Kessil A360X’s and Acropora Success

[Chipper1978]

My Waterbox 130.4 is approaching 7 months old and I just purchased my first acro frags. I am running 3 Kessil A360X’s over the 4 foot tank. I rented a PAR meter and can get 250-350 PAR at max intensity. Unique Corals states their acros are under 200-250 PAR LED’s, so I figured I should be good. However, I’ve been told repeatedly, and read, that the Kessils are not sufficient to sustain good growth and color for acropora. Is this true? Anyone out there successful with acros and Kessils only?

 

[User1]

Makes no sense honestly. Hobbyist have successful tanks with and without Kessil's.

However, to your specific question there are plenty of tanks running a360x's that are successful. Successful, thriving, growing, color, and more. There is a Kessil thread on this forum somewhere to include one sharing the a360x lighting schedules.

Edit: more to success than PAR numbers.

 

[Ranjib]

No true at all. I have grown decent sized red dragon, green slimer etc with kessin a360 in my nano tank (biocube29) . I never owned larger tank and have seen fellow reefer running red sea reefer 250 with ap700. I have heard this before, that folks complaining about kessil can not grow SPS, but rarely anything concrete.

 

[Chipper1978]

Thank you for the prompt reply! Gives me some hope. When I purchased some of my frags from a very reputable online dealer, I told them about my lighting. They indicated the frags will likely lose color and brown out overtime due to not enough output compared to other lights on the market. Guess we will see.

 

[Chipper1978]

No true at all. I have grown decent sized red dragon, green slimer etc with kessin a360 in my nano tank (biocube29) . I never owned larger tank and have seen fellow reefer running red sea reefer 250 with ap700. I have heard this before, that folks complaining about kessil can not grow SPS, but rarely anything concrete.

. Good to hear! If I am not successful, I’d like it to be due to my own mistakes (e.g., parameter swings).

 

[Ranjib]

Acclimate them slowly, SPS will never die easily due to less light, but can burn quiet easily due to high light during acclimitaion period. You are more than good at 250 par. Focus on flow , alk and Ca instead. In fact I would say if your water chemistry is good and flow is good you wont kill sps. Once you tune in Alk , light they'll start growing .. color is more on your water chemistry, trace elements and other supplements. Dont rush and take it slow,, if you have patience you'll make it.
You'll not believe I lost 90% of my sps during transfer and specifically due to bad light acclimation :-/ . SPS growth has more to do with us understanding their requirement holistically than just throwing more things at the problem. Here are some pics from my tank in its old glory,

Lot has changed now, since I moved into new house and all the mishaps.. but I'm confident once I focus back I'll be able to regrow them all from their smaller parts that's left. I just have to be more diligent about the chores (monitoring, fixing Ca/Alk/Water chemistry). With kessil and mp10 my light and flow is kinda solved, I go low on livestock to address water chemistry issues, in nano the error margins are smaller.

BTW, feed reef roids.

 

[User1]

Thank you for the prompt reply! Gives me some hope. When I purchased some of my frags from a very reputable online dealer, I told them about my lighting. They indicated the frags will likely lose color and brown out overtime due to not enough output compared to other lights on the market. Guess we will see.

Don't take this the wrong way please but your comment about "good gives you some hope" the first thought that crossed my mind was why did you buy the Kessil's Here is the deal. They are a pretty flexible light in an amazing form factor. You can mount them low for a good spread, you can mount them high for even wider, you can mount them high, add a narrow lens (90 degree) and punch through 30" tall tanks or higher, or focus / spotlight corals, and more. That is pretty unique to the Kessil honestly. Yes, I have 4 of them but my tank is still young at 2 1/2 years old and a mixed reef anyway.

I think where people ask questions or raise questions or say odd things about kessil is around the contrast. Note that I didn't say shade but rather the contrast and depth. Scuba divers know this because light varies over a reef crest but the Kessil chips do an excellent job of providing the depth and contrast that many think of shade. And when shade is mentioned then the brown stuff hits the whirly thing and people panic and spread false information.

Someone here on this forum, a fellow very knowledgeable, said something that always sits with me forever now. Along the lines of there is so much death and decay on a coral reef mixed in with all the splendour and beauty. Its true when you think of it. Mother nature does not hire a hobbyist to frag corals. No. She throws one heck of a tempter tantrum in the form of wind, fire, rain, and everything in between to include global effects.

My point to this rant is that shade, contrast, depth is all natural to a reef. Monti's will grow and shade their lower base. Lower base will die off. Purple stylo will grow. Base will shade. Base will die. Top will prosper. Such is the forest as with maples and oaks...

Small video I found interesting:

BRS for what it is worth:

Plenty more. I think you are off to a good start. Take a few photos on your phone. Save. Check back and take more in a couple weeks. Repeat. I have my SPS test frags grow so slow I thought maybe it was lights. Then thought maybe water chemistry. Then one day BAM and they are off to the races. I only say this as my tank is 2 1/2 years old and only now, in my opinion, starting to be coral ready. But that is what I get for starting with dry rock Another story...

 

[Chipper1978]

Acclimate them slowly, SPS will never die easily due to less light, but can burn quiet easily due to high light during acclimitaion period. You are more than good at 250 par. Focus on flow , alk and Ca instead. In fact I would say if your water chemistry is good and flow is good you wont kill sps. Once you tune in Alk , light they'll start growing .. color is more on your water chemistry, trace elements and other supplements. Dont rush and take it slow,, if you have patience you'll make it.
You'll not believe I lost 90% of my sps during transfer and specifically due to bad light acclimation :-/ . SPS growth has more to do with us understanding their requirement holistically than just throwing more things at the problem. Here are some pics from my tank in its old glory,

Lot has changed now, since I moved into new house and all the mishaps.. but I'm confident once I focus back I'll be able to regrow them all from their smaller parts that's left. I just have to be more diligent about the chores (monitoring, fixing Ca/Alk/Water chemistry). With kessil and mp10 my light and flow is kinda solved, I go low on livestock to address water chemistry issues, in nano the error margins are smaller.

BTW, feed reef roids.

Thank you so much for the reply. Pictures are gorgeous!

 

[Chipper1978]

Don't take this the wrong way please but your comment about "good gives you some hope" the first thought that crossed my mind was why did you buy the Kessil's Here is the deal. They are a pretty flexible light in an amazing form factor. You can mount them low for a good spread, you can mount them high for even wider, you can mount them high, add a narrow lens (90 degree) and punch through 30" tall tanks or higher, or focus / spotlight corals, and more. That is pretty unique to the Kessil honestly. Yes, I have 4 of them but my tank is still young at 2 1/2 years old and a mixed reef anyway.

I think where people ask questions or raise questions or say odd things about kessil is around the contrast. Note that I didn't say shade but rather the contrast and depth. Scuba divers know this because light varies over a reef crest but the Kessil chips do an excellent job of providing the depth and contrast that many think of shade. And when shade is mentioned then the brown stuff hits the whirly thing and people panic and spread false information.

Someone here on this forum, a fellow very knowledgeable, said something that always sits with me forever now. Along the lines of there is so much death and decay on a coral reef mixed in with all the splendour and beauty. Its true when you think of it. Mother nature does not hire a hobbyist to frag corals. No. She throws one heck of a tempter tantrum in the form of wind, fire, rain, and everything in between to include global effects.

My point to this rant is that shade, contrast, depth is all natural to a reef. Monti's will grow and shade their lower base. Lower base will die off. Purple stylo will grow. Base will shade. Base will die. Top will prosper. Such is the forest as with maples and oaks...

Small video I found interesting:

BRS for what it is worth:

Plenty more. I think you are off to a good start. Take a few photos on your phone. Save. Check back and take more in a couple weeks. Repeat. I have my SPS test frags grow so slow I thought maybe it was lights. Then thought maybe water chemistry. Then one day BAM and they are off to the races. I only say this as my tank is 2 1/2 years old and only now, in my opinion, starting to be coral ready. But that is what I get for starting with dry rock Another story...

Wow! Great information. I really appreciate the insight! Videos were also great!

 

[minus9]

I think this is a good start, but from experience and having used Kessil for the past six years, you'll probably add a couple more fixtures in the future as things start to grow. I've always used a 12hr cycle with my Kessil's and the peak time varies from 6hrs to 8hrs. I keep them blue during the ramp periods, then I like a little more white during peak hours. I like to shoot for 200 par near the bottom of the rock work and whatever the top is based on your rock height should be fine, just measure those areas and place light loving sps there. For me, having the lights mounted 8" to 9" above the water with no narrow reflector, you will be able to cover 16" to 18" square. In my current tank, it's more like 12" square (because I'm packing the sps closely). So, if you want to use the 360x's on their own, I would plan on using double of what you currently have, yes, double. If you were using radions xr15's, I would say the same thing. The great thing about using the 360x's, is the ability to angle them or move them exactly where you want them to cover your scape. For spectrum, I would run color between 25% to 50%, violet at 100% with no red or green.
Here are a few pics to show you what can be done with the 360x's.

 

[User1]

I think this is a good start, but from experience and having used Kessil for the past six years, you'll probably add a couple more fixtures in the future as things start to grow. I've always used a 12hr cycle with my Kessil's and the peak time varies from 6hrs to 8hrs. I keep them blue during the ramp periods, then I like a little more white during peak hours. I like to shoot for 200 par near the bottom of the rock work and whatever the top is based on your rock height should be fine, just measure those areas and place light loving sps there. For me, having the lights mounted 8" to 9" above the water with no narrow reflector, you will be able to cover 16" to 18" square. In my current tank, it's more like 12" square (because I'm packing the sps closely). So, if you want to use the 360x's on their own, I would plan on using double of what you currently have, yes, double. If you were using radions xr15's, I would say the same thing. The great thing about using the 360x's, is the ability to angle them or move them exactly where you want them to cover your scape. For spectrum, I would run color between 25% to 50%, violet at 100% with no red or green.
Here are a few pics to show you what can be done with the 360x's.

Looks great and really digging the aquascape. Sort of like when I scuba dive at the base of the reef crest slowly swimming to its peak.

Virtual smack on the back (due to location and of course C19 ) Really though - I like it.

 

[minus9]

Looks great and really digging the aquascape. Sort of like when I scuba dive at the base of the reef crest slowly swimming to its peak.

Virtual smack on the back (due to location and of course C19 ) Really though - I like it.

Thanks! The goal was to create individual islands and outcrops throughout. I drew inspiration from snorkeling in Tahiti and Maui. I just remember only having an inch or two of clearance above the corals with narrow channels between each structure as I moved throughout the reef. I really want to go back to Tahiti though.
To the OP, let me know what your current settings are and I can help create a lighting schedule that will work and grow sps.

 

[techdef]

I’ve been a kessil guy for about 5 years. Moved 3 of these old (not x) and then got 2 more when I upgraded tank. They do fine for SPS.

I also have mine with about a 6-hour max period at 50% white. They get bluer as they dim.

 

[Chipper1978]

Thanks! The goal was to create individual islands and outcrops throughout. I drew inspiration from snorkeling in Tahiti and Maui. I just remember only having an inch or two of clearance above the corals with narrow channels between each structure as I moved throughout the reef. I really want to go back to Tahiti though.
To the OP, let me know what your current settings are and I can help create a lighting schedule that will work and grow sps.

 

[Chipper1978]

Minus9, any suggestions on my lighting settings? Thanks!

 

[minus9]

Minus9, any suggestions on my lighting settings? Thanks!

Sorry, busy multitasking. Before I suggest a few things, how are your corals doing? Growth, color, etc?

 

[minus9]

My initial thoughts/suggestions would be to match everything from 10:00 to 18:00, meaning whatever your highest intensity is, then slowly bring the other points up to match. 2% a week will move you nice and slow. Your highest setting is 14:00 @ 90%, so start by increasing your 12:00 setting to match your 16:00 point. Once those are set, then move to your 10:00 and 18:00 points, increasing 2% each week until you match your 12:00 and 16:00 points. As you increase these settings, increase violet to match, eventually setting violet to 100% during your peak times. The key is to move slowly and observe. You may find that you have to bring down your peak of 90%, but you're personally safe leaving it for the moment. The key here is to make the lighting schedule simple, ramp up, peak, ramp down. Don't get caught up with changing colors, intensity, etc. Keep it simple. I honestly approach it as if I'm turning on lights as the day progresses, it really should be that simple. People get into trouble when they start playing around. Stability on all fronts will make your corals happy and healthy.
Hopefully this all makes sense?

 

[Chipper1978]

My initial thoughts/suggestions would be to match everything from 10:00 to 18:00, meaning whatever your highest intensity is, then slowly bring the other points up to match. 2% a week will move you nice and slow. Your highest setting is 14:00 @ 90%, so start by increasing your 12:00 setting to match your 16:00 point. Once those are set, then move to your 10:00 and 18:00 points, increasing 2% each week until you match your 12:00 and 16:00 points. As you increase these settings, increase violet to match, eventually setting violet to 100% during your peak times. The key is to move slowly and observe. You may find that you have to bring down your peak of 90%, but you're personally safe leaving it for the moment. The key here is to make the lighting schedule simple, ramp up, peak, ramp down. Don't get caught up with changing colors, intensity, etc. Keep it simple. I honestly approach it as if I'm turning on lights as the day progresses, it really should be that simple. People get into trouble when they start playing around. Stability on all fronts will make your corals happy and healthy.
Hopefully this all makes sense?

This lighting information is so helpful and I am going to follow it! Thank you! I have attached a pic of my acro frags. They seem to be doing fine so far, but I've only had them for 7-10 days. Here are my current parameters: dKH-8.0, Calcium-430, Mag-1320, NO3-10, PO4 - 0.04, Temp-78, Salinity-1.025. Tank is pretty high import and export (i.e., good amount of fish/inverts and feeding, Reef Roids 2-3 times per week, Acropower 1 time per week, Dr. Tim's Eco-Balance 1 time per week, refugium, skimmer, GFO reactor). I test my parameters several times per week and haven't needed to dose much at all (I have BRS 2-part). Weekly 10-15% water changes are done with Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt.

I'm content leaving the frags on the rack for a few months, but could glue to rockwork if you think that would be better. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Chipper1978]

I’ve been a kessil guy for about 5 years. Moved 3 of these old (not x) and then got 2 more when I upgraded tank. They do fine for SPS.

I also have mine with about a 6-hour max period at 50% white. They get bluer as they dim.

Tank looks great! What kind of clam is that?

 

[minus9]

This lighting information is so helpful and I am going to follow it! Thank you! I have attached a pic of my acro frags. They seem to be doing fine so far, but I've only had them for 7-10 days. Here are my current parameters: dKH-8.0, Calcium-430, Mag-1320, NO3-10, PO4 - 0.04, Temp-78, Salinity-1.025. Tank is pretty high import and export (i.e., good amount of fish/inverts and feeding, Reef Roids 2-3 times per week, Acropower 1 time per week, Dr. Tim's Eco-Balance 1 time per week, refugium, skimmer, GFO reactor). I test my parameters several times per week and haven't needed to dose much at all (I have BRS 2-part). Weekly 10-15% water changes are done with Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt.

I'm content leaving the frags on the rack for a few months, but could glue to rockwork if you think that would be better. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I would mount the frags, just give them room to grow. I would mount the monti cap low or on an isolated rock if possible. It's small now, but in a matter of months it will be pretty big and shade a large portion of rock if not properly placed.
This is the time to really think of growth pattern of your corals and place them accordingly, stags don't shade much, so they can go above anything that's more of a bush (milli's, tenuis, etc) and tabling sps on the outer margins.
Don't be like me and mount everything next to each other as if there's no room.