Why the Kessil H380 was my best purchase ever

[RobertP]

Had my H380 light over the fuge about 8 months and it grows cheato like crazy. When it is gets too full I also see the top layer turn white. I did what Randy says and cut back the light a little less on time since I cannot raise it any higher due to the stand height. However, when it gets too full it is time to harvest. Love this light!

I would say over the past 8 months I have traded in about $100 worth of chaeto to the LFS for merch. In more time or if I had a bigger fuge this thing will pay for itself!

 

[Crabs McJones]

I would also like to add that I've been adding 5ML a week of Kent Marine Iron and Manganese (per the instructions)I didn't start doing this until right before I got the H380. Don't know if that would have anything to do with it.

 

[lbacha]

I'm curious for people that had issues and success adding the h380 what were your nitrates/phosphates prior to adding. I would assume the people that saw amazing growth had high values and many of the failures were because the values were too low to support growth

 

[Crabs McJones]

I'm curious for people that had issues and success adding the h380 what were your nitrates/phosphates prior to adding. I would assume the people that saw amazing growth had high values and many of the failures were because the values were too low to support growth

Well because I had so much algae in the display tank (both GHA and cyanobacteria) both my nitrate and phosphate were reading low to undetectable. Under 5 for nitrate, and undetectable phosphate with my test kit.

 

[XNavyDiver]

I've never had to dose iron. I've pretty much always had a lot of macro growth.

What's your recommended dose for utility blades, Salty?

 

[Crabs McJones]

What's your recommended dose for utility blades, Salty?

LOL!

 

[XNavyDiver]

Ryan, I'm going to hopefully be ordering my Aquatic Life T5 Hybrid later this week. As someone who is completely unfamiliar with T5, what 4 bulb combination would you recommend to do with my AP700? Thanks in advance

Crabs, I ordered mine over a week ago, still on back order. I went with all Blue+.

 

[drtrash]

Crabs you have more nutrients than you detect do success is easy, as ibacha stated what happens to Fuge cycle when nutrients are depleted. At 0 N & o P chaeto Growth stops. See a few full Triton systems crash when Fuge crashes.

 

[Whipples]

I think the key thing that needs to be clearly stated when using the H380 is that it is a 90w light! That is the same output as the A360WE and you would never just put that full blast on your reef tank without acclimating/adjusting to find the sweet spot. Mount it as high as you reasonably can, and start with very short photo periods and bump up from there.

When nutrient levels get to the desired level, consider cutting back a little on the photoperiod as this light can and will bottom them out. As a data point: on my 100g tank full triton method the light is on for 8 hours and it took me about a month to get to that sweet spot once I hit trace levels and I will likely cut it down again by a little now that nitrates have been zero for a bit. Treat it like you would your reef lighting for corals and that should help with the success of this light!

 

[Mark Gray]

I have been running the h80 for 2 months and works well for small fuge but upgrading to a larger system and wondering what the light spread is for the 380? Maybe time for upgrade. Let me know if anyone started with h380 and wants a h80

I did the H80 I did not get much groth but now with the H380 I through out cheato every 5 days or so

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

What's your recommended dose for utility blades, Salty?

Ouch!

Anyone can stab ya in the back, it takes fronds to stab ya right in the front. And only good friends will laugh about afterwards!

Hahahahah

 

[RobertP]

At the time I added my H380 light my nitrates were around 8 and was fighting PO3 issues cause it was around .12. Tank was pretty new at the time. The light grows chaeto IF there is something for it to grow from. So when my nutrients dropped, the growth of the chaeto dropped off. When I was fighting GHA this summer I did not get much growth because it was all in the GHA already and I cut back nutrients just trying to kill it off. Once it was defeated the chaeto grew really well again until my nutrients bottomed out. Started dosing potassium nitrates just to get my nitrates up to 5 and I keep the chaeto trimmed back so it doesnt strip too much out. PO3 reads .02...both of these are on the low side but certainly not ULN low.

I know lots of guys have luck with ULN systems but my LPS were all receding and looking bad. Once I got nitrates up to 5 then they woke up. Also seeing nice SPS growth as well.

 

[Ryanbrs]

I bought the h80 and am now regretting it. My concern was I have a trigger 34 sump, and the refugium is only 14x10in. I thought there would be way too much spill over and I would have algae all over my sump. I still I don't have everything put together, so wondering what you guys think about this theory. When I place my live rock in the tank to cycle and a little mysis, I plan to run no lights except for the h80 and chaeto. I'm hoping the chaeto will have a head start and be able to grab up the nutrients from the decomp of the mysis before the algae even has a chance to grow in the display because I will have no lights while the live rock cycles. Think it might help the h80 be more effective maybe? I am kicking myself now, but like you said I bought the h80 based on great reviews and though it will not have as much spill over, and I could focus it right on the chaeto.

This is one of the plans we have been discussing for cycling the ULM tanks. Get the fuge functioning full steam before going live with the display.

 

[drtrash]

Reality is Fuge needs to be treated like the display across the board, plug n play and let it ride never ends well

 

[cardiffgiant]

In January 2017 I started running a eshoppe curve over half of my Red Sea 525xl sump. I could keep chaeto stable, but didn't get much growth. I was also able to get one out of 3 mangrove chutes to sprout. I switched to the H380 in July and had to start pruning chaeto within 4 months. I also have 20+ mangrove chutes that are all doing well. It's not a cheap light, but the results are impressive!

 

[Bradley Keck]

This is one of the plans we have been discissomg for cycling the ULM tanks. Get the fuge funtioning full steam before going live with the display.

Exactly! That's what I am thinking. Well, if you guys are considering it, I can't be too far off! That's my plan!

 

[Crabs McJones]

Exactly! That's what I am thinking. Well, if you guys are considering it, I can't be too far off! That's my plan!

I did something similar. When I first started the H380 I left my lights off for 2 to 3 days to kind of give the chaeto a fighting chance. Now i'll occasionally do it on days that i'm not going to be home just to help choke out some of the hair algae that's left.

 

[Bradley Keck]

I did something similar. When I first started the H380 I left my lights off for 2 to 3 days to kind of give the chaeto a fighting chance. Now i'll occasionally do it on days that i'm not going to be home just to help choke out some of the hair algae that's left.

Good to know! By the way, my daughter's love that song man. I had to hear it like a million times! Love it!

 

[minus9]

Just received mine today. I'm starting it tonight, but only for two hours to start. I'll add an hour each week as I go and keep an eye on the chaeto.

 

[lbacha]

So I'm familiar with the tuna sun and tuna blue but not the H series. Are you not able to set the intensity lower? I would recommend starting at a low intensity for 12 hrs or 24 depending on how you run your then ramp it up over time till you get to the sweet spot.