Zachman99
Community Member
Trying to decide which way to go here. I have a Sb and its pretty good. Anyone have anything on the Hydras? I will be replacing a combo fixture over my 96x24x24 tank. Sps dominant mixed reef.
Ai Hyrda 52 HD or SbReefLights
- Thread starter Zachman99
- Start date
- Tagged users None
reef lover
It's a reef thing....
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Hudson Valley Reef Keepers
Hospitality Award
518 Reefers
My Tank Thread
Don't personally know the sb but I have hydta 52hds and I love them. It's nice to b able to control each spectrum and to b able to utilize unused power from one channel to another. Also love the lunar program.
I have AI Hydra HD's and HATE HATE HATE them. The light they produce is awesome, but you can NOT rely on the automatic schedule to work at all. The only way to use them reliably is to manually control them throughout the day. Ain't nobody got time for that! :mad::mad::mad:
For $350 ea, they should not behave like a $2 light.
For $350 ea, they should not behave like a $2 light.
Zachman99
Community Member
I can attest to the Sb lights though. I have one on the left side of the tank and it is doing amazingly well. Everything under it is doing good even a colony we are trying to bring back for a friend is getting green tips and showing some polyp. It's been in that spot for a little more than 3 weeks now.
Joeganja
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2014
- Messages
- 2,873
- Reaction score
- 980
- Location
- Modesto, California
- What state or country do you live in
- California
With new lights there's gonna be minor tech bugs. I have the hydra 26s and the hydra HDs are just a step up I believe they are awesome. I've heard they are awesome. Wifi controllable. If your looking for a light for an sps tank Hydras will grow sps like crazy.Trying to decide which way to go here. I have a Sb and its pretty good. Anyone have anything on the Hydras? I will be replacing a combo fixture over my 96x24x24 tank. Sps dominant mixed reef.
reef lover
It's a reef thing....
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Hudson Valley Reef Keepers
Hospitality Award
518 Reefers
My Tank Thread
I've never had to control them manually. The same.e program has been running everyday for 4 months. Even when we list power for 5 hours they still came on To original schedule. And I had one light malfunctioning from shipping / handling of it and they replaced it with no problems. Idk I love love love them! To each their own....
Zachman99
Community Member
Got a hydra in and put it over the tank. The spread on this thing is pretty awesome. I got it hooked up and running in a few minuets. Programming is similar to the sbreeflights. They both use sliders. I thought it was cool on the 20k setting. I didn't see a preprogrammed setting for 20k, 14k etc. but there are websites that have settings listed to achieve these looks. So far it looks pretty good. Have had a few storms roll through the tank already. I do like the acclimation mode too.
dricc
Active Member
Could you give us an update after a few months I am interested in both these lights and a review of both would be awesome. Thanks
Zachman99
Community Member
I can say that after a little over a month of the Sb light that it is growing and coloring better than the ocean revive 247 and the evergrow lights that I tried before. The programming of the wifi light is pretty easy. They are a little more budget friendly as well. They have a 2 year warranty and the ai only has a 1, but from what I've read about the ai they run for years with few problems.
Zachman99
Community Member
I ordered 3 more of the ai hydras to finish the lighting in my tank. One came in early, so we took down the halide/t5 fixture and started hanging. I've got to say they are pretty awesome. I started running them at the 20k setting, and everything is starting to color up nicely.
I still like the sb light. I will be using it on my frag tank. One of the major factors for me was the physical size of the fixtures. The hydra is way smaller than the sb, so now I will be able to get into the hood to do maintenance. There's also a lot more airspace so I'm hoping that will help keep the heat down.
All in all they are both solid choices. It just comes down to preference. (I know that's probably not what everyone wants to hear, but it's what I've seen so far). I'll post up more after a few weeks of use and let everyone know what I'm seeing, or not seeing.
I still like the sb light. I will be using it on my frag tank. One of the major factors for me was the physical size of the fixtures. The hydra is way smaller than the sb, so now I will be able to get into the hood to do maintenance. There's also a lot more airspace so I'm hoping that will help keep the heat down.
All in all they are both solid choices. It just comes down to preference. (I know that's probably not what everyone wants to hear, but it's what I've seen so far). I'll post up more after a few weeks of use and let everyone know what I'm seeing, or not seeing.
Zachman99
Community Member
Today we noticed polyps on an encrusting montipora that we call "big angry" (because it's obviously mad and brown) turning red and orange! The actual color of the encrusting part should be blue and it is lightning up already. That is faster coloring up than the sb for sure.
