steely185 Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 So I've been playing around with a 20H that I've had in the garage doing some testing. I have had acans/LPS/ and softies in it for about a month now under a single par30 led. It took some getting used to with the leds but they have grown on me. One definite advantage was virtually no algae grown. So... I've decided it was time for a facelift. I placed the order this morning for a new tank. I've always loved my rimless tanks so I decided it was time to give the mr aqua 17.4 a try (they don't make the 33.6 anymore and I would need a new stand). Last night I ordered a kessil A150W point source 15k "ocean blue" LED light for this tank. I don't plan on running any filtration other than using liverock and a small amount of sand for this tank. I will use a single powerhead (may replace it with a new mp10 at some point). The only thing I am debating on right now is if I want to paint the back of the tank or not. Leaning towards yes for a no electrical cords look. Livestock plans: (mostly transfers) -a dozen or more acans -a couple lobos -acan echinata -favias -zoas Fish: -platinum percula pair -yasha hasha goby/shrimp Various inverts Now all there is to do is wait. This should move pretty fast once everything is here. My main goal is to make this look clean. Link to comment
Shallow Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 My 15k kessil should be in my hands on friday. Link to comment
steely185 Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 A couple of the videos I have watched make it look real nice. It appears to be more of a 20k look than 15k from what everyone says and that is just what I want. My lps should have a nice pop without that over saturated look. I'm excited for this one. Link to comment
Shallow Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Exactly, i love me a 20k, but their 20k was way two blue for just one light IMO. Link to comment
phattypeeps Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I've got a kessil ocean blue over my 17.4 and love it! Link to comment
steely185 Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 How's the color? Is it more natural or over saturated like some LED fixtures? Link to comment
Shallow Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I've got a kessil ocean blue over my 17.4 and love it! Do you have any pics we could see? Thatd be great Link to comment
Arkayology Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Nice! This tank will be sweet! I've seen a 15k kessel over a 24g biocube at my LFS. The color is pretty nice and has a good spread. Link to comment
steely185 Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 I'm excited to make this a nice Acan/favia/lobo show tank. I may try a piece or two of SPS but mainly LPS with zoa filler. I want to try and keep it open but lobos may take some space. We will see. Link to comment
phattypeeps Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 The colour is fantastic, I prefer it to my old LED's, which were reefbrites, and very good as well. I am noticing significantly better coral growth, although it has only been two weeks of consistent use now. I really took my time acclimatizing my coral too the new light, I am very cautious about bleaching. I prefer my tank very blue, and often run the tank with actinics only for several hours an evening because I like the look. I was concerned that the kessil would be too white for me, but I was really surprised and happy with how much luminescence it is producing. Also, the color on my fish is significantly clearer and brighter under the kessil. I will try and post pictures on my tank thread soon, I still struggle to get really good color representation when photographing under LED light, let me know what you think. I've got a kessil ocean blue over my 17.4 and love it! Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 New lighting and tank should be arriving tomorrow. Looking forward to trying out the kessil. Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Tank and light are arriving today so I should be picking them up after work. Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Got the light today and I'll post pics in about an hour. Absolutely love the kessil. It fits somewhere between Phoenix 14k - xm 20k. Pretty crisp blue/white color with lots of pop to colors. It is in no way dim and I can't explain how much I love the look of it. It's pretty quiet but you can hear the fan a little bit. Covers my entire 20h with light coverage. Love love love it. Very worth it. Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 First off I have to say I love love love this light. Color fits somewhere between a phoenix 14k and a xm 20k (a crisp blue/white with pop). Shimmer is very much like a halide but slightly more (not as tranquil but by no means disco ball like). Everything pops just right without being actinic. It's very compact, about the size of can of soda or beer. It's by no means dim like some reviews have said. I get better coverage and brightness than I did running a 24" sunpod running 150 watt halide on the same 20H. It runs fairly quiet, a small computer fan like noise for the fan running inside. There doesn't seem to be any banding of colors, it all mixes so you don't get a small rainbow on the sand bed. It doesn't appear violet like with some LEDs. Best of all it's only running 32 watts I believe. Now for some pics. I took special care in making sure the color was accurate. I will post two videos once I upload them. Last note: excuse the aptasia as I plan on removing them when I transfer them to my new mr aqua tank. Link to comment
phattypeeps Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Looking good, lovin those purple and greens on top! Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Thanks. So I still haven't had time to move everything just yet. I did get some time to kalk paste many an aptasia and takes some new shots. Let me know what you guys think. Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Gorgeous tank. Any PAR measurements? Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 I don't have a par meter to take any measurements. I hadn't really planned to do anything more than 1 or 2 sps so it wasn't a huge concern. I will say that some stuff that had lost color sitting under a single par30 for a month has colored up after 4-5 days of light from the kessil. I haven't seen evidence of bleaching of anything or reaching of polyps for light. The lobos were transferred from my 75 and look better under this light than radiums. Nothing else has changed about the tank to make me think water quality improved to promote the increase in color over the 4-5 days. Water hasn't been changed at all since this tank was put up a little over a month ago. I still need to move this all to the mr aqua tank but that tank needs to have the back painted or shaded with window shade. I want to hide all chords. Our local club is headed for a meet to pacific east on the 21st at which time I plan on handpicking some new acans to fill some spaces. I'm also looking into picking up a pair of platinum clowns there if they go on sale. Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Looks Great!! The more Steely tanks the better Link to comment
metro6775 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Waiting to see pics of your 17.1 setup. I have been researching these lights all day today and I am amazed at all the hate directed to these lights by some people on the Internet. All I have to say is STFU to all the haters because 99% don't even own this light. Then they get all pissed off when the people that actually own the light say good things about it. The Internet is a wonderful place! PS. I'm torn between the 15K and the 10K. I like blue but not overly blue as if it is just actinic light lighting up the aquarium. Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 I still have to move everything over to the tank. I have been pretty busy with work and a wedding coming up so haven't had time to paint the back or window shade the back. I definitely love the light. It's hard to tell people which to buy because of the varying degrees of taste. I would definitely say it's not like running just actinics like a blue plus bulb. It's more like a phoenix 14k with a slight actinic supplement. Link to comment
dling Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I still have to move everything over to the tank. I have been pretty busy with work and a wedding coming up so haven't had time to paint the back or window shade the back. I definitely love the light. It's hard to tell people which to buy because of the varying degrees of taste. I would definitely say it's not like running just actinics like a blue plus bulb. It's more like a phoenix 14k with a slight actinic supplement. Dude !!!! you need to get your priority's in order. Tank first. I'm sure the bride to be will understand if you have to move the wedding date around to fit tank set up. Link to comment
steely185 Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Just a little update. Finally got around to doing the back of the tank. I picked up some black privacy window shading and did the background. Looks good and clean. If I get the chance I will move everything from the 20 to 17.4 tonight. Link to comment
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