AI Prime LED - First Impressions

Mini-30 · May 17, 2016

I just picked up a Aqua Illumination Prime LED fixture for my 37g Column tank. After setting it up and playing with the Wi-Fi control pannel I must say that I am truly impressed with this light. My past lighting setups ALWAYS included some type of Metal Halide lighting with T5 flourescents. Although the T5/MH setups always provided excellent lighting for my corals, there were several setbacks with this type of lighting. Heat and power consumption were always issues which I could not readily reduce.

I have heard a lot about the AI Prime LED's and for my size tank, I figured I would give them a shot. I love the fact that I can not only control the spectrum of light but its intensity as well. I have only had this light set up since this morning but I am already well pleased with it. I am currently running the light at only 50% power and the tank looks amazing. I have my prime set to start at 20k and ramp up to 50% power over 4 hours before moving to 16.5K at 60% power for 4 hours and then changing back t0 20k and ramping back down to off over the next 4 hours. While I am new to this light I am very pleased with its performance, ease of setup, and color/intensity versatility.

I was wondering if anyone else has this light and if so what types of settings/schedules are you using on your tank?

tomtom2245 · May 17, 2016

I have one as well and love it! I did a custom setup with 72UV, 64V, 63DB, 72B, 55G, 45DR, and 35CW. I'm thinking its a little to bright and will dial them back shortly. I also have the lunar sim and storm mode going as well. While the app is great, I found it was way easier to dial the percentages in on a PC. I'm a little more precise with a mouse than my finger on a touchscreen.

Mini-30 · May 17, 2016

I agree with the ease of use on the PC. It is much more precise. While I am no pro at this light by any means, looking at your spectrum you have a lot of red and green light in your settings. It has always been my understanding that too much of those spectrums of light can cause nussiance algae blooms. Instead of selecting individual light colors such as violet, blue, white, etc. I chose to go with the kelvin scale/intensity set up page. I have my tank set up to come on and ramp up in the 20k (blue) light until about noon when the light spectrum turns to 16.5k which is a much brighter/whiter light. It runs in this mode for about 4 hours simulating noon day/late afternoon sun before changing back to the 20k (blue) spectrum and ramping down again in power until shutting off at about 11pm. Again, I am by no means an expert on this type of lighting I am just following my past experiences with my old MH setups which burned 16.5k and 20k in a similar schedule. We will see how it goes. What size tank do you have? Is there more than one Prime on your tank? What is the depth of your tank in inches?