Need quick Help: 36' A700 or 2x 360x

[GoatmealJones]

In a bind for time as I need to call Kessill back for my warranty claim.

- desire SPS dominant top half of 36 x 15w x 21deep 50 gallon.

Are the 2x 360x's worth the 250 dollar difference over the older A700?

Thanks!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Bump

 

[cdare99]

I have a rsr 450(so 59” long 22” wide I think). I have one ap700 and for lps and softies I’ve had no problems sustaining or thriving anywhere in the tank below half way mark. All my corals are doing great and growing, while only being 65% intensity max. You need to see the lights in person to find your preference to me the 700 still has better color and the app feature is nice over the controller. Hopefully someone can chime in about sps growth I just haven’t got into any yet but I think it can handle it.

 

[minus9]

If sps is your goal long term, I would go with the 360x's. I have two ap700's over my 90g tank and love them, but I really don't like the app that runs them, it needs to be improved. I'm probably going to swap the 700's for 360x's in the future myself. This will give me the ability to move the lights exactly where I want them and even angle them if needed. I like the spectral controller for running these lights, I don't do anything fancy, ramp up, hold peak, ramp down. Color usually starts at the bluest then ramps to my setting for peak, then back down again following the intensity ramp. On the 700's, this color ramp isn't smooth at all and doesn't follow the settings as it should (if I adjust color in manual mode, it works just fine, but not the program created), so I have to create an extra point and set a new color profile at the end of the ramp, then again just before the ramp down to smooth out the color transition. Of course, if I just set one color and leave it, it would probably be fine?
With the 360x's (and new spectral controller x) you can control UV individually along with the red and green if desired. The color transition using the spectral controller is very smooth and works as it should.
Here's a vid that Ryan did on the 360x where he talks candidly about the light.
BRS Live Kessil 360x

 

[GoatmealJones]

Thank you for this very helpful response. As I keep thinking, Im leaning towards the 360x's, they just seem to be an overall more refined product per reviews, which is worth the extra cost to me

 

[minus9]

Yeah, I think they just left the app hanging with the 700's, I'm not sure why they haven't tried to improve it at all? It's a shame, because I really like the 700. I'll be at RAP next week, so I'm going to stop by their both and have a chat.

 

[GoatmealJones]

Yeah, I think they just left the app hanging with the 700's, I'm not sure why they haven't tried to improve it at all? It's a shame, because I really like the 700. I'll be at RAP next week, so I'm going to stop by their both and have a chat.

I would be interested in that as well, im just hoping they release the dongle soon enough that I need not purchase the controller X for $100. When I called their office to file my warranty claim I didnt seem like they are running a huge company over at Kessil. I believe they are just one (niche) branch of a larger corporation which focuses on general "lighting" consumer products.

 

[minus9]

Yeah, Kessil is a small part of Dicon, which makes a lot of led's for commercial and professional use. The great thing about them is everything is done in-house (except assembly?). I actually like the hardware controller, especially for lighting. I don't like to play around or change a lot of settings for lighting. Simply set the color and intensity and be done, step back and let it work. I think it's one of those things that left in the hobbyist's hands can cause too many problems. I've seen too many posts about led's (especially Kessil) not being strong enough or good enough to grow sps, it's simply untrue and unfortunate, but the sheer ignorance on the users side makes them believe that's the case.
But hopefully they'll release the dongle soon, but I'm not holding my breath. [emoji16]