AI Prime or Kessil A160

[Horerczy]

OK, foot in my mouth, but it only has two anyways, which is still not enough for my taste.

The osrams are really efficient little buggers but I agree. Should have had more deep blue and less cool blue

[reefernanoman]

My LFS has a kessil 160 over the Fusion 20 and it looks AMAZING.

 

Setting up the 20 will be a long process.

I plan on keeping the 3 gallon with the par 30 until I have all the pieces for the 20 gallon complete. If all else fails, I might just throw in a couple fish with no coral until I purchase a sufficient light for the 20 gallon.

It sounds like you were impressed by the Kessil a160we when you saw it in person!

[phillyclownfish]

Ive been happy with my prime. No complaints.

[Brayreef]

 

 

well things to consider would be lighting vs dimensions. Some tanks, and due to the nature of LEDs, would require two lights despite how small the tanks can be. Maybe also look at availability of stuff. Someone I know bought the 30 gal fusion basket, and later found out that getting the 30gal in canada is difficult. lol so he opted for the 20.

 

Also factor in the cost of stuff. 20 gallons is double of a 10 obviously, so naturally youll be spending more, either off the bat, or down the road ( both unavoidable hahaha ) a 20L rimless low iron, with sump would be a beautiful set up. Drilled with a ghost overflow, or a mame would be a beauty.

 

Reefing is one of those silly hobbies that you want everything now, but generally thats the worst idea ever unless you know what youre doing and the money talks. lol But if youre in a pinch ( i.e. me as a sad sad student) then every dollar spent is magnified hahaha

I feel ya. I'm a student so I definitely know what your talking about. I should be spending money on school related things :/

[Tkimber]

Don't have them up and running yet. Been painting the stand and haven't opened the box they shipped in.

 

Are the moonlights a deep blue? I really want a deep blue/actinic setting. Kessil seems unrivaled when it comes to a deep blue.

[reefernanoman]

The osrams are really efficient little buggers but I agree. Should have had more deep blue and less cool blue

Yeah, I'm sold on making my tank as windex looking as possible!

[blasterman]

As for those talking about full spectrum lights... I dunno. such a conflicting topic.

 

 

There's no "conflict" about it. We were growing coral with damn near monochromatic 20k and 14k halides for *decades* before anybody put an LED over their tank, and this is an indisputable fact not subject to opinion.

 

The advantage to the multi-color LED arrays is that you can tweak colors to taste, and having looked at a few Radion knock-offs the other day many of them aren't worth it. Just because you have a lot of colors to work with doesn't mean you can get a better color balance. You need a high quality white or neutral to work with, and most of the lights just don't have this.

 

I like the Kessils because they are a small, simple light source that does a good job replicating a halide light source. So does a stock Radion in my opinion, but the Kessil does it a bit better. The Radion's however have better color to my eyes. I've seen all the recent Kessil's and they still seem to be lacking in the color dept a bit compared to the better LED units, but they are less 'noisy' lacking all the discrete colors and optics.

[CatfishSoupFTW]

 

There's no "conflict" about it. We were growing coral with damn near monochromatic 20k and 14k halides for *decades* before anybody put an LED over their tank, and this is an indisputable fact not subject to opinion.

 

The advantage to the multi-color LED arrays is that you can tweak colors to taste, and having looked at a few Radion knock-offs the other day many of them aren't worth it. Just because you have a lot of colors to work with doesn't mean you can get a better color balance. You need a high quality white or neutral to work with, and most of the lights just don't have this.

 

I like the Kessils because they are a small, simple light source that does a good job replicating a halide light source. So does a stock Radion in my opinion, but the Kessil does it a bit better. The Radion's however have better color to my eyes. I've seen all the recent Kessil's and they still seem to be lacking in the color dept a bit compared to the better LED units, but they are less 'noisy' lacking all the discrete colors and optics.

 

 

sorry I didnt mean to say full spectrum doesnt have its benefits. The blues, deep blues, NW, CW, WW, green etc have their benefits to growth, some more than others obviously, i.e. like red, but all that aside, I mean more so how its all blended together. I enjoy the move to LED, but the somewhat spaced out array and optics always seem to fall short for me - more specifically for disco balling ( especially when you move the channels). I agree, radions do have something nice over kessils, but disco balling is something I wouldnt want to see from any led especially if im dropping 700 bucks. A reflector design would be nice.

 

but anyway, what does OP feel about said prime and kessil now? lol

[Brayreef]

 

 

sorry I didnt mean to say full spectrum doesnt have its benefits. The blues, deep blues, NW, CW, WW, green etc have their benefits to growth, some more than others obviously, i.e. like red, but all that aside, I mean more so how its all blended together. I enjoy the move to LED, but the somewhat spaced out array and optics always seem to fall short for me - more specifically for disco balling ( especially when you move the channels). I agree, radions do have something nice over kessils, but disco balling is something I wouldnt want to see from any led especially if im dropping 700 bucks. A reflector design would be nice.

 

but anyway, what does OP feel about said prime and kessil now? lol

Looking into nanobox mini tide now lol. Its the tide or kessil.

[CatfishSoupFTW]

Looking into nanobox mini tide now lol. Its the tide or kessil.

 

 

have you ever seen a nanobox in person? I can never judge properly by photos and I never see them up here in Canada or locally. You saw the kessils at your LFS right? did it not take your mind to a whole nutha level? lol

[HarryPotter]

Looking into nanobox mini tide now lol. Its the tide or kessil.

 

Or Radion XR30w Pro

[Horerczy]

 

Or Radion XR30w Pro

The XR15w would be more prudent if the Kessil or Mini Tide would do.

 

Then you use the money saved towards an MP10QD

[reefernanoman]

I know that it's a crappy picture, but this is to show the growth that I have had on my superman monit with the A160we after about two weeks:

[Matteo]

the prime is a sexy looking light over a cube. I was conflicted as well but the WiFi feature is so nice and the color I do agree won't give the deep blue like the kessel but it also has all the other colors like reds and greens and uv that the kessel doesn't. However which ever is a great light!

[reefernanoman]

the prime is a sexy looking light over a cube. I was conflicted as well but the WiFi feature is so nice and the color I do agree won't give the deep blue like the kessel but it also has all the other colors like reds and greens and uv that the kessel doesn't. However which ever is a great light!

Kessil has UV and many other colors blended in. http://www.kessil.com/aquarium/Saltwater_A160_Tuna_Blue.php

[Matteo]

Kessil has UV and many other colors blended in. http://www.kessil.com/aquarium/Saltwater_A160_Tuna_Blue.php

Oh my bad. If anything you can buy the prim and throw some rapid leds or the royal blue truelumen strips on the arm to give it more blue. I just ordered the moonlight kit with 4 cree leds to mount somehow to my arm to give me more blue. only 30 bucks total. Plus what I buy at the LHW store to mount them. So Prime, arm, and rapids probably in it about 270ish. which is the same for the kessil plus mounting arm. but no wifi ability.

[Horerczy]

Kessil has UV and many other colors blended in. http://www.kessil.com/aquarium/Saltwater_A160_Tuna_Blue.php

I wouldn't call a couple types of blue many other colors but it does have true UV unlike the prime which is using true violet diodes marketed as UV.

[reefernanoman]

I wouldn't call a couple types of blue many other colors but it does have true UV unlike the prime which is using true violet diodes marketed as UV.

I don't see any of my corals lacking colors at all . BTW, why do I see many colors on the outer edges of my Kessil light?

I wanted to add that in no way I'm a fanboy and I hope that I don't seem like that. I also hope that I don't sound like an ass. I'm just relaying what I see with my own eyes

[reefernanoman]

My email to Kessil :

Hi, my name is Jose Saballos and I'm a very satisfied current owner of an A160we. I was wondering if someone could specify exactly what color of LED'S are being used in this fixture, since some people believe that it's not a true full spectrum light. I can tell many colors at the outer edges of my light and I can see beautiful colors on my corals, so I was wondering this as well. Thank you very much for your time and here is where the discussion is currently :

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/361058-ai-prime-or-kessil-a160/page-3#entry5031101

 

Kessil's response :

Hello Jose,

 

Thank you for your inquiry. We produce full spectrum lights with peaks in key places for coral growth and appearance. Our dense LED matrix technology allows us to place diodes less than a millimeter apart, packing them into a small area. Because we design and manufacture our own diodes, we have tighter error margins to ensure the proper wavelengths are delivered in the best ratios.

 

After the diodes are designed and placed, the light each diode emits is then blended through a lens and the spectrum produced is again tested to ensure the proper spectrum is being generated. While the light appears as a single point light source, it is actually the matrix working together to produce the ideal lighting. The light from the edge of the matrix can be seen if you hold your hand up to the edge of the light. Here you can see a variety of colors produced by our full spectrum lights.

 

The actual colors of the LEDs we manufacture in our lights is proprietary. Perhaps the best unbiased information regarding our lights and their performance would be empirical data from our customers which can be found online.

 

We are happy to hear you are enjoying your A160s and will gladly answer any questions you may have!

 

Best Regards,

 

Mr. Kier Garcia

 

Sales Associate

 

kgarcia@kessil.com

 

(510) 620-5250

 

Kessil Lighting

[CatfishSoupFTW]

My email to Kessil :

Hi, my name is Jose Saballos and I'm a very satisfied current owner of an A160we. I was wondering if someone could specify exactly what color of LED'S are being used in this fixture, since some people believe that it's not a true full spectrum light. I can tell many colors at the outer edges of my light and I can see beautiful colors on my corals, so I was wondering this as well. Thank you very much for your time and here is where the discussion is currently :

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/361058-ai-prime-or-kessil-a160/page-3#entry5031101

 

Kessil's response :

Hello Jose,

 

Thank you for your inquiry. We produce full spectrum lights with peaks in key places for coral growth and appearance. Our dense LED matrix technology allows us to place diodes less than a millimeter apart, packing them into a small area. Because we design and manufacture our own diodes, we have tighter error margins to ensure the proper wavelengths are delivered in the best ratios.

 

After the diodes are designed and placed, the light each diode emits is then blended through a lens and the spectrum produced is again tested to ensure the proper spectrum is being generated. While the light appears as a single point light source, it is actually the matrix working together to produce the ideal lighting. The light from the edge of the matrix can be seen if you hold your hand up to the edge of the light. Here you can see a variety of colors produced by our full spectrum lights.

 

The actual colors of the LEDs we manufacture in our lights is proprietary. Perhaps the best unbiased information regarding our lights and their performance would be empirical data from our customers which can be found online.

 

We are happy to hear you are enjoying your A160s and will gladly answer any questions you may have!

 

Best Regards,

 

Mr. Kier Garcia

 

Sales Associate

 

kgarcia@kessil.com

 

(510) 620-5250

 

Kessil Lighting

so two things...

 

1. We totally have the same first name. First time I have met an internet me, lol and second, I was noticing that earlier actually how since my light was sitting lower than normal, I had some green showing up and i was like... I swore it was just blue and white ( to generalize the blues and whites out there) though looking that their wavelength chart, things seem pretty heavy on the blue? unless they are talking about what the output seems to look like after the leds are blended via said optics.

[aviator300]

I don't see any of my corals lacking colors at all . BTW, why do I see many colors on the outer edges of my Kessil light?

I wanted to add that in no way I'm a fanboy and I hope that I don't seem like that. I also hope that I don't sound like an ass. I'm just relaying what I see with my own eyes.

I've been wondering, Just what is a "Fanboy"? Must be some kind of trendy derogatory name for someone who is enthusiastic about someone or something. At least it seems that people use it that way and others dread being categorized as such. Anyway, if being enthusiastic about Reefing and much of it's equipment means that someone is a "Fanboy", i plead guilty as charged.

[CatfishSoupFTW]

I've been wondering, Just what is a "Fanboy"? Must be some kind of trendy derogatory name for someone who is enthusiastic about someone or something. At least it seems that people use it that way and others dread being categorized as such. Anyway, if being enthusiastic about Reefing and much of it's equipment means that someone is a "Fanboy", i plead guilty as charged.

 

 

hahah best way of seeing it is, a fanboy is someone that is basically a die hard fan of something - and they will take it to the ground with them , and there is no way around it. i.e. a windows based PC vs Mac. or call of duty vs battlefield. and the list goes on and on and on. XD

 

or what we see here, lots of nanobox fanboys, or cadlights, or radion fans.

 

that , or you had me trolled. lol

[reefernanoman]

Looking into nanobox mini tide now lol. Its the tide or kessil.

What did you decide on? I have both of those lights BTW,and I really like both TBH. The only thing that I miss from the minitide is the shimmer effect. BTW, the minitide fan is MUCH louder than the Kessil fan. I can't even hear the Kessil fan running, unless I put my ear right next to the light

[Exodus]

 

 

hahah best way of seeing it is, a fanboy is someone that is basically a die hard fan of something - and they will take it to the ground with them , and there is no way around it. i.e. a windows based PC vs Mac. or call of duty vs battlefield. and the list goes on and on and on. XD

 

or what we see here, lots of nanobox fanboys, or cadlights, or radion fans.

 

that , or you had me trolled. lol

 

Not only That; the term is derogatory. yes; they are a die hard fan for sure, but in all reality the trouble comes in the glasses they are looking through when discussing "their" favored product. The term "fanboy" is typically referencing to someone who only considers a particular product as having any value and discrediting any similar products or competitors having worth. As you can clearly see in an unbiased view, that is simply ludicrous. Therefore when someone is labeled as a "fanboy", it's typically safe to disregard anything that comes from their mouths as you know it will give you no valuable insight, but rather a biased view. This term is strongly used in the console wars between Nintendo/Xbox/Playstation. For Example: Someone to disregard that all consoles have their own strengths and weaknesses, and depending upon your particular preference's, one or more could meet your needs. The fanboy doesn't care about "Your" preferences, they simply will tell you (example: Xbox) Is the only system worth anything and will meet not only yours but everyone elses needs/preferences with the others being garbage and no need to think anymore about it. "Fanboyism" can also be attributed to countless forum flame wars. So when using that term be careful in the context in which you use it.

[Najay343]

Looks like the forum ive been looking for. I currently have a Kessil A150 over my IM 25 Lagoon.

 

Looking for controllability and these are the two lights I am looking into. I most recently purchased the Kessil A80 for my New IM10 and I do love it. It was also my first time using a spec controller. I have to say, No clue why the spec controller cost so damn much to do so damn little, c'mon kessil. If that cheesy controller had wifi or bluetooth and worked with my phone there would be no question here and I would get another but this thing reminds me of first generation flip phones. The razor

 

Questions I do have though:

 

How loud is the A160we compared to the A150? My A150 is too loud. Have heard the AI Prime HD is very quiet. the A160we?

What is the area covered by the A160we and HD Prime 6"- 8" above surface? I've heard 24x24? I would imagine that is the same for my A150 but doesnt seem to be the case. My current A150 doesnt seem to cover 1-1.5" on either side of the sand bed. I mean it is lit but with ambient light, not coming directly from the cone of the kessil output.

 

I do love the quality, look design and especially the shimmer put out by kessils but man do I hate how stupid expensive and worthless their controller seem. My luck once I wasted money on a 2nd one, kessil would release a controller that is wifi compatible...

I am super hot and heavy on the wifi of the Ai Prime, will i be as satisfied with everything else color, any shimmer?