AI Hydra Settings Thread

[dahos]

Yes, you right.It took forever to get the update.I was talking to a guy in Atlanta yesterday, and he was telling me his settings on his frag tank . Every thing was set at 100%,but the red and green, they where 40%.I thought that was high on the red and green.But iwas right there looking at the tank.Looked ok.

How high did he have them off the water? What his full power exposure time and ramp times are? Do you know how long he has used them at this setting?

It seems like some are able to use a higher setting and others are not. I would like to raise my whites for less of a blue look but have been hesitant to due to others experiences.

I know my lfs has theirs at 100% on all colors but they are over 12" off the water.

 

[ReefTankHunter]

How high did he have them off the water? What his full power exposure time and ramp times are? Do you know how long he has used them at this setting?

It seems like some are able to use a higher setting and others are not. I would like to raise my whites for less of a blue look but have been hesitant to due to others experiences.

I know my lfs has theirs at 100% on all colors but they are over 12" off the water.

I didn't ask about the ramp time. It was a little more then 12" off the water.

 

[saltyair]

It is interesting that some can run @ higher levels, I cant put my whites any higher than 40% at peak or I get algae on the sand.
my reds @ 10% blues @ 85% uv @ 50% green @ 15%

 

[Sonicboom]

It is almost impossible to have two tanks with identical settings and achieve the same results. There are just too many factors involved which will alter the end result. Here are a few;

Water clarity
Dissolved organics
Rock structures and their height
Exact hight of light from water surface
Type of corals
Depth of tank
Thickness of sand bed
Exact height of coral to lights
Water movement or ripples at surface
Additives

 

[ReefTankHunter]

I got a problem, need you thoughts on the matter.Got mostly sps, afew lps and a couple soft.My sps stoped growing, colors are very dull in color.Keep in mind , I have a Ati 4 bulb fixture hanging in the back angled toward the front.Got my hydras in the front.My water text are ok, little low on the cal/alk,.My settings are 60% on db, rb 55% on v, uv.30% on w.10% on g. Red is 0 .All the other corals are good.Not saying its the lights.Been dosing cal/alk to bring it up.Have a question about 2 part cal/ alk.How long can they last once you mix them in jugs.They are about 1 yr old.Forgot to tell you, hydras hang 12" off water.So, what do you think.

 

[McGee10]

I got a problem, need you thoughts on the matter.Got mostly sps, afew lps and a couple soft.My sps stoped growing, colors are very dull in color.Keep in mind , I have a Ati 4 bulb fixture hanging in the back angled toward the front.Got my hydras in the front.My water text are ok, little low on the cal/alk,.My settings are 60% on db, rb 55% on v, uv.30% on w.10% on g. Red is 0 .All the other corals are good.Not saying its the lights.Been dosing cal/alk to bring it up.Have a question about 2 part cal/ alk.How long can they last once you mix them in jugs.They are about 1 yr old.Forgot to tell you, hydras hang 12" off water.So, what do you think.

they should last a very long time as long as the jugs are capped.

 

[liquidfunk]

I got a problem, need you thoughts on the matter.Got mostly sps, afew lps and a couple soft.My sps stoped growing, colors are very dull in color.Keep in mind , I have a Ati 4 bulb fixture hanging in the back angled toward the front.Got my hydras in the front.My water text are ok, little low on the cal/alk,.My settings are 60% on db, rb 55% on v, uv.30% on w.10% on g. Red is 0 .All the other corals are good.Not saying its the lights.Been dosing cal/alk to bring it up.Have a question about 2 part cal/ alk.How long can they last once you mix them in jugs.They are about 1 yr old.Forgot to tell you, hydras hang 12" off water.So, what do you think.

Only goo if sealed very tightly, particularly alk.

 

[Sonicboom]

Just test the jugs

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

Just test the jugs

Test to see if they are properly sealed?

 

[saltyair]

What is your dkh? Why would you mix the two part together? Cal and alk mixed (from a 2 part) usually creates percepataion. Dosing them separately is the best practice.
Corals losing colour can be due to to much light. But from ur settings I would not suspect thats the case.
Photo period?



QUOTE=ReefTankHunter;22777380]I got a problem, need you thoughts on the matter.Got mostly sps, afew lps and a couple soft.My sps stoped growing, colors are very dull in color.Keep in mind , I have a Ati 4 bulb fixture hanging in the back angled toward the front.Got my hydras in the front.My water text are ok, little low on the cal/alk,.My settings are 60% on db, rb 55% on v, uv.30% on w.10% on g. Red is 0 .All the other corals are good.Not saying its the lights.Been dosing cal/alk to bring it up.Have a question about 2 part cal/ alk.How long can they last once you mix them in jugs.They are about 1 yr old.Forgot to tell you, hydras hang 12" off water.So, what do you think.[/QUOTE]

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

What is your dkh? Why would you mix the two part together? Cal and alk mixed (from a 2 part) usually creates percepataion. Dosing them separately is the best practice.

Corals losing colour can be due to to much light. But from ur settings I would not suspect thats the case.

Photo period?

I curious as to what light source his tank was originally under and maybe didn't coral acclimate? Also I never heard of placing the part a&b in the same container. What if one demand is needed more than the other?

 

[Sonicboom]

Test to see if they are properly sealed?

Test after mixing per directions to see if it is still potent.

 

[roberto_lopes]

HI all

Words of advice please. I have just ordered the Vega to Hydra-52 for my 180. I have 3 Vegas I am converting.

I would like to ultimately get to Roberto's levels, but i understand I will need to go through an acclimation period when i upgrade. I plan to program his settings into my AWM and then reducing the intensity. What level of intensity would you recommend starting at?

Mesure the Actual PAR levels and try ,mimic the same is a really good start. Go slow on the UV, red and green levels since UV can fry everything, red and green can make your reef looks like a rainforest.

Good luck.

 

[hkgar]

Mesure the Actual PAR levels and try ,mimic the same is a really good start. Go slow on the UV, red and green levels since UV can fry everything, red and green can make your reef looks like a rainforest.

Good luck.

Too late to measure the Vega PAR and set the 52's to that level.
There is a 2 hour morning ramp up to r & G at 30%, RB & DB at 100% UV at 100%, V at 50% and CW at 70% with overall intensity at 43%. This is for 2 hours. Then 5 hours with UV reduced to 20%, CW to 75% and all other settings the same. Then a 2 hour ramp down.

I plan on increasing overall intensity 3 percentage points every three to four days (twice a week) to a maximum of 80% and see how things do.

PAR is about 270 at highest coral under the most direct light. I would like to increase the intensity to get that number to about 600.

 

[ReefTankHunter]

Give me a little credit. They are not mixed together.They are in separate jugs.I dose at different times.All coral was under t5.I slowly added the leds.Just did a WC and tested.Cal-420 Alk-8 mag-1200.Im thinking this could be the cause.There is a lot of sps in there.

 

[bushnell]

Is this not a thread about Hydra Settings?

 

[hkgar]

That was my understanding, but sometimes discussions get a little side tracked. Order will be re-established shortly.

 

[ReefTankHunter]

Sorry guys, Was just throwing this problem out there just in case it was the hydra settings, or if anyone else experienced this . Believe it or not, someone on here helped.I shorted my lighting period by two hrs.I already see a difference. Between that and a big WC, Its getting a little better.So it kinda is about the hy,dra, They are some powerful leds

 

[MauiReefer]

hello everybody, so i have been running ONE hydra on my 54 corner and in the months that i have had it up and running, the growth on my sps has been incredible.So much in fact, that the new growth has shaded other corals. I have been contemplating another hydra, but the 54 has such a strange footprint and i was trying to figure out what to do. Well my amazing wife bought me a second unit for my birthday (love her) and now my question is...

Do i have to reduce my setting to accommodate for the second unit?
I heard this somewhere, that if i have multiple lights I should reduce the intensity across the units.
The tank is now even brighter, but i don't want it to affect my corals like it did in the initial acclimation period. Plus i don't want any extra algae.

Should i just set up a new acclimation period at the current settings?
or drop the settings to equal what they are now over the 2 units?
anyone with experience in this?

thank you all for reading and thank you in advance for any help

 

[Sonicboom]

If they are evenly spread apart you should be fine with the same settings. If they are very close to where the light spread is overlapping then yes I would reduce both.