AI Hydra Settings Thread

[major stare]

I upgraded my 26 to a 52 a few weeks ago and have had to drop my levels by 40% for 8 weeks.

End of 8 weeks the levels will be (5 weeks to go)...
Blues 65
Red 15
Green 20
UV 15
White 22
Violet 30

Mounted 5" above water level, nearest SPS is 6" under the water level.


Any more light seems just too much!?!

 

[Cyberdude]

I upgraded my 26 to a 52 a few weeks ago and have had to drop my levels by 40% for 8 weeks.



End of 8 weeks the levels will be (5 weeks to go)...

Blues 65

Red 15

Green 20

UV 15

White 22

Violet 30



Mounted 5" above water level, nearest SPS is 6" under the water level.





Any more light seems just too much!?!

Whites are kinda low?

 

[major stare]

Whites are kinda low?

Increasing white and UV my Mycedium green cup coral (2ft under Hydra) bleaches.

 

[rodneyri]

Running mine at 10" above water

For four hours they run at;
Blues 80
White 60
UV 50
Violet 40
Green 25
Red 20

Viewing in the evening for 2 and half hours
Blues 60
White 20
UV 50
Violet 60
Green 40
Red 20

 

[amcvay1979]

I'm using the AI Controller with 2 52's above my 150 tall (basically a taller 120) mounted on the AI Rails 12 inches above the water. Most of my LPS's and Zoa's and clam are on the sand or bottom 1/3rd of the tank, 1 large BTA in the middle and 2 SPS's on the top 1/3. Trouble I'm having is figuring out a good setting using the easy timer.

95% RB
90% DB
75% WH
60% Green
30% Red
45% Violet
40% UV

12 hour photo period 3 hour ramp time. I have lunar phase and weather effects on and I'm really only concerned with coral growth right now but I'd love to have the colors pop too. So far my zoa's, mushrooms and polyps haven't really taken off but my Duncan's has exploded and grown about 8 new heads in 4 months. I'd love my Acans to explode, war coral frag to explode and everything to expand, but I'd also love to keep my SPS and Clam happy too.

What would do with my timer settings?

 

[Wellydave]

Hey guys quick question im looking at getting a 52 for my tank im just wondering if i can program it without director or the controller or will i need them to be able to set it up how i like??

 

[rodneyri]

You need them to program them

 

[Cyberdude]

The director is pretty painless to use

 

[Sonicboom]

Hey guys quick question im looking at getting a 52 for my tank im just wondering if i can program it without director or the controller or will i need them to be able to set it up how i like??

Without the director you would have to press the button on the lights to manually ramp the lights up AND down, also all colors ramp at the same intensity. Would be doable for a few days but would become a pain pretty quickly

 

[Sonicboom]

I'm using the AI Controller with 2 52's above my 150 tall (basically a taller 120) mounted on the AI Rails 12 inches above the water. Most of my LPS's and Zoa's and clam are on the sand or bottom 1/3rd of the tank, 1 large BTA in the middle and 2 SPS's on the top 1/3. Trouble I'm having is figuring out a good setting using the easy timer.

95% RB
90% DB
75% WH
60% Green
30% Red
45% Violet
40% UV

12 hour photo period 3 hour ramp time. I have lunar phase and weather effects on and I'm really only concerned with coral growth right now but I'd love to have the colors pop too. So far my zoa's, mushrooms and polyps haven't really taken off but my Duncan's has exploded and grown about 8 new heads in 4 months. I'd love my Acans to explode, war coral frag to explode and everything to expand, but I'd also love to keep my SPS and Clam happy too.

What would do with my timer settings?

Try lowering your white to 50%, green to 30%, and UV to 20%, try that for 30 days and see if colors on corals adjust

 

[deaddat]

I was really set on a MH/T5 fixture, but seeing how everyone is a big fan of these lights and they are well priced I'm not sure which way to go.

I have a 24x24x20 tank with LPS ONLY. I was thinking the AI 26 would be good for it, but could I get away with just using the prime?

 

[Gagonzalez]

Looking at the specs of the Prime, your depth would be the only concern. The Prime is measured at only 12" of depth. I would probably go with an AI 26.

Then again, it would depend on what kind of LPS also.

You might be ok at full power and a lower mounting height, but then again, that doesn't give you much room for tailoring the color to your liking.

If it was me, I would go with an AI 26.

 

[oldbones]

One prime has no problem keeping LPS happy on the bottom of my standard 29g biocube, and it's only running 35% max.

On my 20" deep 56g, 2 primes are plenty for LPS, and so far, seem to be working for some SPS kept in the top 2/3 of the tank. Those lights are still on an acclimation program, and haven't even reached 40% power yet.

I think the limitation of the Prime is spread, not power or penetration. Two primes would be pretty close to one 26, with one big exception. You could spread them out a bit more and get much better coverage with less shadowing. Either way would work fine though, in my opinion.

One advantage of the prime vs. the Hydra is the built in "controller" with the Prime, vs. an add on box with the Hydra's. I can't help but think that the Hydra series should soon get a facelift to the same control system as the Prime.


One Prime over Biocube 29:

Two Primes over 56g custom (34"l x 19"w x 20"h), running maybe 30%.

 

[Cyberdude]

AI Hydra Settings Thread

In about 80 days this baby more than doubled in size under 2 hydra 52 on a 55 gallon. Working my way to 100% on all channels. In about a year lol.

April 20

July 2

July 23 beast mode growth

Dirty water has a lot to do with it

 

[Sonicboom]

In about 80 days this baby more than doubled in size under 2 hydra 52 on a 55 gallon. Working my way to 100% on all channels. In about a year lol.

April 20 View attachment 323927

July 2 View attachment 323928

July 23 beast mode growth View attachment 323929

Dirty water has a lot to do with it

Is that pocillipora?

 

[Cyberdude]

Not 100% sure but I believe so.

 

[Cyberdude]

I've started to increase light levels slowly and started to dose skimmate at night back in to my tank. I over did it a little and have lots of green algae for my fox face now but it works.

 

[Sonicboom]

ok, that's what i thought, I think Pocillopora is soon to be the next weed like Xenia, you seriously cannot kill it and it spreads like wildfire. I actually removed a rock and scrubbed every bit of Pocillopora off of it while running it under tap water for about 20 min. It is back 3 months later...

 

[Wazzel]

ok, that's what i thought, I think Pocillopora is soon to be the next weed like Xenia, you seriously cannot kill it and it spreads like wildfire. I actually removed a rock and scrubbed every bit of Pocillopora off of it while running it under tap water for about 20 min. It is back 3 months later...

It is a very hardy coral that reproduces in captivity. If you have one doing well you will get babies all over your tank. They very much can be the xenia of the stony corals.

 

[robertifly]

Ok got my hydra 52's up and running last Saturday using the easy setup and acclamation mode at 50% reduction.....not enough! Wednesday (4 days later) I noticed my two monti's browning with the upper most one tissue loss! I immediately changed to 70% reduction, these lights are powerful! BTW, I'm using the rail kit which only holds the lights 7.5" off the water, two 52's over tank 36"l x 24"d x 24"w. You really have to be careful, the uppermost monti is like 6.5" under water surface so about 14" from actual light. Otherwise I'm really liking these lights, Robert.