teajay33 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Just got my Kessil 160 in the mail today.. Was super excited, well until I turned them on.. Kessil light Old lights So am I missing something? I have the Kessil wide open and there's shadows everywhere. The old lights are 1 ecoxotic led strip and the other is an LED strip as well but more blue colors. Not sure of the brand. Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Just got my Kessil 160 in the mail today.. Was super excited, well until I turned them on.. Kessil light Old lights So am I missing something? I have the Kessil wide open and there's shadows everywhere Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 It all depends on what you're coming from, which Kessil you have, and your tank. Kessil's are great for smaller tanks but you always have to remember that it's a dense array so all the light is coming from one single point so there are bound to be shadows. The height that the light is at also makes a difference. Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Look at your colors tho they look way better lol but yes it's a point light source so there will be shadowing, personally I love mine but they aren't for everyone Link to comment
teajay33 Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 I updated the OP. Stating what I had before. Just FYI Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Just got my Kessil 160 in the mail today.. Was super excited, well until I turned them on.. Kessil light Old lights So am I missing something? I have the Kessil wide open and there's shadows everywhere. The old lights are 1 ecoxotic led strip and the other is an LED strip as well but more blue colors. Not sure of the brand. What am I missing? The Kessil looks much much better! Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 What am I missing? The Kessil looks much much better! Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I updated the OP. Stating what I had before. Just FYI You were using two LED strips so of course you are going to get better coverage. The issue with those is that they aren't very powerful and frankly they don't look anywhere near as good as the Kessil. From the looks of it, the Kessil is also punching straight to the bottom whereas the previous strips didn't look like they were really getting all the way to the bottom of the tank. That could also be just the pictures though. How high is the light mounted? Also, what intensity is it at? While there may be shadows, don't try to keep turning the intensity up in order to compensate because you can very well bleach some corals that aren't in the shadows. Link to comment
teajay33 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Look at your colors tho they look way better lol but yes it's a point light source so there will be shadowing, personally I love mine but they aren't for everyone Well it certainly shimmers better than the old LED. But it seems to be a lot less light. When I put the Kessil on then turn on the old lights it actually is a very noticeable difference. You were using two LED strips so of course you are going to get better coverage. The issue with those is that they aren't very powerful and frankly they don't look anywhere near as good as the Kessil. From the looks of it, the Kessil is also punching straight to the bottom whereas the previous strips didn't look like they were really getting all the way to the bottom of the tank. That could also be just the pictures though. How high is the light mounted? Also, what intensity is it at? While there may be shadows, don't try to keep turning the intensity up in order to compensate because you can very well bleach some corals that aren't in the shadows. It's pretty close to the surface, and it's at its highest setting. And more white than blue. Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Well it certainly shimmers better than the old LED. But it seems to be a lot less light. When I put the Kessil on then turn on the old lights it actually is a very noticeable difference. The reason you see a difference is because the old LEDs cover more area since they are strips. The Kessil is definitely pumping out more light but it's a single-point light source so it's putting a lot more light in a smaller area. Think of the light as a cone coming out of the Kessil as opposed to the way your strips are which have LEDs across the whole top and point straight down. It may look like more light but it's actually less light but more evenly distributed. Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Well it certainly shimmers better than the old LED. But it seems to be a lot less light. When I put the Kessil on then turn on the old lights it actually is a very noticeable difference. It's pretty close to the surface, and it's at its highest setting. And more white than blue. It seems brighter because you had a linear spread compared to a point light source but don't underestimate this light it can grow anything Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Well it certainly shimmers better than the old LED. But it seems to be a lot less light. When I put the Kessil on then turn on the old lights it actually is a very noticeable difference. It's pretty close to the surface, and it's at its highest setting. And more white than blue. Turn it down and mount the light about 8" above the water surface and you'll see a huge difference. Start it at about 30% intensity and work your way up before you bleach your whole tank. Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Raise it up about two inches more and start at 40% do coral acclimation mode if you have the controller Link to comment
teajay33 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 How far down should I move the dial? Half way on both dials? Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 How far down should I move the dial? Half way on both dials? Well ones for color so whatever your preference is and the intensity Id say 1/3 of the way Link to comment
teajay33 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 I didn't get the controller :-/ I was trying to way to cash in my eBay points. End of the month I'll have $20 off something and they are already like $90 on eBay so $70 would be a steal. Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I didn't get the controller :-/ I was trying to way to cash in my eBay points. End of the month I'll have $20 off something and they are already like $90 on eBay so $70 would be a steal. True im also selling mine for $80 shipped if you're interested used for two months before I got an apex Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Don't worry about the controller yet. First, raise the light so that it isn't so close to the tank. Having the light so close is what is giving you so many shadows. You want it right around 6-8" above the water surface but play with it and see which works best. Second, turn down the intensity knob so that it's about 30%. If you keep that at near 100%, you will bleach your corals since they haven't been acclimated to the new light. Link to comment
teajay33 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Ok I slid it to about 30%. And it was already 6 inches off the water. Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Using the Kessil along with the LED strips (of a pair of appropriate T5 tubes) may be an option to consider as the combo will help to drastically reduce the shadow effect produced by the Kessil when used alone. Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Ok I slid it to about 30%. And it was already 6 inches off the water. Then try to raise it a bit more. That should help reduce the shadows you're getting. Link to comment
Sancho Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Don't worry about the controller yet. First, raise the light so that it isn't so close to the tank. Having the light so close is what is giving you so many shadows. You want it right around 6-8" above the water surface but play with it and see which works best. Second, turn down the intensity knob so that it's about 30%. If you keep that at near 100%, you will bleach your corals since they haven't been acclimated to the new light. +1 I have been there done that. I ran a 360w and the sweet spot seemed to be about 14" above the water. I had a 160w for a minute and it did best about 8" to 10" anything lower than 6 your gonna get shadows and meltage. Dont run it at 100% 30% is a good starting point. I never ran mine above 60% and was able to grow sps. just thought i would regurgitate some very good advice. Did you get the N or the W? what size is the tank Link to comment
teajay33 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Using the Kessil along with the LED strips (of a pair of appropriate T5 tubes) may be an option to consider as the combo will help to drastically reduce the shadow effect produced by the Kessil when used alone.Yeah I kept the mostly blue light on top. The other LED is getting refugium duty. I peeled off the back vinyl and I'm gonna get some cheato back there in the chamber +1 I have been there done that. I ran a 360w and the sweet spot seemed to be about 14" above the water. I had a 160w for a minute and it did best about 8" to 10" anything lower than 6 your gonna get shadows and meltage. Dont run it at 100% 30% is a good starting point. I never ran mine above 60% and was able to grow sps. just thought i would regurgitate some very good advice. Did you get the N or the W? what size is the tank 160WE and the tank is 12g Nano Cube. I didn't know there was an N option? Did I get the right one?? Link to comment
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