Trouble with a Kessil a360we

pow400 · 10/12/2015, 06:34 AM

So after fighting with this light over the past few months I have to assume I am doing something wrong. I have a second hand a360we, it was only a few months old when I bought it and it is mounted about 8 or 9 inches above a red sea 130. I love the light and so does my coral but it just does not seem to put the power out that it is supposed to. I have it ramping up to 80 intensity and 80 power during the day (9 hour cycle) and yet some of my zoas ( on a frag rack halfway up the right side of the tank ) and bubble tips reach like they are in a cave, with the bubble tips being maybe 6 inches from the surface directly below the light. Yet at the bottom of my tank I have happy acans, fungia, zoas, yumas ( I even have a yuma trying to stretch but I think he is just in a poor spot) etc. Do I need to mount it higher for the wide angle lens to really work properly or are my corals just light hungry monsters. I have a lot of surface ripple from my return pump and a DIY black mesh lid if that helps. I thought this light was a cannon but I just don't see the power.

While I am here I am also curious how much white people run these lights with, should I ramp up to a fairly bright white or do the corals benefit more from keeping it more in the blue spectrum during a 9 hour cycle.

I have noticed that the zoa stalks on the rack have turned a clear color also and I am not sure if this is correlated to them stretching or something else.

Any help is appreciated, after months of moving this thing up and down I am just fed up with it.

slief · 10/12/2015, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pow400

So after fighting with this light over the past few months I have to assume I am doing something wrong. I have a second hand a360we, it was only a few months old when I bought it and it is mounted about 8 or 9 inches above a red sea 130. I love the light and so does my coral but it just does not seem to put the power out that it is supposed to. I have it ramping up to 80 intensity and 80 power during the day (9 hour cycle) and yet some of my zoas ( on a frag rack halfway up the right side of the tank ) and bubble tips reach like they are in a cave, with the bubble tips being maybe 6 inches from the surface directly below the light. Yet at the bottom of my tank I have happy acans, fungia, zoas, yumas ( I even have a yuma trying to stretch but I think he is just in a poor spot) etc. Do I need to mount it higher for the wide angle lens to really work properly or are my corals just light hungry monsters. I have a lot of surface ripple from my return pump and a DIY black mesh lid if that helps. I thought this light was a cannon but I just don't see the power.

While I am here I am also curious how much white people run these lights with, should I ramp up to a fairly bright white or do the corals benefit more from keeping it more in the blue spectrum during a 9 hour cycle.

I have noticed that the zoa stalks on the rack have turned a clear color also and I am not sure if this is correlated to them stretching or something else.

Any help is appreciated, after months of moving this thing up and down I am just fed up with it.

What many don't realize is that Kessils are very strong in the 420nm-460nm (blue to UV range). This particular range is where corals get the vast majority of the photosynthetic radiation. It's also a range that is very difficult for the human eye let alone a par meter to judge intensity. As such, these lights put out much more usable light than many realize. That said, the white light is there more for you viewing pleasure than anything. It is also a spectrum that gives you the appearance of brightness. In my case, I have my 360's about 10" from the water surface. Peak intensity is about 75% and color is about 70%. My corals thrive regardless of where they are in the 24" deep tank. My tank has a footprint of 96"x48" and I have 8 360WE's with no supplemental lighting. Also, I don't see Zoa's extending as a very big issue at all. If they weren't opening that would be one thing but if they are opening and healthy, then the extension or reaching isn't necessarily a bad sign.

C Dog · 10/12/2015, 09:13 AM

Why not turn the power up past 80 and try?

pow400 · 10/12/2015, 10:01 AM

Sleif, thanks for the reassurance. I guess I am just used to everything having so much light they stay plastered to the rock. When I see them reaching I just get scared.

C Dog, I had it running at 100% for multiple hours on a previous cycle and honestly the coral was still reaching. I am not sure how much difference the last 20% makes. I may need to adjust the height so more and then crank it up to 100% again.

C Dog · 10/12/2015, 11:07 AM

Besides the reaching do your corals look good and are growing?

pow400 · 10/12/2015, 11:22 AM

With the BTAs they don't really seem any larger than I remember them but they are fairly new livestock so I am not as familiar with their size. One set of zoas is growing rapidly but the rest of them I have seen no noticeable growth whatsoever. I have an acan and chalices on the frag rack along with these zoas and the acan is large and coloring up well ( he was a rescue ) and the chalices are trying to encrust on the frag rack. Colors on everything looks great except the see through zoa stalks. The zoas are just streching and it got me worried.

10/12/2015, 06:34 AM	#1
pow400 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 66	Trouble with a Kessil a360we So after fighting with this light over the past few months I have to assume I am doing something wrong. I have a second hand a360we, it was only a few months old when I bought it and it is mounted about 8 or 9 inches above a red sea 130. I love the light and so does my coral but it just does not seem to put the power out that it is supposed to. I have it ramping up to 80 intensity and 80 power during the day (9 hour cycle) and yet some of my zoas ( on a frag rack halfway up the right side of the tank ) and bubble tips reach like they are in a cave, with the bubble tips being maybe 6 inches from the surface directly below the light. Yet at the bottom of my tank I have happy acans, fungia, zoas, yumas ( I even have a yuma trying to stretch but I think he is just in a poor spot) etc. Do I need to mount it higher for the wide angle lens to really work properly or are my corals just light hungry monsters. I have a lot of surface ripple from my return pump and a DIY black mesh lid if that helps. I thought this light was a cannon but I just don't see the power. While I am here I am also curious how much white people run these lights with, should I ramp up to a fairly bright white or do the corals benefit more from keeping it more in the blue spectrum during a 9 hour cycle. I have noticed that the zoa stalks on the rack have turned a clear color also and I am not sure if this is correlated to them stretching or something else. Any help is appreciated, after months of moving this thing up and down I am just fed up with it.

10/12/2015, 09:13 AM	#3
C Dog Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: SWFL Posts: 532	Why not turn the power up past 80 and try? __________________ C Dogs 400+ Gallon Sun Lit Peninsula Reef

10/12/2015, 11:07 AM	#5
C Dog Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: SWFL Posts: 532	Besides the reaching do your corals look good and are growing? __________________ C Dogs 400+ Gallon Sun Lit Peninsula Reef

10/12/2015, 10:01 AM	#4
pow400 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 66	Sleif, thanks for the reassurance. I guess I am just used to everything having so much light they stay plastered to the rock. When I see them reaching I just get scared. C Dog, I had it running at 100% for multiple hours on a previous cycle and honestly the coral was still reaching. I am not sure how much difference the last 20% makes. I may need to adjust the height so more and then crank it up to 100% again.

10/12/2015, 11:22 AM	#6
pow400 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 66	With the BTAs they don't really seem any larger than I remember them but they are fairly new livestock so I am not as familiar with their size. One set of zoas is growing rapidly but the rest of them I have seen no noticeable growth whatsoever. I have an acan and chalices on the frag rack along with these zoas and the acan is large and coloring up well ( he was a rescue ) and the chalices are trying to encrust on the frag rack. Colors on everything looks great except the see through zoa stalks. The zoas are just streching and it got me worried.