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Hope this helps someone out.
I presently have a neon trumpet in my 150DT that is 4x2x30” which is light by 4 kessil 360we’s, Several months ago I bought the new red sea 50 reef light to go over my frag tank. I was not sure about this light as there was not much info out there about them. So I fragged my neon candy can coral and placed it in the frag tank to see if there would be any differences long term and WOW someone is a winner for sure (imo). first one needs to know where the candy cane coral came from.
Brace yourself --- I’m going to rule out water parameter’s being a factor in growth differences, because my DT and frag tank are plumbed together/live in the same water/it’s all the same water in both tanks, etc. You get the point I’m making here I’m sure.
Why the candy can as a test subject? Why not really, I could have chosen any coral (flip of a coin) as an lps this coral requires moderate currents and low to moderate lighting; with placement requirements of lower two-thirds of the aquarium. But this thread is not about this coral and best placement. This is a growth comparison test between kessil and the red sea. Again I understand that my interruption of upper-middle and other terms are subjective, but until Webster’s ads an exact dimension to define upper-middle, or a par number to define moderate to low light, then it’s just anyone guesses and everyone’s take on these locations is correct.
So when I fragged this test subject I made an effort to try and place it in these locations the best I could (just the best guess really) in both in my DT and in my frag tank.
My frag tank is only a small ten-gallon tank at 20" x 10" x 12” with a small wave maker, say (500gph). I also lose some of the total height on this tank, because I drilled it out to overflow into my sump. The coral was placed under the red sea 50 light at about three inches to the right of the dead center. with a total vertical distance from the light of 11”, or 6” from light to water and 5” from water to coral and at the middle left of the wavemaker. (or upper-middle of this tank). The par reading here was about 350-375 range if I remember correctly
As for the 150DT it has two 4k gryes, 2 mp40’s and the return flow, the candy cane placement here is under a kessil 360we (remember I have four so there is overlap from other kessils) light about three inches to the back of dead center from one of the kessils. With a total vertical distance from the light of 17”, or 8”, from light to water and 9” inches from water to coral. (or upper-middle of this tank) The flow in this tank is random so I cannot say where it’s at when it comes to flow. The par reading her was about 300-350 range if I remember correctly.
As for the par reading, I rented a meter a while back, and im pretty confident in these number ranges. I run ozone and I can say with confidence that I lose very little par to dirty water. I wish I remember the exact number but the range is close.
Now spectrum comes into the discussion. You see, if you look at the spectrum ranges for these lights you will see that the red sea spectrum peaking at 450 with very little W,G,R. the kessil spectrum peaking at 460 with a large amount of W,G,R. we could debate the meaning of these charts all day. yes, i had to use a red sea 90 chart cause i could not find a red sea 50 chart. everyone is really pushing the data on the 90's but very little on the 50 and the 160
So you decide which light has produced better growth. I have my opinion but multiple opinions prevent reef tank bias, you know all babies are cute right HAHA . Maybe the light is not the only factor here, but I cannot think of anything else to try and control beyond, what I already have to pin down a conclusion on the growth differences. And again there is not a lot of real-life usage info out there or in-depth about the red sea lights and how they measure up.
The first picture is the coral under the red sea 50 light. And the second in under the kessil 360we's
I presently have a neon trumpet in my 150DT that is 4x2x30” which is light by 4 kessil 360we’s, Several months ago I bought the new red sea 50 reef light to go over my frag tank. I was not sure about this light as there was not much info out there about them. So I fragged my neon candy can coral and placed it in the frag tank to see if there would be any differences long term and WOW someone is a winner for sure (imo). first one needs to know where the candy cane coral came from.
Brace yourself --- I’m going to rule out water parameter’s being a factor in growth differences, because my DT and frag tank are plumbed together/live in the same water/it’s all the same water in both tanks, etc. You get the point I’m making here I’m sure.
Why the candy can as a test subject? Why not really, I could have chosen any coral (flip of a coin) as an lps this coral requires moderate currents and low to moderate lighting; with placement requirements of lower two-thirds of the aquarium. But this thread is not about this coral and best placement. This is a growth comparison test between kessil and the red sea. Again I understand that my interruption of upper-middle and other terms are subjective, but until Webster’s ads an exact dimension to define upper-middle, or a par number to define moderate to low light, then it’s just anyone guesses and everyone’s take on these locations is correct.
So when I fragged this test subject I made an effort to try and place it in these locations the best I could (just the best guess really) in both in my DT and in my frag tank.
My frag tank is only a small ten-gallon tank at 20" x 10" x 12” with a small wave maker, say (500gph). I also lose some of the total height on this tank, because I drilled it out to overflow into my sump. The coral was placed under the red sea 50 light at about three inches to the right of the dead center. with a total vertical distance from the light of 11”, or 6” from light to water and 5” from water to coral and at the middle left of the wavemaker. (or upper-middle of this tank). The par reading here was about 350-375 range if I remember correctly
As for the 150DT it has two 4k gryes, 2 mp40’s and the return flow, the candy cane placement here is under a kessil 360we (remember I have four so there is overlap from other kessils) light about three inches to the back of dead center from one of the kessils. With a total vertical distance from the light of 17”, or 8”, from light to water and 9” inches from water to coral. (or upper-middle of this tank) The flow in this tank is random so I cannot say where it’s at when it comes to flow. The par reading her was about 300-350 range if I remember correctly.
As for the par reading, I rented a meter a while back, and im pretty confident in these number ranges. I run ozone and I can say with confidence that I lose very little par to dirty water. I wish I remember the exact number but the range is close.
Now spectrum comes into the discussion. You see, if you look at the spectrum ranges for these lights you will see that the red sea spectrum peaking at 450 with very little W,G,R. the kessil spectrum peaking at 460 with a large amount of W,G,R. we could debate the meaning of these charts all day. yes, i had to use a red sea 90 chart cause i could not find a red sea 50 chart. everyone is really pushing the data on the 90's but very little on the 50 and the 160
So you decide which light has produced better growth. I have my opinion but multiple opinions prevent reef tank bias, you know all babies are cute right HAHA . Maybe the light is not the only factor here, but I cannot think of anything else to try and control beyond, what I already have to pin down a conclusion on the growth differences. And again there is not a lot of real-life usage info out there or in-depth about the red sea lights and how they measure up.
The first picture is the coral under the red sea 50 light. And the second in under the kessil 360we's
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