The long-awaited Kessil Spectral Controller will soon be available at Marine Depot. This is the controller that many Kessil owners have been waiting for since the very initial release of the Kessil A360 back in the spring of 2013.

Finally, automated control of your Kessil A360 without needing to purchase a $500 aquarium controller!

Out of the box, I was immediately impressed by the quality of the controller. It is made of high-grade materials and has a very solid feel.  It has a nice-sized color LCD display that is clear and crisp. The capacitive buttons are pleasantly responsive and very easy to use. A nifty and unexpected feature was the magnetic back-plate for installation as opposed to the cheap Velcro that is typically seen.


The Kessil Spectral Controller allows you to control two independent banks of lights through its two 0-10V ports. This is great if you have multiple aquariums, like a display and a refugium, or a large aquarium where you would like to have different programming for the lights. Each group of lights within the bank can then be daisy-chained with Kessil's Control Link Cable.


Programming is easy and intuitive. There are three modes: manual, quick-set and acclimation. 

  • Manual mode allows you to instantly set the spectrum/color and intensity.
  • Quick-Set mode allows you to program the intensity and color through out the six set points. 
  • Acclimation mode allows you to lower the lighting intensity when new corals are added or using the Kessil LED lights for the first time.

You are able to save up to 8 Quick-Set or Acclimation settings and easily change from one program to another. When you go back to the home screen, it conveniently show you which mode you are in as well as the current color/intensity setting for each of the two banks.

While the programming seems basic compared to other more extensive LED controllers, it does have all the crucial features put together in an extremely easy-to-use package.

Personally, I've become quite fond of the thunderstorms and cloud simulation features on my current LED lights. Fortunately, the software is upgradeable, so hopefully Kessil will develop and incorporate some of these "fancier" features in future updates.

We are hoping to have the Kessil Spectral Controller available sometime in September. Pricing is expected to be $99.00. If you would like to be alerted when the controller becomes available, please subscribe to our email newsletter.

Gorgeous reef aquarium at the Aquarium of the Pacific!