AI Controller vs. Director

[Scurry]

I know there are a million threads about settings, but my question is a bit more specific to the functionality of the 2 pieces of equipment:

I have 2 Hydra TwentySix's with Controller over my 45 gallon. I love the lights but still trying to figure out what I want to do with the moon lights. I love the idea of the Lunar Phase Feature but according to AI in order to use it, the Blues have to be set to a minimum of 5% during the Night period. My LFS advises against that as they say 5% will result in excessive algae. I'm also not thrilled about the lights being on 24/7 in order to use this. I would be ok with it if I could have it on at 5% from when my lights turn off until the morning time.

So my question is"¦
Does the Director give you more granular control of the lights than the Controller does?

More specifically...
My set-up right now (with the Controller) is:
4p - 3a (with 3 hours of Sunrise/Sunset Ramp)
3a - 4p OFF (Night - all 0%)

What I'm trying to achieve is:
4p - 3a (with 3 hours of Sunrise/Sunset Ramp)
3a - 7a (Night - 5% So I can use the moon phases)
7a - 4p OFF (Night - 0%)

Can't seem to do that with the Controller. Would I be able to have that much control with the Director?

 

[GimpyFin]

Yes, the director does give you more control over your light program than the puck controller (It's similar to what's built-in to the newer HD models.) After you setup your basic program, you can go through and add/remove change points within the program. Based on what you are wanting, after you setup your run with sunrise/sunset, you'd add a point at 7a where the night goes to 0 (Instead of 5% continuously.) Then you'd drop the setting at 4p to zero so it stays at zero between 7a and 4p. Then, once 4p hits, everything will start to come back on with your sunrise.

 

[Scurry]

Yes, the director does give you more control over your light program than the puck controller (It's similar to what's built-in to the newer HD models.) After you setup your basic program, you can go through and add/remove change points within the program. Based on what you are wanting, after you setup your run with sunrise/sunset, you'd add a point at 7a where the night goes to 0 (Instead of 5% continuously.) Then you'd drop the setting at 4p to zero so it stays at zero between 7a and 4p. Then, once 4p hits, everything will start to come back on with your sunrise.

Awesome. Thank you. I think I'm gonna grab a Director and give that a shot!

 

[Scarface8]

AI Controller vs. Director

I have a director myself and have played around with moon lighting, it was a while ago but from memory I found that indeed they need 5% or more to function properly, that being said, I found them still too bright for my personal preference, 2 26s over a 2 1/2 cube tank.

I'm not sure if there is a version of the little remote that is wireless, I do have the version of it that needs to be plugged into USB for it to be powered, the director needs to be powered from USB aswell but you can connect to it through the 'my ai' app on your phone, or through your home network on your pc/laptop which you will need to do to set it all up and update the firmware on your 26s

 

[Scarface8]

I was trying to remember how it worked, it got the better of me so I researched it a little and found this nice bit of info.

http://support.aquaillumination.com/hc/en-us/articles/223487248-How-does-the-lunar-cycle-work-

So if you setup what you want full moon to look like, eg brightness and color for the hours you want, then lunar setting being switched on and hours selected, the director does the rest

 

[GimpyFin]

You can also just skip the lunar mode altogether and just set the intensity/time period for moonlight. Unless you really want your moonlight to vary with moon phases (Fairly bright to pitch black), you don't need to turn it on. I liked having moonlight around 1 or 2% for a few hours after sunset and then just darkness until the lights came back on.