Feeling sorry for Kessil after the latest BRS series

[Velcro]

The funny thing is that Ryan didn’t actually say much of anything as far as what is best in this series. Literally just presented hard, objective data. So many clowns on forums these days.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Kessils have hands down the best shimmer in the industry. I dont think they are going anywhere.

I've been hard for Red Sea since I hung LED. I'm picking up two 360WE tomorrow. Interested to see first hand the difference in my tank..

 

[VanDalsenReef]

The funny thing is that Ryan didn’t actually say much of anything as far as what is best in this series. Literally just presented hard, objective data. So many clowns on forums these days.

I think it's more they were more focused on certain manufacturers, than anything. Which is fine and great but they're comments and verbiage came off as what is best. Could that be taken a certain a way depending on the person? Yes. But it still won't affect kessil. Also don't know if calling other members clowns is really helping anything. It can be frustrating but everyone has an equal opinion and opportunity for their voices to be heard

 

[Velcro]

I think it's more they were more focused on certain manufacturers, than anything. Which is fine and great but they're comments and verbiage came off as what is best. Could that be taken a certain a way depending on the person? Yes. But it still won't affect kessil. Also don't know if calling other members clowns is really helping anything. It can be frustrating but everyone has an equal opinion and opportunity for their voices to be heard

Im not frustrated. I think it’s hilarious.

 

[VanDalsenReef]

After power compacts, well even with power compacts, I have had Kessils. Although, always with pc or t5. So admittedly, I’m a fanboy of sorts. That said, I’m curious to hear if people think this BRS series will impact Kessils sales enough for them to go back to the drawing board for some out of the puck thinking, or move away from reef lighting altogether? Just starting a convo, not intended to be an argument starter. Thoughts?

Kessil will live on just as it has

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

The funny thing is that Ryan didn’t actually say much of anything as far as what is best in this series. Literally just presented hard, objective data. So many clowns on forums these days.

He didn’t say go buy light x, I agree. I felt the data and the commentary was definitely in favor of certain panel lights, xr30 for example which is no doubt a great light, as well as certain bars like the blade which could also be a great light as well. A mixture of five blades being one of the best options. I took away a lot of negativity towards pucks in general and specifically the Kessils. Even drawing a comparison between the quote brand name top of the line Bose acoustimas speakers of the nineties that didn’t sound great and brand name pucks that don’t provide great light. My intent wasn’t to bash anyone or light but to talk about the direction of the future of puck lighting specifically kessil as they only have the one egg in the basket. Ai has other lights and equipment to support them beyond prime and hydra. Red Sea has plenty of equipment to support them beyond reef led, etc. kessil has pucks, other pucks, two pucks combined in one a controller a dongle, some mounting options, a few cables and that’s it as far as aquarium equipment. Asking for opinions about this series having any effect on kessil as we know it shouldn’t be considered a clown question.

 

[Velcro]

He didn’t say go buy light x, I agree. I felt the data and the commentary was definitely in favor of certain panel lights, xr30 for example which is no doubt a great light, as well as certain bars like the blade which could also be a great light as well. A mixture of five blades being one of the best options. I took away a lot of negativity towards pucks in general and specifically the Kessils. Even drawing a comparison between the quote brand name top of the line Bose acoustimas speakers of the nineties that didn’t sound great and brand name pucks that don’t provide great light. My intent wasn’t to bash anyone or light but to talk about the direction of the future of puck lighting specifically kessil as they only have the one egg in the basket. Ai has other lights and equipment to support them beyond prime and hydra. Red Sea has plenty of equipment to support them beyond reef led, etc. kessil has pucks, other pucks, two pucks combined in one a controller a dongle, done mounting options, a few cables and that’s it as far as aquarium equipment. Asking for opinions about this series having any effect on kessil as we know it shouldn’t be considered a clown question.

The clown comment was in no way directed towards your original post. It was for all the people immediately dismissing the videos because of who published them.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

The clown comment was in no way directed towards your original post. It was for all the people immediately dismissing the videos because of who published them.

Gotcha, I read into that incorrectly. I agree with you and often regret posting on here as it often spirals into the pit of despair!

 

[rtparty]

Gotcha, I read into that incorrectly. I agree with you and often regret posting on here as it often spirals into the pit of despair!

It’s fun to play with fire and get burned once in a while

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Funny thing about this is that I have no skin in the game anymore. My reefing days are over any day now and the only reason I’m still in it is because everything is on autopilot. At some point it will crash. I’ll never be in the market for lighting again but I do still listen to all the YouTube’s and check into the forum now and again as I’m still interested in the hobby for the time being.

 

[minus9]

I had such a horrible experience with Kessil’s, they kept coloring and growing corals for me. No matter what I did, they just kept working!

 

[19Mateo83]

I hope not. I noticed quite awhile back that the horticulture tab on their website disappeared. Now that there are so many manufactures out there and series like these that a lot of people take to heart it scares me a bit

I just got back in the hobby and researched lights that give the most “halide” look. Kessils were top of the list. Kessils have always been top tier lights and I don’t think they are going anywhere either. I am more than happy with an A80 on my 5g.

 

[slythy]

I've been hard for Red Sea since I hung LED. I'm picking up two 360WE tomorrow. Interested to see first hand the difference in my tank..

Let me know what you think. I have the 360 tuna suns on my planted tank and the 280 flora for my refugium. Couldnt be happier with them. I drank the coolaid and got xr15's and T5's over my reef. They work very well though.

 

[Seansea]

Ya man cant beat the kessil shimmer and they give great growth in coral. People looking for that real reef look will always chase the kessils. Its why i chose them.

 

[Hooz]

The thing is, if you take the brands out of it and just look at the info presented (spectrum and coverage), they're not wrong. Some of us have been saying and doing the same thing for years.

I think it was kind of comical that they were taking about wide blue spectrums, and then showing the Blade with the Royal Blue channel turned almost to zero to achieve that. It almost seemed like they were goading AI-co-tech into updating the spectrums of their lights.

 

[srobertb]

When I ran Kessil over my tank, it was easily one of the worst I’ve used and tested. Shimmer was far too intense (nothing like a good halide shimmer) and growth was non existent.

On the other half of the tank was a Radion. Growth on corals and coralline was noticeably better.

It is very easy to tell when SPS come from a Kessil tank IMO. Thin branches with lots of death towards the bottom and inner skeleton.

The best Kessil setups I’ve seen ran one 360 for every 12*12 section. The tiny puck style lights will ALWAYS cast hard shadows. This isn’t Kessil exclusive.

I’m adding.

First off: I stopped watching BRS videos a while ago. As someone else put it “it’s corporate steering” not actual reviews.

I don’t know which video is negative. I remember watching the Kessil 500x video a while back and they were TRYING to sell it but god help them they couldn’t find a use-case for it for people with less than 36” deep tanks. The videos for the Kessil A360x all pretty much direct you to couple them with T5’s because they need them to be effective.

I also ran 4 Kessils over a shallow 6’ reef (first with T5’s then alone). We differ in that I liked the shimmer. But I had 0 growth. Same tank. Exact same everything. Switched to Radions on AB+ and I am growing corals like crazy.

Why did I switch? Most of the kessils died right at the 2 year mark (within 30-60 days IIRC). Kessil was good about the warranty but it got ridiculous.

These are SPOTLIGHTS for accent lighting and maybe to boost PAR here or there. Like trying to light a room with a flashlight. By design they are the exact opposite of what one wants on a reef tank- a fully saturated tank with even light distribution.

Yes I know for every “they did nothing for me” there is a “they grew everything for me.” But after a lot of time reading, Kessils are BY FAR the most polarizing lights in regards to production from all the major brands. Not talking about price or aesthetic or shimmer or even quality, but whether it grows coral. That says something right there.

I do not think Kessil is “going anywhere” but it’s really hard for me to recommend these lights unless you’re supplementing and so I couldn’t be mad at anyone else (even an evil corporation) for doing the same.

 

[crusso1993]

Sigh... Seriously. Loved them. Now Premium Aquatics is my go to. Marine depot couldn't be beat for us west coast folks!

You may already be familiar with Aqua Cave. If not, I recommend them. Great bunch of people run the place. I used to live close by and, while not having a huge physical location, carry about everything. They also do price matching.

Aquarium Supplies | Freshwater & Saltwater Fish Tanks | AquaCave

Find premium aquarium supplies at Aquacave. we offer top brands like Tunze, Ecotech, and more. Free Shipping available!

www.aquacave.com

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

You may already be familiar with Aqua Cave. If not, I recommend them. Great bunch of people run the place. I used to live close by and, while not having a huge physical location, carry about everything. They also do price matching.

Aquarium Supplies | Freshwater & Saltwater Fish Tanks | AquaCave

Find premium aquarium supplies at Aquacave. we offer top brands like Tunze, Ecotech, and more. Free Shipping available!

www.aquacave.com

I do use them on occasion.

 

[thewedge]

Jeeze. All I see in that video was a bunch of numbers for a bunch of different products. All the stuff will grow coral. We can make our own choices on what we want to buy. Unless the insinuation is that they messed with the numbers. I don't get the sense that Ryan's that kind of guy. So what if the numbers for the product you chose don't match some arbitrary specification for quote "optimal" growth. The proof is in what's in your tank.

I for one appreciate that they take the time to put together these videos. I kind of doubt that Ryan is spending months gathering this data and all the time needed to produce these things while twirling their mustache and saying "This is going to make me fat stacks of cash! Mwahaha!" But at the end of the day, he's in sales and has a business to run and employees to support.

A lot of people in this hobby are too obsessive. Chasing numbers and faced with too many choices. I'm 10 years in and have certainly been through that phase. But I'm pretty confident any lights they sell at BRS and other places are going to grow corals decently for you. It's up to you to install them properly and choose the right number of units for your tank. I went with Hydra 32s for mine. Of course I knew there were "better" options out there. But they were within my budget and I trusted the brand. I mostly look to the BRS videos for some guidance on mounting height and spectrum. At least I feel they have a methodical and consistent approach. Over the years, I made several mistakes listening to random dudes on YouTube or in forums.

All I've read since I moved to my 130gal a year and a half ago is how I need to have readable N and P. There are multiple videos and forum posts confirming this. I have had zero N and P since about the second month my tank was set up. My growth and coloration have been great and I don't have any nuisances growing in the display. So I'm not dosing a thing no matter how many videos and experts online tell me I should do otherwise. I trust my eyes and test periodically to confirm.

 

[yanetterer]

It's funny that this discussion has popped up based on videos touting the AI Blade performance, while the AI Blade thread has turned into a discussion about problems with the color imbalances on the fixtures and their replacements. It seems like the higher performing brands have more problems whether it is the current issue with the Blades, burnt lenses, terrible apps, etc., while the lower performing Kessils don't seem to have as many issues. Granted, that could also be due to the popularity of each brand and maybe the rate of failure isn't actually that much different.