Halide and T5 are the best for your reef. T5 and Kessil or Radion will do well.
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Infomercial.so do you think it is better for my reef Radion g5?
Normally what is the recommended mounting height for Kessil ap9x?
at what height do you mount the orphek and at what height do you mount the kessil?I have kessil plus orphek and it works great for me
Beautiful reef tank. What are your par level in the differents point of your rockscape?
I just added a fourth Kessil A360X
Kessil A360x are recommended/had the best flat PAR spread at around 8 “ off the water.at what height do you mount the orphek and at what height do you mount the kessil?
if instead of the a360x I put the ap9x, could I increase the mounting height without using reflectors?Kessil A360x are recommended/had the best flat PAR spread at around 8 “ off the water.
I have played with the 55 deg lens and they work as intended to my eye. I did not have access to a PAR meter but honestly they come standard with the a500x and should come in the box with the A360x too IMO. You could absolutely raise them up with the reflectors.
I can’t really find any info on orphek height. I am running an AP9x at whatever the BRS recommendation was. I think 10”? I just added (today) 2 orphek OR3 blue plus. About an inch higher than my ap9x, in the front and back of AP9x.if instead of the a360x I put the ap9x, could I increase the mounting height without using reflectors?
I’m running my AP9X @14” off the water. BRS recommends 10”, but the tank testing was using a 24x24 tank. I have a rectangular 36x18x18 tank. In order to get the spread I needed it had to go higher. I used a par meter in order to get the numbers I needed. I only had to increase intensity to 60%. It all depends on what tank you have.if instead of the a360x I put the ap9x, could I increase the mounting height without using reflectors?
I just added a fourth Kessil A360X
what are your par values?
I just added a fourth Kessil A360X
That is a great write up on pitfalls of using this "stuff'.I have the 60” Aquatic life plus 4 A360x’s over a 6’ shallow reef. I should say *had*
What I liked: coverage looked good over the entire tank but no more so to the eye than the 3 XR30’s I have. The T5’s hid some of the Kessil shimmer which is personal preference.
What I didn’t like: The thing is massive. I hung it from the ceiling and it was a lot of weight. Mounting height was low and I’m tall so working in the tank was difficult.
- In hindsight I would have raised it up and used the 55 deg reflectors.
- All the cords. There’s little-to-no cord management for 4 Kessils and when they reach the end, it’s a big mess of wires and USB-C hanging off one end (I switched to the wifi dongle when it came out but still).
-The 2 power cords are stupid. Fortunately I have 2 small recessed light fixtures above my tank so I just converted them both to plugs and ran the wires up but they are just *more* cords to deal with over an open tank.
-The heat. I keep my house at like 73 degrees and this thing still required me to add 4 120mm computer fans. I put them in the extra a360we mounts that came with the fixture so they weren’t noticeable but again…more cords hanging off the side.
-The PAR. Was just not that great. I was running my Kessils at 100% and was eeking out high 200’s…middle to top of tank.
-3/4 of the Kessils died, for different reasons, auspiciously around the end of the warranty. Before you ask, yes I cleaned them. I bought an air compressor just for the special little snowflake selves.
-I lost a ballast in the T5 unit around 18 months.
-I loved the look of them but they didn’t grow anything and they were unreliable.
Due to the reliability issues of the Kessils, my wife has informed me that brand is persona non grata in my house but…if I still had my testicles and my wallet I would run 3 Kessils + 4 Radion XR30’s turned. I believe this would give you the look and coverage of T5’s and Metal Halides but be completely tuneable and offer great PAR. Obviously I have a toxic love/hate relationship with the Kessils. I’m working through it.
I have replacement ballasts for the aquatic life (I’m going to replace them with ATI Ballasts) and if I keep the fixture, I will deal with the power cord issue. I have thought about running it with the Radions but I really hate replacing bulbs and how heavy and ugly it is.