How good is Hydra 52 HD lighting

[ReefRealEstate]

Hey all,

Little background about me, had a 72 gallon tank 10 years ago, now starting up a new custom build from Aquarium Concepts in Calgary. I am doing a 300 gallon 36"x 30" x 64" mixed reef custom tank with Hydra 52 HD x 3 lights. I want to be able to have anything and everything in the tank. Will be posting pics as things start to come together. Been told they are great and will be all I need in order to penetrate the 36" deep tank. I have only the assurance of the tank builders and looking for opinions. I have just finished putting in all the electrical work and plumbing. I will be on here quite a bit over the next few months as I will be looking for re-assurance on all the decisions I make on this and bullet proofing what they tell. Appreciate all the feed back. Thanks! Very excited to get back into this again!

 

[kcinnick]

I went with MH/T5 for 36" deep, 84" long tank. I would double the amount of LED on you are planning on your tank. Same if you were going with Radion Pro's or Kessil 700's. I played with some LED options, you need to pack them in twice as tight as manufactures recommend to use as a sole lighting choice. Another option could be to flank each side with T5's. I plan to try some Kessils for some extra pop. I think I am going to go with 4 Kessils and angle them in and use them almost as spot lights.

 

[ReefRealEstate]

Thanks man. I have the ability to add lighting if needed. Other people have said that I will never use much over 50% of the lighting power on these hydras and others have said it is more than enough. Have you had experience with these lights? MH seem a thing of the past compared to these from everything I have read.

 

[Walam5858]

I have mh lights right now and if u live in a warm climate run don't walk away from them in Arizona you need a chiller if u plan on running mh on your tank unless u keep your house at a temp of say 62 degrees,I plan on going with the kessil ap700 over a much much smaller tank than yours but it all really depends on what u want to keep and where if u want acro on the sand bed well you are going to need to have some deep pockets and that's for your lights that's how many you will need!!as for the rest of us I plan on doing a sps heavy tank near the top of the tank and towards the bottom I'll put my softies it's all about placement but I do believe if you want to KEEP ANYTHING you will need more than 3 but three is a start. Be sure to acclimate those corals to LEDs though LEDs are deceiving to the naked eye on how much useful light is actuall being put out. If it were my build I would add at least one more hydra 52hd but that's me and take that with a grain of salt I would much rather run my lights at 30% than 75 % all the time it gives me a level of confidence that I reguards to the lighting part yea I can keep anything!!!!

 

[vhuang168]

I'm running Hydra 52s right now. My new tank will be 72/30/24 and I'll be running 6 Hydra 52s.

I can get away with much less, probably 4 but the issue is not power. They are plenty powerful. It's about even coverage. You need to spread the light over the top evenly as much as you can so that you have less shadowing.

I would run 5 in your tank

 

[ReefRealEstate]

My plan is to go with this for now. I have space to add T5's behind them. Then if needed I could go with the smaller MH x 2 in between the three hydras. I had fired up just the one light and man oh man it was bright, three of them seems it will be intense. I just want to know if they are able to penetrate the 36" deep tank. Thanks for all your responses so far. Just seems that everyone has a different opinion on these lights, some love them but the true MH T5 fans seem to look at them the same way any change from the norm in anything is looked at. Generally negative. I just want to make sure that these things will provide the light to house basically everything I could want in my reef, soft, hard, anemones. sponges under cliffs etc. I'm pumped to get back into this but also wan the right things and lighting is always the big debate.

 

[hart24601]

I am a fan of the hydra 26s over the 52s as you are spreading out the pucks and 2 26s are not all that much more expensive over 1 52. Straight from AI 2 of the 26s are more powerful than 1 52, if that was ever a concern.

My 120 has 5 26s over it run at 80% blues, 40% whites. They are not the HDs though.

 

[chercm]

5X hydra 26 is more expensive then the ATI T5 fixture

 

[hart24601]

Yep. And I would do it again! I did win one of them for winning an acro growing contest with the 4 26s.

 

[hart24601]

Some acro growth with the 26s. Was enough to win! Can't remember the dates, I think 3 months.

 

[ReefRealEstate]

My Tank is 36" deep and 30" front to back 63" wide. Considering that I will have the majority my rock in the 20"-22" (from the back) area to allow fish to swim in the front 8"-10" would having my Hydras running horizontal at 11" centres out from the back allow for good coverage. Currently my cabinets where I will be mounting the lights will be 8" above the tank which would be 10" from water line. I could have the stand made a few inches lower to accommodate the lights being at 12",14" what ever I want. Thoughts?

 

[Wazzel]

I am a fan of the hydra 26s over the 52s as you are spreading out the pucks and 2 26s are not all that much more expensive over 1 52. Straight from AI 2 of the 26s are more powerful than 1 52, if that was ever a concern.

My 120 has 5 26s over it run at 80% blues, 40% whites. They are not the HDs though.

I run two 52's over a 60 cube. Yes I am the same guy from the face book discussion. Amazing how paths cross.

 

[ReefRealEstate]

Has anyone done a mod kit or found something that would allow me to slide my Hydra 52's on rails forward or backward if needed. Right now they will be set up to be at an 11" centre from the back of the tank (set up horizontally). Keep in mind the tank is 30" deep front to back. I would like to be able to slide the lights out from 11" to 15" or further if I so choose. Pending on my rock landscaping. Any thoughts?

 

[ReefRealEstate]

They are going to be mounted under the cabinets in the picture that are only 15" deep.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Reef, Here is my 110g setup with the hydra 52s inside the canopy about 8inches above water. I install about a 5inch 2x4 on each side cut a small grove for the aluminum rails to just sit in tightly, also made a middle vertical bracket running back to front to rest the rails on. The rails can be broken apart in the middle instead of having one long piece. I made it like this so i can work on each light without removing both. The hydra 52 slides along the rails easily to either side. Hope this helps. You can set it up like this but yours will be front to back?

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