Kessil a500x

Murica · May 31, 2021

I’m going to get these for my 8’x3’x30” H tank.

Does anyone have experiences with these? I’m debating if i should get:

3 units with the wide angle lenses rated for 2’ “sps dominated” depth
Or
4 units with the wide angle
Or
4 units with the 55 degree lenses rated for 3’ depth

My tanks going to be mixed, high light corals on the top. What’s making it difficult to determine is the recommended spread for “sps dominated” tanks is 36x36 at 2’ with the wide lenses... does that mean it’ll still sufficiently reach down to 30” for lower light corals?

Jekyl · May 31, 2021

@Kessil

Suohhen · May 31, 2021

The BRS Investigates series is absolutely a fantastic source for almost everything you would like to know about a light.

The videos are long but well worth it. TLDW you definitely wouldn't want to go with the narrow lenses on such a wide tank unless you mounted them very high above the tank, but why? and these lights will absolutely illuminate 30' depth just fine. Also Kessils benefit from supplemental lighting to get corals illuminated from all sides, typically t5, but check out the Reefbrite Lumilights as well.

Murica · May 31, 2021

Suohhen said:
The BRS Investigates series is absolutely a fantastic source for almost everything you would like to know about a light.

The videos are long but well worth it. TLDW you definitely wouldn't want to go with the narrow lenses on such a wide tank unless you mounted them very high above the tank, but why? and these lights will absolutely illuminate 30' depth just fine. Also Kessils benefit from supplemental lighting to get corals illuminated from all sides, typically t5, but check out the Reefbrite Lumilights as well.

I'm playing catch up with all the BRS podcasts (recording from BRS TV), and I agree they're well worth it. Thanks for the link, I'm definitely going to listen to it.

I put a lot of weight on what those two say, but I'm glad you chimed in as well. Getting 3 will be much cheaper and way less in electrical usage, so I'm hoping that'll be enough for what I need... Thanks for the info

Nick Steele · May 31, 2021

I don’t think 3 will be good long term unless you add supplemental lights such as t5’s or led strips to help with shadowing. 3 might be good for a year or so I think.

Murica · May 31, 2021

Nick Steele said:
I don’t think 3 will be good long term unless you add supplemental lights such as t5’s or led strips to help with shadowing. 3 might be good for a year or so I think.

You’re probably right I think realistically I’ll get 4. I need to find a way to mount them too.. with cathedral ceilings and the 3 foot wide tank it’s a little challenging

Jekyl · May 31, 2021

Murica said:
You’re probably right I think realistically I’ll get 4. I need to find a way to mount them too.. with cathedral ceilings and the 3 foot wide tank it’s a little challenging

For the price of all of the mounts you may just want to consider using a T5 hybrid. Cost won't be much more and will be even better coverage.

Nick Steele · May 31, 2021

I have a plan for a tank basically the same as yours. I plan to have a floating canopy to help hide lights although I’ll be going with AI hydras.

Murica · May 31, 2021

Jekyl said:
For the price of all of the mounts you may just want to consider using a T5 hybrid. Cost won't be much more and will be even better coverage.

So 4 kessil with the t5 fixture? I’d have to find a way to mount the hybrid fixture too unfortunately. I promised myself that my last sunpower would be the last t5 I’d ever buy, but if the hybrid only uses a few bulbs, Ill probably manage

Jekyl · May 31, 2021

Murica said:
So 4 kessil with the t5 fixture? I’d have to find a way to mount the hybrid fixture too unfortunately. I promised myself that my last sunpower would be the last t5 I’d ever buy, but if the hybrid only uses a few bulbs, Ill probably manage

I can't speak on the details of it all. Just throwing some ideas out there

CKinLA · May 31, 2021

Cant really say for sure since the lights are so new. I’d plan for at least 4 on an 8’ tank unless I was going to concentrate SPS in a particular area. I’ve got three ordered for a 120 SPS 4‘ tank, but I definitely lean towards more lights versus less.

I’d try both reflectors with it, then make my decision based on that; it comes with the 110 (no reflector) & 55.

You can always start with three then add one if needed.

748S911 · May 31, 2021

4 will work for you, if you ever need more you can always add. I’m going with 8 total for a 120x60”x30” then add an additional 4 when corals grow out.

I’ve experimented with xr30’s, t5, reefbrites, and ax500’s all together and I ended up going with just the ax500’s mounted 36” above surface with 35 degree lenses.

Color and shimmer are unmatched. Clean look and ease of use won me over. Plug and play.

Suohhen · May 31, 2021

Murica said:
So 4 kessil with the t5 fixture? I’d have to find a way to mount the hybrid fixture too unfortunately. I promised myself that my last sunpower would be the last t5 I’d ever buy, but if the hybrid only uses a few bulbs, Ill probably manage

They sell hybrid fixtures like this

48" Hybrid T5HO 4x54W Fixture

Welcome to the future of aquarium lighting! Combine your favorite LED Light module along with Aquatic Lifes T5 lighting fixture to create a stellar lighting system! Accepts many of your favorite LED lighting modules! Includes standard LED Light Brackets Powder Coated Aluminum Frame Individual...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

or you can make your own out of C Channel aluminum which let's you hide the wiring and can be mounted to the tank or hung. Something like this but I would do it a bit differently than the person in this thread.

DIY mount for Kessil A360X

I run a sumpless system on a rimmed tank so I made a quick and cheap mount for my new Kessils as none of the factory mounting options would work for me. It was a pretty easy project and all in all probably cost around $30, but could be more or less depending on the size of your tank. This was...

www.reef2reef.com

And reefbrights are definitely a much better fit than t5s especially a tank your size. Check out the BRS investigates series on them. They have the XHO, lumilight pros, and lumilights giving you all sorts of flexibility on what your trying to achieve.

ca1ore · May 31, 2021

Haven’t been out long enough to draw much in terms of useful conclusions.

Murica · May 31, 2021

I’m kinda liking the reefbrite led hybrid.. two 4 foot hybrids and 4 a500x looks promising. Big $$$ though :/

Jon's Reef · May 31, 2021

For that application I would look at 3 Atlantiks and 2 a360x. The a360x would be there for shimmer with the par coming from the Atlantik.

Kessil · Jun 2, 2021

3 units would be a great starting point if you're going to be doing a mixed reef and some sort of supplemental light. You may add a 4th down the road, but that's up to you.

The other thing to consider is the mounting height. If you're less than 18" above the tank, 3 will work well, possibly even using the included 55 degree reflector.

If you end up mounting higher than 18", you may want to consider a 4th unit, and then using the 35 degree reflector. You can do a lot with that reflector in terms of throwing downwards into the tank.

748S911 · Jun 3, 2021

Does anyone have a color schedule to post from dawn to dusk? Looking for the perfect mix.

Hurricane Aquatics · Jun 6, 2021

I have been running the A500X for a few weeks now on my cube. I can tell you that they have better spread than any previous Kessil. You DO NOT need supplemental lighting.

On an 8 foot tank, you could go with 3 and mount them about 9 inches off the water and have plenty of PAR and spread with no lens. If it were me, I would go with 4 and use the included 55 degree lens and mount them about 13 to 15 inches off the water.

I didn't agree with the BRS video. My personal testing was MUCH higher than what they achieved. They act like the A500X is only good for around 375 PAR at its peak and 100% intensity. That's just totally wrong.

BRS seems to have less of a relationship with Kessil than they used to. Now you see them sponsoring and pushing other lights more. It's totally profit driven and has nothing to do with Kessil.

So I have a new PAR meter coming tomorrow, the MQ-510 and can do more testing. I was using the USB version of a friend's when I ran this test, so it shouldn't be much different.

These readings were at 30 color and 70% intensity using the included 55 degree lens. I will also tell you that the PAR reading continued ALL over the bottom of the tank to the edges. Kessil used to drop considerably at the bottom edges.

405 PAR - 18 inches from lens - 8 inches under top of water.
300 PAR - 24 inches from lens - 14 inches under top of water.
236 PAR - 28 inches from lens - 16 inches under top of water.
230 PAR - Sandbed 32 inches from bottom of Kessil lens - 20 inches under top of water.

This was run on a 40 cube. Yes, overkill for sure, but I plan on upgrading in the not so distant future. I am using the Kessil mounting arm and it is adjusted to the 10 setting.

I can tell you that I bought an ORA Purple Jade Bonsai Acropora Coral Frag and put it about 9 inches from top of the water. It went from a beautiful purple with neon green tips, to a dark green...... So in other words at 70% and 9 inches down, it's too much PAR for the Acro Frag. The Frag was bought from Liveaquaria where they run Radion Pros.

More testing to come at different intensities. I have extensive Kessil experience and was one of the first to use them when they came out in 2012. I have been out if the hobby a while and just came back with this new tank.

Hope this helps.