single AI prime HD for 24" tank?

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f3honda4me

New member
I am debating buying either a chinese black box, or going with a single AI Prime HD light for my reefer 170 which is a 24" x 20" wide tank, 20" deep. Would this be enough light? I will likely have a bubble tip nem, and a few corals, softy/lps, maybe an sps or two at most.
 
Agreed, it won't be enough light. Sure it'll get the job done. But for $100 more, just get the Hydra 26. You'll be so much happier. My Reefer 170 is doing phenomenal and my Alk is starting to quickly get used. Actually so much that just a week ago my alk was at 7. Last nights test resulted in it dropping to 5. So as my corals don't look as great as they did, it's due to low Alk, not light! However, I'm SPS dominant and may in the near future need to add a second Hydra 26HD. Just due to the fact that even 1 Hydra26 will be insufficient shortly and increasing the intensity wouldn't be great for the corals directly underneath the fixture.. I'm running a mock Ecotech Marine SPS AB+ profile. It's working incredible!

Here's a shot, FWIW
 
Last edited:
gonzalezvacaeli said:
If you decide to buy the black box's buy them from SB reef lights. They come with better light spectrum.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yea I was considering buying theirs, though unfortunately they are closed through 2/3 and so it could be a while before I get the black box. :/
 
I prefer 2 primes vs 1 hydra 26. I space the pucks farther apart and give them slightest tilt in. more par over a larger area.
 
j_mazzy said:
I prefer 2 primes vs 1 hydra 26. I space the pucks farther apart and give them slightest tilt in. more par over a larger area.
Click to expand...

Even then, the Hydra 26HD will do the same. Especially if your tank isn't SPS dominant. It'll spread it evenly enough for corals that don't require as much light, easily. That being said, when needed you could add a second Hydra 26HD if ever needed with easy corals. This will also allow room to upgrade tanks when the time comes without having to shell out the extra cash for lights that will cover a bigger area.

I myself always by overkill, just in case I ever upgrade. It's just that extra flexibility.
 
Hentz said:
Agreed, it won't be enough light. Sure it'll get the job done. But for $100 more, just get the Hydra 26. You'll be so much happier. My Reefer 170 is doing phenomenal and my Alk is starting to quickly get used. Actually so much that just a week ago my alk was at 7. Last nights test resulted in it dropping to 5. So as my corals don't look as great as they did, it's due to low Alk, not light! However, I'm SPS dominant and may in the near future need to add a second Hydra 26HD. Just due to the fact that even 1 Hydra26 will be insufficient shortly and increasing the intensity wouldn't be great for the corals directly underneath the fixture.. I'm running a mock Ecotech Marine SPS AB+ profile. It's working incredible!

Here's a shot, FWIW
Click to expand...

LOVE that rock , tank is looking very nice. Thanks for sending me that profile, still haven't loaded it ,I need to bump it a couple hours.
 
SDboatguy said:
LOVE that rock , tank is looking very nice. Thanks for sending me that profile, still haven't loaded it ,I need to bump it a couple hours.
Click to expand...

Thanks man! It was my first time trying reef cement to make a cool scape. Im happy with how it turned out.
Hook it up! I just put it on my friends tank. It's working awesome already.
That reminds me.. I need to send it to the others asking in PM. Been so busy! Cheers sir.
 
I am keeping nano sps and I lost pieces because of shadowing. I changed my lighting and did 2 primes and fixed the issue. What's the price difference between a 26 and a prime?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
Running two AI prime HDs over my 27" long tank. Its a jbj 45 rl. Like someone else said, the ability to spread them is why I chose the pair instead of a single hydra 26.

3a31aaa3818c4908d738fe76eb82cdb4.jpg
 
You can easily use two Prime's to create more spread. Just as you can with two Hydra 26HD's!

The price difference is $100. Though buying used, you can easily find them for only $30-50 more than the AI Prime. Which at that point you may as well as get the bigger and better.

The AI Prime HD includes:
3 - Cree XP-G2 Cool White (> 70 CRI)
3 - Cree XT-E Royal Blue
3 - Cree XP-E2 Blue
1 - Cree Deep Red 660nm
1 - Cree XP-E2 Green
1 - SemiLED 415nm
1 - SemiLED 400nm

Where as the Hydra 26HD includes:
6 - Cree XP-G2 Cool White (> 70 CRI)
6 - Cree XT-E Royal Blue
6 - Cree XP-E2 Blue
2 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Red
2 - Cree XP-E2 Green
2 - SemiLED 415nm
2 - SemiLED 400nm

AI Prime only includes 13 LED's where as the Hydra 26HD includes 26 LED's, literally double. While that is because the 26HD includes two pucks opposed to the Prime, it's still an extra puck for better PAR spread. According to AI's website, the PrimeHD is hitting 40-50 PAR at around 22-24". The Hydra26HD is hitting 100-130 PAR at the exact same distance, hung at the exact same height.

A buddy of mine runs the AI Prime HD over his Reefer 170 with Softies/LPS and wishes he would've just gone the Hydra26HD route.

Truthfully, either way you won't go wrong. Both lights will do what you want, for the most part.
 
I have a single prime over my 20x20 and I'm getting around 100 par in the middle and 25-50 on the bottom. It's enough for my low light corals.
 
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