Looking for Kessil A80 Experience

[MONTANTK]

Hi all,

After taking a leave of absence from the hobby for about 2 years I am finally getting back into it. Im in the process of converting a fluval spec 5g from freshwater to saltwater and I am trying to figure out what light I want to go with. I am looking to keep mainly zoas with a few leathers and acans, and maybe even some rics or mushrooms. So nothing crazy. I was leaning towards the AI Prime Sol because I like the simplicity of the color combos but I have always been curious about the A80.

Does anyone currently run one on its own in their nano? How is the shimmer (don't like a lot of shimmer) and the color? Has it provided good growth? Is the spectral controller user friendly?

Pictures always appreciated

 

[Spare time]

The kessil offers a wide band shimmer. I am curious if you are thinking more of the static or light beam effect from other LED's instead of shimmer. Regardless, this can be mitigated with less surface agitation. The equivalent to the prime would be the a160we. In that size tank, the a80 would be fine so long as you follow their recommended mounting height and what not.

 

[MONTANTK]

The kessil offers a wide band shimmer. I am curious if you are thinking more of the static or light beam effect from other LED's instead of shimmer. Regardless, this can be mitigated with less surface agitation. The equivalent to the prime would be the a160we. In that size tank, the a80 would be fine so long as you follow their recommended mounting height and what not.

I just remember having an A160 and the shimmer drove me crazy. Never had a problem with it when I had my prime, 26HD, or XR30

 

[Spare time]

I just remember having an A160 and the shimmer drove me crazy. Never had a problem with it when I had my prime, 26HD, or XR30

Ah ok well if that is the case then I would not do the kessil. An a80 has the same lens design as (most of) the other kessils.

 

[Dakoda]

Ah ok well if that is the case then I would not do the kessil. An a80 has the same lens design as (most of) the other kessils.

I just helped set my friend up with a Oceanic 16g AIO system. We pulled the hood and mounted a Kessil A80 with the gooseneck; it lights his tank perfectly without excess shimmer (his gaming set up is RIGHT BESIDE the tank).

He is currently growing Monto setosa, monti cap., frogspawn, zoas, and birdnest with it.

I would definitely recommend.

 

[Spare time]

I just helped set my friend up with a Oceanic 16g AIO system. We pulled the hood and mounted a Kessil A80 with the gooseneck; it lights his tank perfectly without excess shimmer (his gaming set up is RIGHT BESIDE the tank).

He is currently growing Monto setosa, monti cap., frogspawn, zoas, and birdnest with it.

I would definitely recommend.

The OP had a 160 and he did not like the shimmer. The a80 is not going to be that different.

Do you have much surface agitation on that tank?

 

[Dakoda]

The OP had a 160 and he did not like the shimmer. The a80 is not going to be that different.

Do you have much surface agitation on that tank?

I can see that the OP had an A160; I too have the ability to read through the post.

The A80 and the A160 certainly do have some differences, I would not even begin to speculate that they are going to be the same. The A160 (40W) is double the light of the A80 (15W). The difference would be in the intensity, which is likely why he didn't enjoy it in the first place with the A160. If his preference is to the Aqua Illumination, that is an easy solution.

I will default back to OP's original question here: Does anyone currently run one on its own in their nano? How is the shimmer (don't like a lot of shimmer) and the color? Has it provided good growth? Is the spectral controller user friendly?

I personally have set the A80 up, it has a fantastic shimmer mounted with the Kessil gooseneck. It is growing the SPS quite well, and I warmed my friend they may not do that well, but I was proven incorrect. And from my opinion it is quite user friendly, but YMMV.

Yes, we have decent surface agitation going on the Oceanic 16g; it's running the return pump plus a powerhead.

 

[Reef.]

I have the a80 and there is a lot of shimmer, so much so I’m looking to reduce it (diffuser) or change the light as one of my fish doesn’t like it, if you don’t have surface movement and no power head then it’s reduced a lot, so much so the fish comes out.

the controller is not an iPhone! it is easy enough but is a little unintuitive at first.

 

[USMC 4 LIFE]

I had one and loved it. Grew and colored up corals just fine.

We can all give you our take on why we loved/hated it but lighting is one of those things you just have to see first hand to decide if it’s visually pleasing.

 

[Spare time]

I can see that the OP had an A160; I too have the ability to read through the post.

The A80 and the A160 certainly do have some differences, I would not even begin to speculate that they are going to be the same. The A160 (40W) is double the light of the A80 (15W). The difference would be in the intensity, which is likely why he didn't enjoy it in the first place with the A160. If his preference is to the Aqua Illumination, that is an easy solution.

I will default back to OP's original question here: Does anyone currently run one on its own in their nano? How is the shimmer (don't like a lot of shimmer) and the color? Has it provided good growth? Is the spectral controller user friendly?

I personally have set the A80 up, it has a fantastic shimmer mounted with the Kessil gooseneck. It is growing the SPS quite well, and I warmed my friend they may not do that well, but I was proven incorrect. And from my opinion it is quite user friendly, but YMMV.

Yes, we have decent surface agitation going on the Oceanic 16g; it's running the return pump plus a powerhead.

It isn't the wattage that is effecting the shimmer, it is the lens design. Lights such as those form red sea and kessil have all LED
s under a single lens. This plus surface distribution and height from the water gives the intense shimmer. I love the kessil shimmer myself. You may like the shimmer and there is no way to say whether what you think is fantastic shimmer is the same as what OP likes, but what we can ***** is the design of light which is not an opinion. Given what we can debate, which is the physical structure, the lights use the same lense design, color spectrum, and kessil logic. Therefore it would make the most sense for thesese lights to have similar shimmer given the information above.


PS I have all of these lights at my work setup up so I have seen them all in action with different types of surface agitation and intensity.

 

[Dakoda]

It isn't the wattage that is effecting the shimmer, it is the lens design. Lights such as those form red sea and kessil have all LED
s under a single lens. This plus surface distribution and height from the water gives the intense shimmer. I love the kessil shimmer myself. You may like the shimmer and there is no way to say whether what you think is fantastic shimmer is the same as what OP likes, but what we can ***** is the design of light which is not an opinion. Given what we can debate, which is the physical structure, the lights use the same lense design, color spectrum, and kessil logic. Therefore it would make the most sense for thesese lights to have similar shimmer given the information above.


PS I have all of these lights at my work setup up so I have seen them all in action with different types of surface agitation and intensity.

I am glad that you have all these lights set up at home; but our point of disagreement is to do with INTENSITY, which wattage SPECIFICALLY affects.

I understand that the design of most Kessil lights is the same, that is how they are able to coin a hobbyist term like "Kessil shimmer." Intensity is created by running more power to the LED's, wattage is a fairly decent way to calculate that.

OP was asking about the A80 and he stated that he had only had prior experience with the A160; two different pieces of machinery. Will the A80 and A160 look the exact same over the same tank? Nope, but they may have some similarities in the way that Kessil designs their lenses.

You are starting to get into the semantics of my comment. My original comment to OP was that I just recently installed an A80 on his Oceanic 16g AIO system; it grows his corals well. I didn't come here to discuss the intricacies of each electronic device. He asked an opinion piece and I responded with my experience. I would recommend that you do the same so we don't end up high jacking his post.

Happy reefing!

 

[JumboShrimp]

I have used it successfully on a small nano tank. In fact I had one controller run up to 4 A80’s (two tanks) with no problem. The controller I have NEVER understood in about 5 years of owning it (Lol!), but I can at least get it to do what I want it to ‘enough’ to just let-it-alone once I have it doing what I want. Basically I would say it’s a great product, but at 18 watts (if I recall), definitely better with a shallow tank (24” max., if it’s a softie tank). You will likely want two. Lastly, if you don’t have money for the controller right away the knobs work well, and you could just use a basic on/off timer.