Coming from halides, can't decide between Kessil a360x and Radion XR15 G5

[Chrisv.]

Lots of good advice here. I am also a die hard metal halide fan who has been converted to LEDs more or less. As has already been said, they are lower power, lower maintenance, lower heat, and the custom controllability is just stunning. They do cost a lot, but they run for at least 5x as long as halides. It all evens out more or less.

The key with all of these seems to be providing adequate supplemental lighting. The led light bars make a big difference, especially with kessils.

 

[t5Nitro]

For those of us that know, it is

I can't wait to start burning through the electricity again. 400 watt radiums patiently waiting the move. So excited to move back to the right way! Lol.

 

[X-37B]

This was my 120.
First pick is 1 blue sky and 1 blue plus. Hard to see but their is no shadowing.
Same tank with the halides on in pic 2.

 

[ReefinIt]

This was my 120.
First pick is 1 blue sky and 1 blue plus. Hard to see but their is no shadowing.
Same tank with the halides on in pic 2.

The second pic with the halide is what I'm chasing.

 

[ReefinIt]

Based on these two videos, the radion color looks better but the kessil shimmer is nice (when t5 are run)



But who is to say it just looks better on camera.

 

[X-37B]

For me, absolutely. Kessils have terrible shading issues from being a puck style light. They also cost more if you want any control over them.

Does your 90 have the center brace? 2 XR15s isn't going to cut it on a 90. You'll need 4 if you have the center brace. 2 on each side. 2 XR30s might be a bit easier to manage.

I ran 2 XR15s on my 120 (6" deeper front to back) and couldn't get over 200 PAR on the top of my rocks with 2 15s.

I have read as much as I can on the 15 blues as no one except 1 lfs runs them. Everyone has gen4's still.
What is your opinion on 2 blues I am going to run on my 80 growout system? Its 48x24x16. Bottom glass to surface is 13.5".
My frag racks are15"x15"x1.5" so 12" to the surface. I am expecting 300 par positioning the racks directly under the 15x15 foot print on the stock 8" arms.
Mine has the center black brace but im not concerened about it.

 

[Chrisv.]

The second pic with the halide is what I'm chasing.

This is a bit complicated... LED tanks are INCREDIBLY difficult to photograph faithfully due to the way that digital cameras process light. So they look like Windex in photos if a filter isn't used. Often they don't look at all like that in an person.

In many cases this really is a situation where the blueness of the photo is an inaccurate representation relative to what your eye sees.

The other thing to consider is that the LEDs are really hitting certain spectra and corals are actually able to increase the production of florescent proteins in response to some of these wavelengths. Taking a mh photo just after taking a LED off is not really fair, as the corals are still expressing the FP genes at high levels in part due to the LED lights.

I kept my tank under 400w radium's for more than a decade, and I do love them. There are practicality issues though. And any of the decent LEDs can be tuned to look more like daylight.

 

[X-37B]

The second pic with the halide is what I'm chasing.

My 2 16hd lit tanks can look very similar to the 120 if I crank the white to above 70%. I run them at 30%.
The main reason I went with the blues is they are similar to the 120 look running 100/100% with a slight blue tint.
If you could see them in person it would clear alot up.

I have a few friends that run the old gen 4's and they can get their systems to look very halide like if they want. They just chose not to.

 

[ReefinIt]

This is a bit complicated... LED tanks are INCREDIBLY difficult to photograph faithfully due to the way that digital cameras process light. So they look like Windex in photos if a filter isn't used. Often they don't look at all like that in an person.

In many cases this really is a situation where the blueness of the photo is an inaccurate representation relative to what your eye sees.

The other thing to consider is that the LEDs are really hitting certain spectra and corals are actually able to increase the production of florescent proteins in response to some of these wavelengths. Taking a mh photo just after taking a LED off is not really fair, as the corals are still expressing the FP genes at high levels in part due to the LED lights.

I kept my tank under 400w radium's for more than a decade, and I do love them. There are practicality issues though. And any of the decent LEDs can be tuned to look more like daylight.

That was my thinking, looks different because of the camera. Doesn't the kessil have better spectrum?

 

[X-37B]

All my pics are taken using an icecap 15k macro filter and look just like the pics I posted in person.

 

[ReefinIt]

My 2 16hd lit tanks can look very similar to the 120 if I crank the white to above 70%. I run them at 30%.
The main reason I went with the blues is they are similar to the 120 look running 100/100% with a slight blue tint.
If you could see them in person it would clear alot up.

I have a few friends that run the old gen 4's and they can get their systems to look very halide like if they want. They just chose not to.

Yeah, i need to see in person. None of my stores have them on display tho. Bums me out because it's a huge investment

 

[X-37B]

Yeah, i need to see in person. None of my stores have them on display tho. Bums me out because it's a huge investment

I agree as I was going to go with the pro until I saw them in person
Still have not seen the pro either.
I have thought about getting a pro and run it side by side and just sell the one I dont like .
My blue will be here monday.

 

[X-37B]

Yeah, i need to see in person. None of my stores have them on display tho. Bums me out because it's a huge investment

Might be worth calling a few stores in the LA area to see if they are running one. It would be great if they ran both. Id make the drive.

 

[X-37B]

For me, absolutely. Kessils have terrible shading issues from being a puck style light. They also cost more if you want any control over them.

Does your 90 have the center brace? 2 XR15s isn't going to cut it on a 90. You'll need 4 if you have the center brace. 2 on each side. 2 XR30s might be a bit easier to manage.

I ran 2 XR15s on my 120 (6" deeper front to back) and couldn't get over 200 PAR on the top of my rocks with 2 15s.

One more thing. The lfs has theirs mounted 2' from the surface of a 12" tall frag system and they get 200 par directls under the light and 170 on the sides. They are spaced 2' apart.

 

[rtparty]

I have read as much as I can on the 15 blues as no one except 1 lfs runs them. Everyone has gen4's still.
What is your opinion on 2 blues I am going to run on my 80 growout system? Its 48x24x16. Bottom glass to surface is 13.5".
My frag racks are15"x15"x1.5" so 12" to the surface. I am expecting 300 par positioning the racks directly under the 15x15 foot print on the stock 8" arms.
Mine has the center black brace but im not concerened about it.

Your depth will make them work out nicely.

My XR15s were about 12" off the water and another 12" to rock. My canopy made it hard to hang the Radions at the proper height without modifications that I didn't want to do knowing I was switching tanks as quick as I could.

I'm 5-7 years from switching my new tank to LEDs so we will see what's out there at that point. If someone forced me to run LEDs right now, the Mitras wins the looks department for me by quite a bit. Color blends well and it shimmers very nicely. The software is total trash though

 

[Chrisv.]

Basically all of the name brand LEDs are more or less fantastic. People are fiercely loyal to their favorites, but most can do the job. I have a kessil on one tank and an AI prime on another. There are things I love about each light. I have to admit that I do still miss my radiums, but I REALLY do not miss my chiller.

I think you need to go to a store that sells them all, and just screw with the settings. Or alternatively just order one of the flagship models and see if it works well enough for you. if you don't like the color you can achieve, send it back and buy another. They really do ALL grow coral.

I will say that in my opinion you NEED to have a par meter at your disposal when you are first dialing them in. The par on LED is way higher relative to the overall brightness vs metal halide. I am used to blazing bright 400w halides. An led at that level of visual brightness will absolutely cook your corals.

 

[Jon's Reef]

I have read as much as I can on the 15 blues as no one except 1 lfs runs them. Everyone has gen4's still.
What is your opinion on 2 blues I am going to run on my 80 growout system? Its 48x24x16. Bottom glass to surface is 13.5".
My frag racks are15"x15"x1.5" so 12" to the surface. I am expecting 300 par positioning the racks directly under the 15x15 foot print on the stock 8" arms.
Mine has the center black brace but im not concerened about it.

The difficulty will not be par, it will be coverage. The colonies will shade themselves as they grow out. I would consider one of these 3 options:
cheapest: 6x T5
Mid level: 4x LED bars
High level: 2x Panel style LED (Sky, Orphek, CC, Straton) or 3x XR30 turned front-back

 

[Chrisv.]

The difficulty will not be par, it will be coverage. The colonies will shade themselves as they grow out. I would consider one of these 3 options:
cheapest: 6x T5
Mid level: 4x LED bars
High level: 2x Panel style LED (Sky, Orphek, CC, Straton) or 3x XR30 turned front-back

T5 is not cheap over time though. The bulbs are expensive and need frequent replacement.

I completely agree re coverage and shadows. Kessil + led bars are a good option for combat this.

 

[Chrisv.]

The difficulty will not be par, it will be coverage. The colonies will shade themselves as they grow out. I would consider one of these 3 options:
cheapest: 6x T5
Mid level: 4x LED bars
High level: 2x Panel style LED (Sky, Orphek, CC, Straton) or 3x XR30 turned front-back

You're the one with the kessil+ sky, right?

 

[X-37B]

The difficulty will not be par, it will be coverage. The colonies will shade themselves as they grow out. I would consider one of these 3 options:
cheapest: 6x T5
Mid level: 4x LED bars
High level: 2x Panel style LED (Sky, Orphek, CC, Straton) or 3x XR30 turned front-back

If I was doing a reef display then I would use my blue sky and blue plus. They are still an option.
With a flat surface, frag rack, 12" below the surface all frags and colonies will not shade each other I believe.