AI Hydra Settings Thread

I disagree that a cloudy day would upset sps there is a study that cloudy formations help in growth.
If a week or two of heavy clouds keep showing up I can see using manual.
Probably good for algae control ;)

Understood but the study I read which I will try to find and post stated that even the slightest reduction in light can slow coral growth by 50%.. or was it 50% reduction in light can slow coral growth slightly...lol I need to find the paper.
 
Here is the guts of it..
In addition to affecting the shape of a colony’s growth, environmental factors influence the rates at which various species of corals grow. One of the most significant factors is sunlight. On sunny days, the calcification rates of corals can be twice as fast as on cloudy days (Barnes, R.S.K. and Hughes, 1999). This is likely a function of the symbiotic zooxanthellae algae, which play a unique role in enhancing the corals’ ability to synthesize calcium carbonate. Experiments have shown that rates of calcification slow significantly when zooxanthellae are removed from corals, or when corals are kept in shade or darkness (Lalli and Parsons 1995).

Found here
http://www.coris.noaa.gov/about/what_are/
 
OK had to turn off weather feature because half a dark tank was driving me crazy. Set it to manual and 30% 20% and it is much nicer and still sweeps
 
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AI Hydra Settings Thread

Agreed, the last update seems like it was released too early and the clouds are too much.

Seems like a lot of people had problems updating both lights and director wouldn't connect.

Pretty stupid to release an update that doesn't seem like it was written well and sent out too early without proper testing.

Now I went from regional settings back to manual cuz the clouds were too dark and didn't seem to stop. Stoops
 
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When we simulate real weather of the tropics we should expect quite a lot of clouds. My question is whether the resulting reduction in light output is still viable with SPS growth?
 
See post #1263. :)

But that relates to the light from the sun. SPS on real reefs can absolutely live with the occasional clouds, after all, they are evolved to fit that environment (although the study indicates calcification is slowed down when there are clouds). But LEDs don't give the same light output as the sun shining in the tropics. With LEDs we might already by on the limit of sustaining SPS growth and a reduction of 50 % in light intensity as caused by clouds simulation might result in conditions that won't support growth at all. Because of this I am a bit anxious about adding clouds and especially simulating real reef conditions where there might be overcast 50 % of the time.
 
Agreed that corals can live with clouds, I just want to have the most light on them for maximum growth with no bleaching. I am sure I can lower my leds down to 30% and have growth but it will take twice as long for growth opposed to tweaking until I am on the edge of max growth and bleaching
 
Sonic same boat as you. I just dropped regional setting and went to manual . 8am to 5 pm 4hr ramp. Clouds 40/30. Same as i had on controller and was working great for me
 
today I had sun almost all day - not worried about clouds :-) I love watching them sweep lol. Might help me control my alk and cal consumption with slower growth. Townsville Australia averages 8.4hrs of sunlight a day.

my update went smooth each light flashed as the firmware updated. I would suggest if your having issues pick a new wireless channel
 
Sonic same boat as you. I just dropped regional setting and went to manual . 8am to 5 pm 4hr ramp. Clouds 40/30. Same as i had on controller and was working great for me

good to hear, by the way if you select regional and let it pull the sunrise sunset times, then you can switch back to manual. you can do it about once a week to keep the lights synched with sunrise sunset.
 
I have had great success with these lights for a little over a month now. Starting last Friday, I came home from work and my glass was covered with algae so bad you could barely see into the tank. Since then I have lowered my light settings and I cannot seem to get it under control. I am cleaning a great deal of algae off my glass 2 times a day. Any advice? I have also added PhosGuard to my filter, per a recommendation of service company.

I am still having an algae problem on my glass only. My sand is not bad, it is just my glass. I am having to clean it twice a day. All of my levels are in range and I have lowered my phosphates to .3ppm. I have also turned my acclimation on at a 30% reduction in light power. I have added 25 snails to the tank and performed water changes more frequently. Any other suggestions to help fix this problem?
 
I am still having an algae problem on my glass only. My sand is not bad, it is just my glass. I am having to clean it twice a day. All of my levels are in range and I have lowered my phosphates to .3ppm. I have also turned my acclimation on at a 30% reduction in light power. I have added 25 snails to the tank and performed water changes more frequently. Any other suggestions to help fix this problem?


Ya GFO and time. Sounds like you've got some phos seeping from the rock.
 
Here are the firmware changes sent to me by a user, sorry didn't want to post your email but please chime in your username.
Controller Process ChangesLIGHT COMMUNICATION - Complete overhaul of communications between Director and lights. A firmware update will need to be completed on lights to receive full benefits.IMPROVED STORM EFFECT - A storm will now have a much faster onset. In addition, lightning strikes now include both localized and tank-wide lightning.IMPROVED CLOUD EFFECT - Continuously sweeping clouds are now supported by the Director. Setting the cloud effect to have a low intensity will create fast, small clouds. A high intensity will have large, slow clouds.RE-DISCOVERING LIGHTS - If you reset your Director's database you can now re-discover lights without manually resetting them. The Director will automatically un-discover lights that have been previously associated with your Director. Requires firmware update on lights.Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements.

User Interface ChangesPLAY EFFECT - Start clouds or lightning storms by clicking either of the play buttons in the Effects tab.COPY PRESETS - Copy both colors and presets between groups and between tanks. To choose whether to copy a color or preset, click on the Copy button. A dropdown will appear to allow you to select your copy method.HYDRA 52 - The user interface now distinguishes between Hydras and Hydra FiftyTwos.WEATHER TIME ZONE SHIFT - Shift the timers that weather creates by timezone.IMPROVED TANK MANAGEMENT - In addition to smoother tank transitions, users can now delete the default tank.AVAILABLE LIGHTS SHOWN - Any lights in the Director's database that are not assigned to a group are now shown in the right hand tray in the Layout tab.LIGHT FIRMWARE UPDATE INDICATION - Lights that require a firmware update will now be colored deep blue in the Layout tab.LIGHT COMMUNICATION INDICATION - Lights in the Layout tab now show recent communication success rate. This is indicated by the bars at the bottom of the light.CACHE SETTINGS - Fixed cache settings for web pages returned from embedded web server. May require clearing your browser's cache to purge it of improperly cached old files.MULTI-LANGUAGE SUPPORT - The Director's webpage can now be viewed in German and French.Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements.

Networking ChangesSETUP CHANGES - The Director's Wi-Fi access point will now disable if the Director has been successfully configured to connect to a wireless network. In previous versions the Director would enable its access point when it lost connection to the wireless network and rescan every 5 minutes to look for a network. Now, the access point is not started and the Director continues looking for a wireless network to reconnect. The access point can be re-enabled by holding down the top of the Director until the LED starts blinking green. Releasing the button while the LED is blinking green will reset the network settings.

Continuing to hold down the button until the LED flashes red will reset the database, in addition to resetting network settings, requiring devices to be re-discovered and ramps be re-created.

Continuing to hold down the button until the LED turns solid red will do nothing.Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements.

Light Firmware ChangesCUSTOM PUCK TYPES - Support for new custom puck types was added for the Vega.SAVING MANUAL SETTINGS - When the lights are in manual mode, clicking the button on the side of the light will cycle through power settings of 0%, 1%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%. The light will now save the last setting a light was at, even if the light is unplugged and plugged back in.Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements.
 
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