Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
26 is smaller and less wattage but still covers 30x30. If your 90g is deep then a 52 would probably have better penetration. As far as colors go, I believe it is pretty much the same.
AI Hydra Settings Thread
- Thread starter hilgert
- Start date
DrBoxedWine
New member
I was talking at length at MACNA with a retailer as I was deciding which to get for my 75g. The 26s are cool, but I don't totally see how you can get the same coverage, I feel like some shadowing is likely... They claim they get the same coverage cause of the optics, but I feel like physics makes that impossible and there must be additional shadowing. However, you probably get better color blending with the 26s. You can tell which part of the tank are under the blues and which are under the green/red pucks with my Hydras. Doesn't really bother me tho, I still think they look incredible. The guy at MACNA made a good point and said if your lights are out in the open then the 26s might give you a cleaner look.
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
drtrash,
Probably not unless you don't mind extreme shadowing and very low par in the corners. How deep is the tank? You can probably get really good coverage with 2 Hydra 26's.
Probably not unless you don't mind extreme shadowing and very low par in the corners. How deep is the tank? You can probably get really good coverage with 2 Hydra 26's.
Wazzel
New member
I would go with 3 of the 52's and hang long axis front to back.
Wazzel
New member
I run mine a lot hotter than most and all is good. I am up to 92% on the blues and 60% on the reds. Every thing else is in between those. By the end of the month I will be a 100% blues and 65% red as my bounds.
I started at 40% for the blues and have been working my way up over 6 months. I used the acclimation function. Set the blues at 100% adjusted the other colors to get a mix I liked then hit it with a 60% reduction and 4 month ramp. It has been reset a couple of times along the way when I added new corals.
Glad I found this thread. Just read through the last 10 pages and picked up some great insight.
I have a 48x30x24 inch tank. I have had 4 SOL Blues on it for the last 3 years and was running them at 1 hour ramp 80% for 8 hours and then 1 hour ramp down for my sunset so a total of 10 hours of light.
I converted the 4 SOL Blues to Hydra 52's about 3 weeks ago and now I thought I would ask you Hydra experts what your thoughts are given the specifics of my tank. The lights are about 7" above the water line and mounted Parallel with the 30" side so this ( | | | | ) configuration. I have mostly sps and they are used to a lot of light from the SOL Blues at 80%.
I started 70% on all colors and then set the coral acclimation to 50% for 1 month. At this point the lights have worked there way up to 48% and all looks good so far. I have the lights coming on at noon with a 2 hour ramp up and then ramping down for 2 hours starting at 9pm.
Now after reading through the thread I have the following questions:
1) I see many have found that turning the white down to about 50% of the other colors has been the sweet spot. Others also turn down the UV, Red, and Green. Is this the general consensus at this point? Would like to keep them all equal as I like the way the tank looks.
2) I am thinking 70% might be too much with 4 of them on a four foot by 30" tank. I like having the overlapping light to penetrate my thick SPS colonies but don't want to bleach them. Any thoughts on this?
I have a 48x30x24 inch tank. I have had 4 SOL Blues on it for the last 3 years and was running them at 1 hour ramp 80% for 8 hours and then 1 hour ramp down for my sunset so a total of 10 hours of light.
I converted the 4 SOL Blues to Hydra 52's about 3 weeks ago and now I thought I would ask you Hydra experts what your thoughts are given the specifics of my tank. The lights are about 7" above the water line and mounted Parallel with the 30" side so this ( | | | | ) configuration. I have mostly sps and they are used to a lot of light from the SOL Blues at 80%.
I started 70% on all colors and then set the coral acclimation to 50% for 1 month. At this point the lights have worked there way up to 48% and all looks good so far. I have the lights coming on at noon with a 2 hour ramp up and then ramping down for 2 hours starting at 9pm.
Now after reading through the thread I have the following questions:
1) I see many have found that turning the white down to about 50% of the other colors has been the sweet spot. Others also turn down the UV, Red, and Green. Is this the general consensus at this point? Would like to keep them all equal as I like the way the tank looks.
2) I am thinking 70% might be too much with 4 of them on a four foot by 30" tank. I like having the overlapping light to penetrate my thick SPS colonies but don't want to bleach them. Any thoughts on this?
Tuffloud1
New member
So many posts to read, I have gone back and forth with my settings.
I have 2 Hydra's over a 90 gallon (not the Hydra Fifty Two's).
Is there anyone who have used these lights with long term success growing SPS?
If so, please post your settings along with measurement away from waterline.
All my parameters are spot on, but am having trouble with my lighting.
I have 2 Hydra's over a 90 gallon (not the Hydra Fifty Two's).
Is there anyone who have used these lights with long term success growing SPS?
If so, please post your settings along with measurement away from waterline.
All my parameters are spot on, but am having trouble with my lighting.
Tuffloud1
New member
Don't you get a lot of algae with the reds at 60%? I had to lower mine from 30% to 20%. How high is your green?
Wazzel
New member
Green set for 70%. Not sure wht the actual is since tank is in night mode now. I do not buy that light is an algae cause. IMO if you have an algae problem look to nutrients. I had a massive algae bloom in my tank a few months back. I have been working on getting my nutrients straight algae is dying off and my lights are getting more intense.
Wazzel
New member
My whites are set for 90%. My preference is for a less blue tank. I do not think there is a consensus on settings.
I think you should be OK with 70% or higher if you take your time getting there. Think months. Corals can take a lot more light than most people think if you give them a chance to get use to it.
IMO if you want LEDs to perform comparable to 250 watt MH they need to be driven near 100%.
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
What troubles are you having? I and others here have been running hydras since preorder, close to 2 years for me with mainly SPS with great success on growth.
Tuffloud1
New member
I am starting to think my troubles are water related. I have a thread here that show pictures and explains what I am experiencing.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2451252&page=2
Sonic - can you post your current complete settings so I can compare?
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
My guess would be too much light combined with not enough flow combined with nutrients not getting into overflow and skimmed. Here is my current settings i have been using for about a year, on 3 hydra and 1 hydra 26 7" AWL with 20%/20% on clouds.
Tuffloud1
New member
My guess would be too much light combined with not enough flow combined with nutrients not getting into overflow and skimmed. Here is my current settings i have been using for about a year, on 3 hydra and 1 hydra 26 7" AWL with 20%/20% on clouds.
Thanks Sonic! Do you mind posting on my other thread what your recommendations are on the issues you think I have? I don't want to high jack this thread, thanks for your help!!
Tuffloud1
New member
Could you post some screen shots of your settings? I also have the AWM with Hydras.
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