research and unless there’s another resource out there that does the same, they’re my best bet.

That being said they mount their XR15 G5’s at 8” from water surface to get less than a 15% drop off from center to edges. (I believe this is all based on a 2’ cube.) See here:

 

[sharpimage]

Either one will do the same job more or less. For me, it came down to looks of the fixture itself.

 

[madweazl]

Is that still true of the G5? One of the things I keep seeing mentioned in reviews is that they can be mounted much lower than the G4 but still achieve the same spread.

I have no first hand experience with the gen 5s and the elongated shape over the previous generation should mitigate some of that. I imagine the discoball is still there when mounted at a similar height to the Kessil however. The plus side to the Radions is that they have enough power on tap to be raised up and still provide reasonable PAR. A diffuser may eliminate that altogether and provide you with a low mounting height and an even colored light across the entire tank. Of course, if you're using AB+ or an even higher kelvin selection, it's mostly blue lights anyways so it will be considerably less noticeable.

 

[User1]

Note the a360x can be mounted lower due to the wider lens. However, if you want to mount it higher you can do so. If you want the same or more par then you can add a lens that changes the spread from 130 to 90 degrees. Radion's can't do that. Something to keep in mind.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

Note the a360x can be mounted lower due to the wider lens. However, if you want to mount it higher you can do so. If you want the same or more par then you can add a lens that changes the spread from 130 to 90 degrees. Radion's can't do that. Something to keep in mind.

This is a good point.

 

[User1]

This is a good point.

BRS has a new video talking about it and a test they ran with the H series. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

BRS has a new video talking about it and a test they ran with the H series. Just something to keep in mind.

In this specific application the lower mounting would be ideal, but that’s still good to know.

I’m mostly looking at the spectrums, thinking about coral coloration and growth. I do believe the 360x is one of the broadest color spectrums coming out of a 90w fixture.

 

[Brian Fabiano]

In this specific application the lower mounting would be ideal, but that’s still good to know.

I’m mostly looking at the spectrums, thinking about coral coloration and growth. I do believe the 360x is one of the broadest color spectrums coming out of a 90w fixture.

What did you end up going with ? I have the same tank and keep going back and forth.

 

[Dilan Patel]

I have owned all three brands...I used kessis were nice good blending and shimmer was nice but unfortunately I could never find the color that I visually liked. On my other tank I run black boxes and t-5 retro kit. While the black boxes grow coral they were a tad bit purple for me so I added some blue t-5's the way I run them i am probably sitting around 15k compared to my brand new G4's i installed in the summer over a frag tank connected to the main display. While I can't comment on how the g5/newer kessils color coral I will say that the radions color certain coral better than the black boxes and vice versa.

 

[Aaron Shapiro]

What did you end up going with ? I have the same tank and keep going back and forth.

I actually didn’t do anything. I have Hydra 32HDs over my tank and never made a change. I guess after considering the potential costs and hassle to install involved in the whole thing I decided that I was likely splitting hairs. All three brands are proven to grow coral so there’s no real need to reinvent the wheel, or rather overly drain my wallet to get something different.

I will say I purchased a 360X to try over my (now broken down) 25g Lagoon tank and found the shimmer to be so dazzling that it made looking at the tank almost painful. I returned that light — I think the spectrum is likely there, but if you can’t look at the time leisurely who cares?

 

[Harold999]

If the a360x has a wider spectrum in the blue's, what is the reason that according some the G5's are able to deliver more electric blacklight pop?

 

[minus9]

If the a360x has a wider spectrum in the blue's, what is the reason that according some the G5's are able to deliver more electric blacklight pop?

It could be their choice of individual diodes, but there’s plenty of pop with the Kessil’s, just need to run them more blue and violet at 100%, with a little red and green mixed in. Personally, I can’t stand the all blue black light look for very long, I get it with the ramp up and down, but could never have a tank with that lighting for the whole photo period, it just looks completely unnatural to me. But that’s just me and everyone has their personal preference, as it should be.

 

[Harold999]

It could be their choice of individual diodes, but there’s plenty of pop with the Kessil’s, just need to run them more blue and violet at 100%, with a little red and green mixed in. Personally, I can’t stand the all blue black light look for very long, I get it with the ramp up and down, but could never have a tank with that lighting for the whole photo period, it just looks completely unnatural to me. But that’s just me and everyone has their personal preference, as it should be.

Looking at the graphics on page 1 of this thread it must be the 400 frequency. It's exactly the point where the Kessil shows a dip and the G5 not.

 

[Tonycass12]

I have 2 xr15 g5 pros over my tank. You will still get disco ball 3ff3ct without the diffuser plates. I never thought it was that bad until I added a diffuser and I won't ever take that thing back off. I ran just 1 for a while and noticed a lot of shadowing with the light only coming from a single point so I added a second light. My tank is 24"×24"×16"tall and 2 lights got the entire tank into the 200-350par range when the lights are running at about 80%

 

[Harold999]

Looking at the graphics on page 1 of this thread it must be the 400 frequency. It's exactly the point where the Kessil shows a dip and the G5 not.

From Google: "Ultraviolet light encompasses a wide range of wavelengths, but most blacklight applications utilize a narrow range of ultraviolet radiation (UV-A) to produce fluorescence effects - specifically between 350 and 400 nm."

That's interesting. If you look at the graphics the Kessil is better than the G5 in that range.