Kessil vs Radion

Reef Puncher · Jul 26, 2024

cbranin said:
Big factor for growth is having high flow, I consider flow to be even more important than lighting. I was getting ok growth from my birdnest but as soon as I pointed a powerhead at it, it took off like crazy.

BRS did some great videos on this. 1st they assumed flow was high, and light par was adequate for acros usually around the 300+.
What they then did was measure different parameters to see what changes make corals grow the fastest. Without a doubt it was elevated ph as the key driver. having a ph stable around 8.3-8.4 and then running elevated calcium and alk, higher than normal levels. so instead of your typical 420 calc, they ran 480. instead of 8.0 alk dkh, they ran 11. this produced growth at twice the speed of lower ph and lower minerals.

Now the next biggest effect was feeding. feeding aminos or food reguarly, sped up the growth.

remember this was all assuming flow was high and par at least 300.

Reefer Matt · Jul 26, 2024

Sdbuehler1 said:
What light are you using to supplement the Kessils?

The four foot ReefBrite xho fixture that BRS just discontinued.

MarineandReef Jaron · Jul 26, 2024

Some people still have XHOs.

Reef Brite 48'' XHO Blue LED Light

Utilizing only 3 watt LEDs for maximum performance and output, the Reef Brite 48' XHO Blue LED Light produces the same amount of light as a similar length T5 or VHO Fluorescent lamp.

www.marineandreef.com

JCH · Jul 26, 2024

Reef Puncher said:
BRS did some great videos on this. 1st they assumed flow was high, and light par was adequate for acros usually around the 300+.
What they then did was measure different parameters to see what changes make corals grow the fastest. Without a doubt it was elevated ph as the key driver. having a ph stable around 8.3-8.4 and then running elevated calcium and alk, higher than normal levels. so instead of your typical 420 calc, they ran 480. instead of 8.0 alk dkh, they ran 11. this produced growth at twice the speed of lower ph and lower minerals.

Now the next biggest effect was feeding. feeding aminos or food reguarly, sped up the growth.

remember this was all assuming flow was high and par at least 300.

Yeah PH is one of my struggles. I have a hard time keeping it above 8 especially when the house has to be closed up. I’m using co2 scrubbers and still can’t get more than 8.3 on a good day but it doesn’t last for long and I’m going through alot of media! Don’t really want to use kalkwaser. My Alk runs high around 10.5 . I have plenty of flow and all my other numbers are good. So , gotta be the light??

GARRIGA · Jul 26, 2024

JCH said:
Yeah PH is one of my struggles. I have a hard time keeping it above 8 especially when the house has to be closed up. I’m using co2 scrubbers and still can’t get more than 8.3 on a good day but it doesn’t last for long and I’m going through alot of media! Don’t really want to use kalkwaser. My Alk runs high around 10.5 . I have plenty of flow and all my other numbers are good. So , gotta be the light??

Fuge or ATS properly sized should help

JNalley · Jul 28, 2024

JCH said:
Yeah PH is one of my struggles. I have a hard time keeping it above 8 especially when the house has to be closed up. I’m using co2 scrubbers and still can’t get more than 8.3 on a good day but it doesn’t last for long and I’m going through alot of media! Don’t really want to use kalkwaser. My Alk runs high around 10.5 . I have plenty of flow and all my other numbers are good. So , gotta be the light??

buy a salt with less Alk, allow the Kalkwasser to increase both Alk and pH.

I run a 48 Gallon display with a 30 gallon sump, I have a refugium in part of the sump, a skimmer with an outside airline and CO2 Scrubber in-line, and I, like you, was struggling to keep my pH above 8.0. I picked up a Control X10, and an iV from CoralVue Hydros to monitor my pH and my Alk. I incorporated a Kalk reactor and used the spare dosing pump on the X10 to set up a dosing schedule for the Kalk, and it's been rock solid at 8.4-8.5 ever since... I was using RedSea Coral Pro before, I switched out to the NYOS salt and now use Kalkwasser to keep my Alk at 10 which naturally keeps my pH at those levels...

JCH · Jul 28, 2024

JNalley said:
buy a salt with less Alk, allow the Kalkwasser to increase both Alk and pH.

I run a 48 Gallon display with a 30 gallon sump, I have a refugium in part of the sump, a skimmer with an outside airline and CO2 Scrubber in-line, and I, like you, was struggling to keep my pH above 8.0. I picked up a Control X10, and an iV from CoralVue Hydros to monitor my pH and my Alk. I incorporated a Kalk reactor and used the spare dosing pump on the X10 to set up a dosing schedule for the Kalk, and it's been rock solid at 8.4-8.5 ever since... I was using RedSea Coral Pro before, I switched out to the NYOS salt and now use Kalkwasser to keep my Alk at 10 which naturally keeps my pH at those levels...

That’s a good idea! I might end up doing that? I’m using reef crystals now maybe I can just use regular instant ocean? I have been dosing soda ash but only at a rate of 6ml a day. I was trying to avoid the extra hassle of mixing kalk but I guess I might have too especially when winter comes around and the house will be closed up for like 6 months. I’m also dosing calcium and magnesium so I wonder? Maybe I can get by with the cheaper salt to offset the cost of everything else . Anyway thanks for the input! Appreciate it !

Bruttall · Jul 28, 2024

JCH said:
Hello everyone! I’m looking for some opinions regarding Kessil lighting vs Radion lights.

they are both garbage IMO. Buy Reefi-Labs 2.1 lights, half the price, more wattage, more coral growth, longer warranty (3yrs industry leading!!) and the BEST CUSTOMER Service I have seen anywhere in the world.

Some Data for you to review.

And some more eye candy.

Lastly my 18month old reef, been running Reefi for a little over a year now.

ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro – ReeFi Lab

www.reefi-lab.com

Good luck to you

JCH · Jul 28, 2024

Bruttall said:
they are both garbage IMO. Buy Reefi-Labs 2.1 lights, half the price, more wattage, more coral growth, longer warranty (3yrs industry leading!!) and the BEST CUSTOMER Service I have seen anywhere in the world.

Some Data for you to review.

And some more eye candy.

Lastly my 18month old reef, been running Reefi for a little over a year now.

ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro – ReeFi Lab

www.reefi-lab.com

Good luck to you

Huh ! I’m gonna have to have a look at those . Not familiar at all with those? Looks great though!

areefer01 · Jul 28, 2024

Bruttall said:
they are both garbage IMO. Buy Reefi-Labs 2.1 lights, half the price, more wattage, more coral growth, longer warranty (3yrs industry leading!!) and the BEST CUSTOMER Service I have seen anywhere in the world.

Can you explain more about what testing went on to support the text in bold above? You provided a bit of data, with a lot of empty cells, so guessing this was just a paper assessment rather than a controlled study.

Point being you could have left that part off and still delivered your message.

Bruttall · Jul 29, 2024

areefer01 said:
Can you explain more about what testing went on to support the text in bold above? You provided a bit of data, with a lot of empty cells, so guessing this was just a paper assessment rather than a controlled study.

Point being you could have left that part off and still delivered your message.

more coral growth is MY EXPERIENCE, like most of what I say, I am using my personal experience from having used reefi lights.

areefer01 · Jul 29, 2024

Bruttall said:
more coral growth is MY EXPERIENCE, like most of what I say, I am using my personal experience from having used reefi lights.

Compared to all of those lights in the sheet?

Bruttall · Jul 29, 2024

areefer01 said:
Compared to all of those lights in the sheet?

Compared to what my LFS's uses, radion, Kessel, neptune sky, and a few blackbox Chinese lights. The only thing I can relate is what my eyes see and what my brain experiences so that's what I have done.

rtparty · Jul 29, 2024

Bruttall said:
Compared to what my LFS's uses, radion, Kessel, neptune sky, and a few blackbox Chinese lights. The only thing I can relate is what my eyes see and what my brain experiences so that's what I have done.

So you compared your growth to theirs and just based it solely on lighting differences?