Ai Prime Leaving Shadows in Nano Reef

[kai.thompson]

I have my Fluval Evo 13.5 running for almost a year new and have started to add sps within the last few months. The light has coloured up these corals a substation amount since I have bought them, although it leaves the sides facing away uncoloured as it creates a spotlight. Any tips on filling up these shadowed regions?

 

[Zach W]

Have you considered adding a second AI prime to eliminate the shading? Adding more source points is the only way to reduce/eliminate shading unless im missing something.

 

[kai.thompson]

Have you considered adding a second AI prime to eliminate the shading? Adding more source points is the only way to reduce/eliminate shading unless im missing something.

Two primes on a basically a 10 gallon?

 

[Zach W]

Two primes on a basically a 10 gallon?

I know it sounds crazy but if you are wanting to eliminate shading on your SPS you have to add more lights. I dont know of any T5 hybrids that are that small. You could get something cheaper but if you are adding high light demand SPS you wont get the par output you need.

 

[Zach W]

I have an Radion XR30 G4 pro on a 20gal and still have some shading..

 

[infinite0180]

Im in a similar situation. Im running a single xr15 pro over my 18 inch cube. I recently started dosing aminos in the form of Aquavitro Fuel. It has helped color up the shaded sides of the coral substantially. Maybe try that before adding another light...

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Have you adjusted the height of the light? Not sure I understand what is going on, what exactly is creating the shaded spots?

 

[kai.thompson]

Have you adjusted the height of the light? Not sure I understand what is going on, what exactly is creating the shaded spots?

The light is 7 inches above the water which is recommended. The sides facing away from the spotlight are not close to experiencing the same light intensity leaving them colourless.

 

[kai.thompson]

Im in a similar situation. Im running a single xr15 pro over my 18 inch cube. I recently started dosing aminos in the form of Aquavitro Fuel. It has helped color up the shaded sides of the coral substantially. Maybe try that before adding another light...

I’ll take a look into that thanks man

 

[bluprntguy]

Shading is a serious problem with single point LED's on nanos where you only install one fixture. I just replaced my AI Hydra with a Mitras fixture and was astounded by the difference. If you are considering changing lights, the Mitras LX7 would be a better choice since it has multiple light sources, the light sources are moved out to the edge of the fixture, and it doesn't rely on plastic optics to direct the light into a narrow beam.

Mitras LX 7204, white, USA/CND – GHL USA

www.aquariumcomputer.com

 

[kai.thompson]

Shading is a serious problem with single point LED's on nanos where you only install one fixture. I just replaced my AI Hydra with a Mitras fixture and was astounded by the difference. If you are considering changing lights, the Mitras LX7 would be a better choice since it has multiple light sources, the light sources are moved out to the edge of the fixture, and it doesn't rely on plastic optics to direct the light into a narrow beam.

Mitras LX 7204, white, USA/CND – GHL USA

www.aquariumcomputer.com

Yeah but would that be overkill for a 10g? Maybe two ai’s may have to be nessesary

 

[bluprntguy]

Yeah but would that be overkill for a 10g? Maybe two ai’s may have to be nessesary

I'm not sure that two AI's are likely less expensive or less overkill than one of the smaller Mitras fixtures that I linked. IMO, pretty much every lighting option we choose for Nanos are usually overkill and we run them at reduced power.

I'm also not sure that two AI's are really going to solve the issue. You need to spread the light sources apart so that they overlap in multiple directions. This is what people do on larger tanks due to necessity of lighting a larger tank. Two AI Primes can really only overlap in one direction, you'd need three or four to overlap in both directions. You might be able to get creative by angling the lights, but I'm still not sure you are going to be be 100% happy with the results.

 

[Waynerock]

I have my Fluval Evo 13.5 running for almost a year new and have started to add sps within the last few months. The light has coloured up these corals a substation amount since I have bought them, although it leaves the sides facing away uncoloured as it creates a spotlight. Any tips on filling up these shadowed regions?

Multiple primes are the key to eliminate shadowing, on a 13 gal it might be a little over kill but just dial the intensity down. I have 3/65 gallon and I’m very happy with the spread. And those lights are always something you can put on your next tank and just add to them. If you get the hard mount that Ai sells you can angle them differently

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Raising the lights higher above the water will significantly reduce shadowing, but this will also reduce the par. I myself have 2 hydra 52 HD’s mounted 16” above my 50 gallon cube and 2 hydra 26 HD’s mounted 16” above my 29 gallon biocube.

 

[merereef]

I have my Fluval Evo 13.5 running for almost a year new and have started to add sps within the last few months. The light has coloured up these corals a substation amount since I have bought them, although it leaves the sides facing away uncoloured as it creates a spotlight. Any tips on filling up these shadowed regions?

i would raise the lights more to get even coverage and increase intensity so compensate..

 

[MONTANTK]

I know this thread is dead but I found a possible solution to mount reef brites for anyone (including myself) that might have this issue in the future. If you have one prime and want to add reef brites you could probably buy the XR15 or Hydra reef brite mount kit and the use the AI prime tank mount brackets to suspend it over the light. This is something I will probably try after the holidays