How Many AI Hydra HD Fifty-Two LEDs for Deep Blue 80 Gal. Frag Tank?

[SkyReef]

I have used two LED fixtures for my 75-gallon reef tank for several years now: The AI Hydra Fifty Twos. No problem. They provided sufficient lighting to grow SPS corals and were oriented end to end, parallel to the length of the tank.

But now, I'm setting up a new Deep Blue 80-gallon frag tank, for the same type of reef setup. The new tank is the same length as the 75-gallon tank, 48 inches. But the new tank is 5 inches deeper, from front to back: 24 inches, instead of 18 inches. Yet the new tank is shallower by several inches, being a frag tank. Will two LED fixtures suffice on the new tank? Can I still orient the fixtures end to end, parallel to the length of the tank? Your help here is much appreciated.

 

[oseymour]

I say yeah.

have 2 rations on a 48 inch long 20 inch deep tank.

You might have to raise them higher off the tank for full coverage and run them at a higher percentage.


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[ReefCowboy]

Ive owned the hydra 26's and the 80 gal tank you plan on using. It is only 16" tall so you wont need much light to grow corals on the sandbed.
You will be much better off going with more 26's instead of two 52's. 4x 26's would be excellent IMO

Now off topic, but the LFS I go to just purchased new hydras, and as we installed them on his frag tank..noticed when all blues on, the color is way off...we though about the fixture having an issue so we got another one...same issue. The blue led doesnt look like royal blues, they are greenish, horrible.

We put an older hydra next to it and clearly saw a difference. Has AI changed the leds?

 

[SkyReef]

Thanks, Oseymour and ReefCowboy. I think the two Hydra Fifty-Twos are going to work fine. I have them up over the tank now, and they seem to have good coverage so far.

As for the difference in the blue LEDs between the Hydra Fifty-Twos of old and new, I don't know. I haven't actually purchased the newer version, the HD version, but have the old AI-Hydra-52 model from several years ago, before the advent of the newer AI-Hydra-52 HD model. Hopefully, by playing the the color scheme you can replicate the deeper blues of the older model.

Good luck!

 

[GimpyFin]

Ive owned the hydra 26's and the 80 gal tank you plan on using. It is only 16" tall so you wont need much light to grow corals on the sandbed.
You will be much better off going with more 26's instead of two 52's. 4x 26's would be excellent IMO

Now off topic, but the LFS I go to just purchased new hydras, and as we installed them on his frag tank..noticed when all blues on, the color is way off...we though about the fixture having an issue so we got another one...same issue. The blue led doesnt look like royal blues, they are greenish, horrible.

We put an older hydra next to it and clearly saw a difference. Has AI changed the leds?

I had a couple Hydra 26 HDs up until about 4 months ago and when I initially purchased them, I had the exact same color mismatch issue (Looked really cheezy.) Amazon sent me two more, and I just kept two out of the 4 that seemed to match. From what I heard/remember, they changed around something with LED suppliers causing the color mismatch. Just seems to be an issue with the newer HDs.

 

[ReefCowboy]

I had a couple Hydra 26 HDs up until about 4 months ago and when I initially purchased them, I had the exact same color mismatch issue (Looked really cheezy.) Amazon sent me two more, and I just kept two out of the 4 that seemed to match. From what I heard/remember, they changed around something with LED suppliers causing the color mismatch. Just seems to be an issue with the newer HDs.

You are correct I was actually talking to a good buddy of mine who knows the insides if our hobby industry. He said that ecotech uses the royal blue leds only on the Radion G4's and the AI hydras get to keep the other blues, which are absolutely horrible to the eye.

While testing the 26's we had thought the greens were also on, looking at the fixture cluster we only saw blues on, so the new blues look indeed greenish.

Maybe someone here can give us better info, but today we compared the hydra 26's to the old AI Vegas and the last one had much nicer looking blues.

 

[SkyReef]

Thanks, GimpyFin and ReefCowboy. Good to know I should avoid the AI HD fixtures for now, until they address the Blue LED issue. I have the old AI Hydras, and the old-school blues are fine.