AI Prime 16hd for 18x18x18

[Shawn4455]

I have a 25 gallon cube with a AI prime 16HD, anyone have this setup and have birdsnest? or any hard coral? I want to grow birdsnest and digi, just don't know how far below the waterline I need to put them, pics would be appreciate to gawk at.

 

[Copingwithpods]

I have a 29g cube with one ai prime over it . While it's definitely possible its not ideal. It all depends on you aqua scape. If you have a single rumble pile dead center with the light right above it I think you'll do more than fine. How ever, get fancy with your scape like having rock islands out near the sides and you'll start running into spread issues which will force you to mount it higher causing a ton of light spill. I'm currently shopping for a second prime for better light distribution as I basically aquascaped around my lights Hotspot. Not too big a deal as now a clam sits right under it.

Sps seam to be doing good even those just slightly outside the hotspot

As you can tell the majority of my sps and lps sit near the center of the tank as close to that hot spot as possible with the outer rim being enough for zoas and mushrooms. Just be mindful of placement and with a good schedule I'm sure you will find success.

 

[Shawn4455]

This is my current rock scape. I guess anything that's SPS will be at the top

 

[Copingwithpods]

That will work just remember these primes are more of a fat flashlight with a concentrated beam so just make sure they don't shade each other.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Yes it will work. However a couple things to keep in mind. First off get a PAR meter its a must with setting up LED lignting IMO. It will let you dial in the intensity and mounting height. Watch the BRS videos on the Prime lights and learn all you can, very helpful. Secondly placement of the sps corals will need to be thought out so they get the proper amount of light. If you did not already have the Prime I would recommend getting the Hydra 32 as it will let you keep sps corals anywhere in the tank and provides a great spread for a 18x18x18 tank. You can always add a 2nd Prime later down the road as corals grow in and need for light coverage and less shading.

 

[Shawn4455]

1. 
   

2. Yes it will work. However a couple things to keep in mind. First off get a PAR meter its a must with setting up LED lignting IMO. It will let you dial in the intensity and mounting height. Watch the BRS videos on the Prime lights and learn all you can, very helpful. Secondly placement of the sps corals will need to be thought out so they get the proper amount of light. If you did not already have the Prime I would recommend getting the Hydra 32 as it will let you keep sps corals anywhere in the tank and provides a great spread for a 18x18x18 tank. You can always add a 2nd Prime later down the road as corals grow in and need for light coverage and less shading.

   will do, Im really just going for a birdsnest and a digi, the rest of my corals will be zoas and euph.

 

[Shawn4455]

Yes it will work. However a couple things to keep in mind. First off get a PAR meter its a must with setting up LED lignting IMO. It will let you dial in the intensity and mounting height. Watch the BRS videos on the Prime lights and learn all you can, very helpful. Secondly placement of the sps corals will need to be thought out so they get the proper amount of light. If you did not already have the Prime I would recommend getting the Hydra 32 as it will let you keep sps corals anywhere in the tank and provides a great spread for a 18x18x18 tank. You can always add a 2nd Prime later down the road as corals grow in and need for light coverage and less shading.

Do Two lights equal more par? or just better spread? I posted recently what my par readings are and they are not great to me.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Do Two lights equal more par? or just better spread? I posted recently what my par readings are and they are not great to me.

Its a yes and no anwser. Yes you will for sure get better light spread with 2 Primes. Yes in the center intersect point of the 2 lights you will get a hot spot of higher PAR and again better spread of PAR in the tank. The no is an AI Prime will put out all the PAR it is capable of, adding a second does not double the PAR in the tank. It does proving higher and more even PAR throughout the tank. Check out the data BRS collected while testing the Primes and other AI lights, really good info and does a better job explaining this topic than I can.

 

[Shawn4455]

Its a yes and no anwser. Yes you will for sure get better light spread with 2 Primes. Yes in the center intersect point of the 2 lights you will get a hot spot of higher PAR and again better spread of PAR in the tank. The no is an AI Prime will put out all the PAR it is capable of, adding a second does not double the PAR in the tank. It does proving higher and more even PAR throughout the tank. Check out the data BRS collected while testing the Primes and other AI lights, really good info and does a better job explaining this topic than I can.

Would it be worth upgrading to a 32hd? Someone wanted to trade with cash on top.

 

[AdamNC]

Check out the data BRS collected while testing the Primes and other AI lights, really good info and does a better job explaining this topic than I can.

I think this may be outdated now since the Prime 16HDs are now out which have more LEDs now per puck.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Would it be worth upgrading to a 32hd? Someone wanted to trade with cash on top.

I would say yes. I really like my Hydra 32s.

 

[khekhen]

Hey there! New to R2R but I thought I'd share.

Have a 16g BioCube with 1 AI Prime 16 HD running AB+. Mounted ~11in above the water. Not having any issues growing SPS (acros, montipora (digi and plates)) as long as the placement is sufficient. Red Montipora in the center started as a 2 inch frag piece and has grown like a monster in just a couple of months. All the digis I got as small frags @2 months ago and have shown good color and growth.

Have never tested PAR but have seen all the BRS videos and did placement based on their values. Here are some pics.

 

[old salt reefer]

I don't see any problem for you to grow either. I have Birdsnest and both monticap(red and purple) as well as bubblegum digi growing very well under a Current USA marine PRO. The monticap is at least 11 inches below the light. The birdnest and digi is about 8 inches.
At the same time I have a Prime 16 HD on another tank that is mounted 8 inches above the water. I've got birdsnest at 7 inches down from the surface and superman monti sitting on the bottom(13 inch deep IM Nuvo 10). Without getting into my color settings the most my prime is running is 30 watts.