# Kessel Amazon Sun Leds



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

Hey was planning on starting up a planted tank at home. Was wondering if anyone uses the Kessel Amazon Suns over their tanks? Was looking for any feed back on them. If you are using them , are you using a controller or are you just running without one?

Chris


----------



## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

curious to see any replies as well, tagging along......

ive seen some of the 10k (i think) over a SW, very nice. not sure if they were the 150 or 350 w version though. alot smaller than i had imagined


----------



## kylehca (Aug 29, 2012)

I just bought two and plan on using them on my 56 gallon tank I am setting up


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

Looks like a nice setup. I am currently have a four foot 100 gallon being made . I plan on running 3 to 4 over it.


----------



## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

wow i've never seen these things but they look pretty slick! i'm curious who else uses these. Are they something sold from a local vendor or is it internet orders?


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

You can pick them up at J&L.


----------



## msjboy (May 2, 2011)

Kessil won led light of the year by reefbuilders.com....last year was ecotech radions. J&l doesnt stock the freshwater version nor the plants versions.

Msjboy


----------



## aQ.LED (Nov 13, 2012)

um... 300 to 500 per pendant is pretty expensive price to pay. If you want the Amazon one, Amazon.ca carries them. For the A150W, I believe it is 32W in total. If you want their gooseneck, it is extra $30 to $50 each 
http://www.amazon.ca/Kessil-A150W-7...ie=UTF8&qid=1367994761&sr=8-7&keywords=kessil
but I guess that is what you pay for. The brand name product =p


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

aQ.LED said:


> um... 300 to 500 per pendant is pretty expensive price to pay. If you want the Amazon one, Amazon.ca carries them. For the A150W, I believe it is 32W in total. If you want their gooseneck, it is extra $30 to $50 each
> http://www.amazon.ca/Kessil-A150W-7...ie=UTF8&qid=1367994761&sr=8-7&keywords=kessil
> but I guess that is what you pay for. The brand name product =p


Have Any freshwater Leds with good reviews. I was origanaly looking at the Pharos but couldn't find any write ups on any search. The only one was on here that din't show any results just a picture of them over a tank. Also they are 224.95 at J&L.

Kessil A150W Amazon Sun LED Pendant

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/ld-ksazgn/Kessil+A150W+Gooseneck+LED+Mount.html

They are back ordered on the site but when I was in there last friday they were expecting a order in.

Chris


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

Here is a video of a tank from Neptune Aquatics that is pretty nice with four Kessils over them.

Kessil A150W Amazon Sun LED Aquarium Light at Neptune Aquatics in Milpitas, California - YouTube


----------



## kylehca (Aug 29, 2012)

I bought mine from pets and ponds online, shipping free and price was $225 each
great customer service


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

aQ.LED said:


> um... 300 to 500 per pendant is pretty expensive price to pay. If you want the Amazon one, Amazon.ca carries them. For the A150W, I believe it is 32W in total. If you want their gooseneck, it is extra $30 to $50 each
> Kessil A150W 6,700K Amazon Sun LED Light: Amazon.ca: Patio, Lawn & Garden
> but I guess that is what you pay for. The brand name product =p


Amazon.com: Kessil A150W 6,700K Amazon Sun LED Light: Patio, Lawn & Garden


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

Another video from Albant Aquarium.

A150W Amazon Sun, A Review by Albany Aquarium - YouTube


----------



## rwong2k10 (Dec 27, 2010)

I have one of these units I got about 2 weeks ago from jl, pretty nice and sleek unit, but the noise from the fan is annoying.

visually it's a very bright unit, par values I'm not too sure, I have considered getting a par meter but $400 for those things


----------



## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

I got kessil on my african tank, j and l stocks them same price as online, love these I got three and its not that noisy maybe a gentle hum but nothing compared to other led units I have seen just buzzing, something may be wrong with it or just dirty are you using the air cans to blow them clean every few weeks if U got a dusty house ?


----------



## deepRED (May 22, 2010)

Loud is relative. The hum of the fan is pretty loud if it's in a quiet room. It's the only thing I hear running on my tank and my dining room is quiet, so it can get annoying. 

Performance wise, I've been using one for a few weeks and it's been growing plants like no ones business. Really nice shimmer and good coverage. Using it on a 24"x18" footprint and haven't had any issues with growing anything.


----------



## rwong2k10 (Dec 27, 2010)

yeah it's pretty loud in my opinion because i'm use to other led fixtures without fans or my t5ho fixture without fans and they're silent. My living room where my tank is located is pretty quiet.

There's nothing wrong with my unit same amount of noise compared to another unit nor is it terribly dusty at my house.


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

I ended up picking up three for my 4 foot 100g. They do have a hum to them but not much louder then a computer fan. They have a decent spread but find that red plants only colour to ten inches under the water level. Growth is good though. I also find that carpeting plants don't get significant amount of light at the 20inch height of my tank. The lights are sitting about 10inches above the water surface.

Chris


----------



## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Ill have to get one for my dads planted tank and test this red plant theory. He's got a huge red melon sword that comes up new leaves crazy red then darken and turn to green as they mature only with crapy t5ho and no co2 on a 30 something gallon hagen. Still wonder what a kessil could change.


----------



## rwong2k10 (Dec 27, 2010)

that's awesome Chris

any photos or links to your tank?

would love to see the kessil let in action


thx

Ray

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

J&L have a planted display tank with the Kessil Amazon Sun on it. I believe it's a 37 gallon or 45 cube type tank. That pendant would work best on that type of tank. I believe linear or panel type LED's like Panorama or Aquaray would work better on traditional rectangular tanks as you would have steep dropoffs in light in the outer perimeters of the light spread which would require significant overlapping, but would still leave dark spots where the circumference of the spread don't overlap.


----------



## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Only problem with linear LEDs (never mind some of the sub par quality i have seen)is front to back coverage, unless you had maybe two unit doubled up you get dark spots either at the front or rear. Kessil provides way better light coverage being a two foot radius of light unless you had them like four feet apart lol so whats that two on an eight foot tank. I have three over four feet trust me no dark areas lol if you put three over a standard six foot that's one every 1.5 feet = no dark spots. Also better light option for bow fronts, wave tanks, cubes, bullit or bullnose tanks like mine or a standard rectangle like my buddy's six foot 135 gallon and cleaner install than a mix match of lights over a tank eg- two 36 inch led plus t5 to supplement it just makes me shake my head like why bother do it right.


----------



## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Don't believe me draw out the tank and light circles to scale on paper


----------



## rwong2k10 (Dec 27, 2010)

great input from everyone. love the discussion

but I have to admit these units are pretty sexy looking and I believe they're quite nicely built (not an expert in this field)

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I typed a big long response and accidentally closed my browser. The gist of it is that with the Kessil one cannot mix colour temperatures in any meaningful way so you have to like the colour it comes in. As for PAR, fortunately, someone did the homework for us on plantedtank.net. See posts 45 and 51 in this thread. First impressions on Kessil Amazon Sun - Page 4. Based on these readings I believe it would be pretty difficult to grow HC for instance, in a 20"+ tall tank if you have the light 9" above the water to get the spread. Hence the reason that someone posted that they only get reds in the top 10" of the tank (total of 19").

Regardless, as Ray says, pretty sexy units and I still want one.


----------



## deepRED (May 22, 2010)

Talking to J&L, they have sold hundreds of units without any returns; for what it's worth. 

As for spread, the kessil offers a more "blended light". You get the shimmer from them, but you don't see individual light beams like you do with the linear units. 

If you want complete coverage without breaking the bank, t5's are still hard to beat. Even with the bulb replacement cost, for larger tanks I would still use t5 for it's spread and versatility in color and spectrum. 

My 300 gallon is lit by three 39w (1600 lumens) screw in cfl bulbs in shop light reflectors and two 48" HOt5's. I'm not growing anything demanding in there, but it does a good job of lighting up the tank and the plants I do have are growing. 

For me to get spend $1000+ on kessils for the tank would be madness. Maybe at 50% off... 

So yeah, they definitely have their place and application.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

deepRED said:


> For me to get spend $1000+ on kessils for the tank would be madness. Maybe at 50% off...


Waiting for you to swing that deal for us Jeremy.


----------



## deepRED (May 22, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I typed a big long response and accidentally closed my browser. The gist of it is that with the Kessil one cannot mix colour temperatures in any meaningful way so you have to like the colour it comes in. As for PAR, fortunately, someone did the homework for us on plantedtank.net. See posts 45 and 51 in this thread. First impressions on Kessil Amazon Sun - Page 4. Based on these readings I believe it would be pretty difficult to grow HC for instance, in a 20"+ tall tank if you have the light 9" above the water to get the spread. Hence the reason that someone posted that they only get reds in the top 10" of the tank (total of 19").
> 
> Regardless, as Ray says, pretty sexy units and I still want one.


Totally agree. for deeper tanks you will have trouble with some plants. My tank is only 12" tall. 

From what I've been told they are coming out with an amazon 360W unit soon. They have a wider coverage, so the increase in price may be offset by having to use less units.


----------



## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

I swear this dense matrix led technology has re-designed the wheel if you will, looking forward to see how they tweak the units for new models to stay ahead of the curve. On the sexy topic these lights got both fashion and function. I have had friends who aren't into fish take an interest in my tank only AFTER I went topless and got kessil :0 now they are thinking of a tank, pretty "powerful" lights if you ask me lol 

Thanks for the par link too although I think those value may be lower, I recall reading the lights should be between 10-18" above water so i guess depending on your depth and light height and needs there may be better light options?? but I'd say get a better tank for what your trying to do.


----------



## rwong2k10 (Dec 27, 2010)

on this topic does anyone locally have a par meter? is it worth it? the apogee ones are around $400, I was thinking of one, just because I like to look at data and specs of my tank but for $400, not too sure yet 

I'm thinking of getting 2 more kessils, one for my office aquarium and one for my other shrimp tank,

Jeremy if you're ordering a bunch let us know if you can get a deal =p or wait another few months for middle of the year sale for about 10~20% off



I'd be interested in a 360w version, but I'm crazy for high light tanks,


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

rwong2k10 said:


> that's awesome Chris
> 
> any photos or links to your tank?
> 
> ...


I havn't posted any pictures yet but hear are some I took a few months ago





Chris


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

As you can see I am running a Strip LED in the front . Was trying to see if that would help with my forground plants . I find with the goosenecks they dont allow you to get the light centered on a 24" wide tank.

Chris


----------



## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Looks good to me, nice scape btw, I agree with the goose necks. I hung mine for a less cluttered look and to be centred pointing down not at an angle.


----------



## rwong2k10 (Dec 27, 2010)

nice looking tank chris, looks like you have quite a few species in this tank!


----------



## deepRED (May 22, 2010)

Just wait for boxing day 

I picked up a used blue sky unit (supposedly 10,000K, but looks more like 14,000K to my eye) to test out on my downsized reef tank. Will be interesting to see how it does once I get it set up and running. I'm afraid it might be too much light for some of my coral actually, but we'll see. 

I've had lots of comments about the look and shimmer from non-fish people that have seen my tank. Definitely has the "cool factor".


----------



## deepRED (May 22, 2010)

The tank looks really good Chris!

Have you tried using the 90 degree adapter for the gooseneck? It actually improves the design a lot making it easier to center. They really should have made them this way to begin with, instead of charging another $20 for a little piece of metal.


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

Vancitycam said:


> Looks good to me, nice scape btw, I agree with the goose necks. I hung mine for a less cluttered look and to be centred pointing down not at an angle.


Thanks Cam , I didn't want to put holes in my ceiling so I opted for the goosenecks.



rwong2k10 said:


> nice looking tank chris, looks like you have quite a few species in this tank!


Thanks rwong2K10 , a few species I have gotten off of you and alot from Reckon.



deepRED said:


> The tank looks really good Chris!
> 
> Have you tried using the 90 degree adapter for the gooseneck? It actually improves the design a lot making it easier to center. They really should have made them this way to begin with, instead of charging another $20 for a little piece of metal.


Thanks Jeremy, I have just seen those recently on the tank at J&L . I will have to look into them.

Chris


----------



## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow the tank looks great . I was wondering about the Kessil amazon sun. I'm having a hard time deciding on lighting for 93 gallon cube.


----------



## jkhcjris (Jun 1, 2010)

bonsai dave said:


> Wow the tank looks great . I was wondering about the Kessil amazon sun. I'm having a hard time deciding on lighting for 93 gallon cube.


Thanks Dave


----------



## Waterman (Oct 7, 2013)

I have two of the 150's over a four foot tank. Not quite enough for high demand plants but I get great shimmer in the tank and great growth from my easy plants. I got them in stock at J&L, $229 each plus the goose necks. I think the new 160's are much better and as far as I know J&L has them in stock at $259 each. The 150's aren't controllable but the 160's are. I would get the controller for sure, it's reasonably priced for what you get.


----------

