# Kessil LED lamps and canopies



## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Hey folks- I've been reading a lot of exciting things about Kessil LED lamps for planted tanks and wondered if anyone's tried them here.

I've been daydreaming about setting up a 40 gal. square tank (24" x 24" 17") and wanted to incorporate these. But I think I also want a canopy (jumpers, splash, reduce brightness in room). 

These Kessils mount with a gooseneck fixture- is this compatible with a canopy? I wouldn't think so but I guess it all depends on the flexibility of the fixture and how short it can be made.

Anyway, I'm really curious what people's opinions are.


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## reybie (Jul 18, 2007)

Have not heard of this, I will have to check them out.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 29, 2008)

I don't think it'll work well inside a canopy. To get the correct brightness/spread, you'd need to suspend it a bit. Inside the canopy, you'd get a big bright spot in the middle.


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Yeah, the more reading I did, the more I see that they need ventilation and shouldn't be too close tot he water for moisture reasons. BUT- I think one could cut openings in the canopy and still suspend them- they could still be moved out of the way for maintenance. So that's my current thinking. 

Still really interested to hear from someone's who's tried them. The videos on their website from various aquarium stores seem really weak- the store representatives basically all say "we sucked at growing plants with conventional lighting, now our stock doesn't die." I don't think these people are their best spokesmen. Independant reviews from different tech sites love them, though.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

i've always wondered about these light fixtures :/ especially the spread, i mean 1 lamp versus multiple lamps? I'd be interested if you started a journal emily!


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Their website has a formula to calculate how many lamps your tank would need. For example, my 65 gal (36" x 18" x 24") needs between 2 and 3 (I imagine at that point it depends on what I'm trying to grow). At $225 each for 2 (Amazon), that's not too much more than a 36" very high end lighting fixture, but with a fraction of the running cost.

I'm growing to dislike my tall tank and looking at square tanks... at 24" tall, I can't grow stems without them all ballooning at the top. And ground cover plants are iffy- has to be completely clear above them. Even with a 24" stand, I can barely touch the bottom the tank with a step-stool since my arms aren't much longer than 24". 

Clearly, I need a new tank and awesome LED lights. ;-) The price keeps dropping, though (thanks, hydroponics) so I'm hopeful soon this will be manageable.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Hmm... For my 100G it calculated 3 to 4. 450W to 600W of led lighting. Seems like a ridiculous amount. Am working with LED more and more but unless these things emit totally no PAR, 2 would be enough to grow anything and if the spread was enough 1 would also do the job for a 100G IMO. Never seen these lights, nor did I find any PAR data, but with TMC I need much less.

But I do expect these number of lights are calculated for reef tanks showing FOWLR underneath. But still than they need to be suspendid quite a bit above the tank. Most LED I used came about 1-1.5 WPG to grow anything!


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

I think for that price I'd rather do one of those DIY CREE LED setups. I'm not a big fan of having to hang small black cylinders above my tank or using goosenecks. I prefer the conventional light strip look or hanging light box look and the diy way would be much cheaper than spending half a grand on lights


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## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Yeah, there's a lot to consider here. I'm not electrically savvy so DIY isn't much of an option for me. I agree that most of the data seems geared towards reef tanks, though they specifically sell a 6700k fixture.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Though I am lucky to have a good friend who is handy with power tools to make a housing, I did manage to build my own fixture using a soldierless kit. And I'm sure glad I have a dimmer. You can build pretty much exactly what you want without a whole lot of trouble. And yes, I did look into that Kessil fixture before doing that. 

Sorry for the short post, but I'll have more tomorrow. Something to think about for now, perhaps.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

see! even cavan agrees 
I'd just pm tech savy people none stop about questions you have (Roy (seattle aquarist) helped me a great deal when I was wiring my PC lights), but I always love a good DIY every now and then to learn new skills. Personally the only thing that I don't get would be calculating which driver I need but asides from that, based on a couple threads ive read it doesn't seem all too hard. imo the planning is probably the hardest part. 
you can diy and make your lights for the same or less than the cost of one kessil!


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