Though this is not pond related, many pond hobbyists
bring their Goldfish indoors for the winter months. This also means that some
plants may be added to the aquarium that the fish are in and lighting is a big
plus in order to keep the plants alive.
A poor man’s
Kessil overhead planted aquarium light system.
Kessil a
division of DiCon the parent company, aquarium can lights have been around for
some time now and it is unmistakable that they have further the popularity of
the aquatic planted aquarium interest. They have now through obsolescent,
single handedly crush the Metal Halide lights of days of yore that we hobbyists
use. With their cool operation, high light output to electrical power consumption
with LED cluster magnification system and adjustable light output they have achieved
a highwater mark for what other lighting systems now must achieve. They are
very compact into a small can size light fixture and allow easy access (because
they sit above the tanks water surface by several inches) for tank maintenance
without the burden of removing light strips that sit on top of the
aquarium. That was one thing I
always disliked about strip lights, once removed, now you can’t see in the
aquarium to do water changes.
The reviewers
rave about Kessil lights to the point that the reviewer must now try and
justify the very expensive cost to the number of LED’s in the unit to dollar
amount. This cost however does make this lighting system a little difficult for
most hobbyist to afford. The cheapest I have found the two Kessil light models
for is $239.oo for the Tuna Sun A160WE and $399.oo USD for the bigger A360WE respectably.
Add on a Kessil A series gooseneck mount and that adds another $39.oo USD to
the price for each lamp can. If you’re like me and live in a state that makes
sure you pay your fair amount of state taxes on internet purchases add 10% more
on all orders out of state from internet purchases and you are looking at a
whopping $305.80 for the Tuna Sun, the cheaper of the two can lamps.
The one caveat
about the Kessil is; it’s hard to justify such a cost of
a Tuna Sun for a 20-gal aquarium or better yet, a four-foot aquarium will need
two of these lights and now $611.60 USD is out-the-door just to light up a
55-gal aquarium… are you kidding me? No matter how you do the math or try and
justify the cost to the number of LED lights, this definitely does not give the
impression to be a great deal. But, apparently to some hobbyist this price
point, though expensive, is still better than the strip lights that are
presently out there. Plus, the Kessil lights gives that shimmer affect at the
bottom of the tank that so many hobbyists love to see, just like the Metal
Halides do.
Okay, what does
all this have to do with the poor man’s Kessil lighting system in my
introduction. After some research and experimenting with different lighting
systems I found an LED light bulb that has 24 HO LED’s in a small perimeter of
1 ¼” ID that you can add to any light fixture. The lights bulbs are from GE and
are called Bright Stik BC Globe in Day Light @ (6500 k) 100w, 1500 lumens of
light output as is. You can buy a pair of these light bulbs for $15.95 USD at
most retail outlets stores. The only modification that needs to be done to the light
bulb, is the removal of the diffuser end cap. It’s because of this end cap the
Bright stik is only rated at 1500 lumens. This can either be pulled off or cut
off at about ¼” from the base of the light. I just cut the end of the diffuser
cap because it was easer that forcibly trying to pry it off. Once the cap is
off then the 25-LED’s will be expose and will be in four clusters of six LED’s
set evenly inside the circumference of the light bulb.
Just like the Kessil lights that are
also very bright because of the cluster of LED’s in such a small circumference;
one cannot look directly into one of these Bright Stik lights without some eye impairment,
so caution must be taken. The smaller Tuna Sun has 24 LED’s and the larger
A360WE has 45 LED’s per light can. So, if you wish to add more light to your
aquarium when using a Bright Stik, in other words more LED’s (two will equal 48
LED’s), then add two Bright Stik’s instead of just one to even out the light
over the tank; this is what I use on my 27” long aquarium. Each Bright Stik has
its own light pendent from Zoo Med (mini size) hanging about 6”-8” from water’s
surface. Example: A 24x24x24” 60-gal cubed aquarium would need two Bright Stik’s
in a Zoo Med combo deep dome lamp fixture mini.
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The Bright
Stik’s create virtually no added heat to the tank even though they look like
they would.
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At Big Apple Pet Supplies in Florida,
you can buy a Zoo Med combo for $24.99 USD and I have even fond such for as
little as 20.95 per combo on Amazon Plus. The pendent light arms mounts can be bought for as little as
$16.95 USD, this is the kind that will stick onto the back of your tank. So
instead of paying $305 dollars for a Tuna Sun with Gooseneck mounting arm you
can get 200-watts of LED HO lighting for as little as $54.oo USD, that is a cost
savings of $251.oo USD. You will still end up with that beautiful tank shimmer
that makes the Kessil lights so desirable, too. At the cost for one Tuna Sun and
mount you can buy 5 of these combo lighting systems as stated above and have
over 1000-watts of lighting system over your aquarium. Imagine placing three of
these light combos on top of a 70-gal aquarium, that would give you 8.5-watts
per gallon of water @ 600-watts, more than enough light to grow any plant
available to the hobbyist all for $162.oo USD. My 400-watt Metal Halide not only would cost more to run in
electricity cost than the LED Bright Stik’s(16-watt) but would also create a
considerable amount of heat in the tank and outside of the tank, too. Virtually
no heat is expended from the bottom of the Zoo Med pendants when the Bright Stik
lights have been on for over 10-hours.
I will end this
by saying that if the Kessil pendent can lights are your preference then by all
means buy what you like and disregard what you have read here. However, if you
are like other hobbyist and your wherewithal are in short supply or you can
spend your money on better things than on aquarium lights, them by all means
check into these Bright Stik’s. I will also make a note here: As an Ichthyologist,
I have seen more fish than the average hobbyists will see in their lifetime and
these lights bring out the natural colors of fish and plants that closely mimics
that of a natural environment at high noon in any aquatic habitat that I have
seen. Their color temperature is spot on without the over exaggeration of
colors or pigmentation that so many lights give our inhabitance.
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