AI Prime HD

Xmoji · Mar 20, 2018

Good morning,

I am in the market for a small light to serve as my main source of light for frags that I will house in my sump. The size of the section in sump is 9.5”x13.5”. I need the light to be strong enough to keep color of my sps frags.

I’m leaning towards the AI Prime HD because I like the size of the unit and it’s also in my price range.

Please let me know your thoughts on this light specifically with sps and keeping color.

I’m also open to suggestions as well
Thanks for your thoughts.

Crabs McJones · Mar 20, 2018

Xmoji said:
Good morning,

I am in the market for a small light to serve as my main source of light for frags that I will house in my sump. The size of the section in sump is 9.5”x13.5”. I need the light to be strong enough to keep color of my sps frags.

I’m leaning towards the AI Prime HD because I like the size of the unit and it’s also in my price range.

Please let me know your thoughts on this light specifically with sps and keeping color.

I’m also open to suggestions as well
Thanks for your thoughts.

AI Prime HD would be perfect for something that size. Shouldn't have any problem keeping any coral you want under that light in that size area

Xmoji · Mar 20, 2018

I’m assuming you have one? How’s the heat output? As it will be in the sump it will be enclosed, I read some forums saying they get pretty hot.

Crabs McJones · Mar 20, 2018

Xmoji said:
I’m assuming you have one? How’s the heat output? As it will be in the sump it will be enclosed, I read some forums saying they get pretty hot.

Unfortunately I don't have one, just seen enough videos and read enough information on them. They do tend to get hot, especially when you overdrive the leds. As long as you keep the fan and heatsink clean and free of dust and salt creep, shouldn't be an issue. You shouldn't have to turn the light up to high on an area that small

Xmoji · Mar 20, 2018

Makes sense. Thanks for your comments!

Xmoji · Mar 20, 2018

Does anyone else have any comments about the Prime HD?

Hayduke · Mar 21, 2018

I'd agree that the light is perfect for that size. I have one over my Nuvo 10 (12L"x12W"x13H" area) and can keep high-light acros colored up without issue. I'd recommend mounting the light 7-8" off the water surface and keeping the base of the frags no more than 8" below the surface of the water to achieve adequate PAR. For what it's worth, I've had the best results with color adjusted to mimic EcoTech's AB+ spectrum (UV: 119%, Violet: 116%, Royal: 79%, Blue: 80%, Green: 6%, Deep Red 6%, Cool White: 22%) which runs about 30 watts. I'll caution that I've found the light at those settings tends to pale/bleach SPS unless some detectable nitrates are present in the water column.

Xmoji · Mar 22, 2018

Great information, thank you for that. I was actually thinking of using that AB+ spectrum. I noticed that’s what BrS testing on their video of the light. The only thing is it seems they lost par while using that compared to just having all colors at 100%?

Rakie · Mar 25, 2018

Depends on the nutrients in your display. There's a threshold where corals brown with too much nutrients AND not enough light. I've always run more nutrients than most people, and my display has zero issues with color in SPS -- but my sump, the same size as what you're using, and the same light Ai Prime HD -- It's not enough for my level of nutrients.

So if you run lower amounts of nutrients, it will definitely be fine. If you run higher nutrients, it may not.