I think you will be fine with a pair of primes as long as you mount them sufficiently high above water. Technically speaking you need two 26s and if you ever decide to go to a deeper tank you wont need to upgrade. If you go with non-HD model, two will cost you about the same as one Hydra52HD.
AI Hydra Settings Thread
- Thread starter hilgert
- Start date
milsaltnewbie07
New member
Thank for the Help brother.
switched to Zibbas graph and im liking it so far. Just also started Prodibio Reef Kit so we will see how that goes.
milsaltnewbie07
New member
quick question.? is there a way to do 10k 14k 20k preset settings etc. on ai director for hydras , and to set the intensity like yo can on the prime?
There isn't a way on the Director, unfortunately. There's a way if you're controlling the lights via an Apex and are using the app for that. If you go back a few pages some folks have listed the intensities of the various colors for a variety of color temperatures and you can manually program them in.
Yes you can get close to those kelvin ratings with the director and new controller.
As a general Rule:
10K is a ratio of 2 to 1 in favor of white
12K is everything ran at the same intensity
14k is a reduction of whites (and if you want, green and reds by 25% of everything else)
20K is a ratio of 21 in favor of blues.
Okay everyone I need some advice. I expect the supply of Hydra 52s will dry up in the next few months. I see people running 6 of these on 6 feet tanks and I am running 3.
I need to know if you think I should pick 3 more up now, just wait till later and mix 3 HD models with 3 Hydras (I wouldn't have a unified way of programming them but I guess I could program 3 of them with the apex and the other 3 via wi fi and just coordinate by time) or wait a while and upgrade my 3 hydras to HD models, and then if needed just buy more HD models to go with the upgraded 52s.
I have 2 center braces so that really screws up the idea of going with 4 or 5 units. Basically the way the braces are you can run 3, or you can run 6.
I need to know if you think I should pick 3 more up now, just wait till later and mix 3 HD models with 3 Hydras (I wouldn't have a unified way of programming them but I guess I could program 3 of them with the apex and the other 3 via wi fi and just coordinate by time) or wait a while and upgrade my 3 hydras to HD models, and then if needed just buy more HD models to go with the upgraded 52s.
I have 2 center braces so that really screws up the idea of going with 4 or 5 units. Basically the way the braces are you can run 3, or you can run 6.
Reeftub
New member
I have a 60x27x27 tank with 2 center braces also so I had to put 2 per section 3 sections and now I have 6 lights I can't get above 50% or I start losing color on my sps. I just added t-5 as you can see and run those for 4 hrs . I don't think you would need the HD version with that amount of lighting as it would be over kill in my honest opinion m. Just my 2cents
Bump
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
on a 27" wide tank, you can get away with 3 52's just fine ran long ways, if pockets get deeper, you can pick up another Hydra 52 or an HD and angle it towards the back to remove shadowing or place two in the center flat. not sure about your overflow configuration but i know on my 180 i lose 6" inward so - = - works for me.
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
The director can control up to 11 lights if i remember, so any changes you make in the director will be applied to both, I would drop UV and with to 20 to start and go from there.
ReefTankHunter
Member
I believe thst would be violet.
Tuffloud1
New member
Just violet for actinic?
milsaltnewbie07
New member
Been using zibas. Like it so far
ReefTankHunter
Member
I believe, read it somewhere, Maybe someone can add to it.
kmu
New member
I have a 60x27x27 tank with 2 center braces also so I had to put 2 per section 3 sections and now I have 6 lights I can't get above 50% or I start losing color on my sps. I just added t-5 as you can see and run those for 4 hrs . I don't think you would need the HD version with that amount of lighting as it would be over kill in my honest opinion m. Just my 2cents
I just ordered some T5s to supplement my Hydras
What color bulbs are you running on your T5s and how many Bulbs?
THX in advance
Mattnjayne
New member
Quick question as I know these lights are bright.
Picked up a second hand hydra 52 that is only 2 months old for a bargain.
I am coming from an Orphek compact and wondering I am wondering if I should still acclimatize for a month or not?
I have a mixed reef of SPS, LPS and softies.
Picked up a second hand hydra 52 that is only 2 months old for a bargain.
I am coming from an Orphek compact and wondering I am wondering if I should still acclimatize for a month or not?
I have a mixed reef of SPS, LPS and softies.
This is far from scientific but this is what I did when I went from Vegas to the Hydra 52s. I played with the color mixtures on the Hydra 52s and found a combination and brightness that I liked (basically, all 100s on all the blues, 55 on the UV and Cool White, and 35 on the Green and Red), I then backed down the intensities of all colors equally until the brightness appeared (to my eye) to match the brightness of the Vegas, then went down another 10% for good measure.
. I don't remember exactly what intensities I started out with (I think my blues were in the 30s to start), but they were pretty low and I spread my acclimation to 100% on the blues over about three months.
See if you can do this with the Orphek as your starting point. Then spread out your acclimation by increasing intensities by about 1% per day.
Hope that helps!
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