AI Prime or Red Sea 50?

Hornet · Dec 29, 2019

Hi all,

I have a small 60x30x30 aquarium with a sump. I am looking for a light for this aquarium, and I haven't been able to choose one.
The options that got recommended to me were the AI Prime or the Red Sea Reefled50.
One problem, my glass thickness is 4mm (I know, not a lot) and the Red Sea needs 8mm for the mounting bracket. Does this have to do with the weight of the light?
The prime says 'up to 30mm', but no minimum.

And which one would you pick? The AI prime? Or the Red sea? Or maybe something else entirely?
I do plan on keeping some corals and already have some.

Seanb1 · Dec 29, 2019

i just purchased 2 radion xr 30 pros today but was looking at the red sea lights and was impressed with the color of them.
as far as anything made by aqua illumination i wouldnt have took two of them today if they were half priced.
in my experience and dropping a boatload of cash on the sol blues years ago and finding out how bad their customer service and parts availability is for their products i would never ever consider buying from them again.
you can get 3 xr 15 pros for under 1200.

whatever you choose my opinion is to stay away from AI.

Waynerock · Dec 29, 2019

For me I enjoy the blues of the primes the RS seem to be more violet/purple on my friends tank. Both are great choices the prime is tried and true, Red Sea is newer but it’s Red Sea and they know there stuff too. I had prime HD’s for three years and just got 3 prime 16’s (RS 250) so I am a fan I have not had a single issue in all of that time. Check with RS about putting the light on your glass thickness though they are heavy compared to a prime and I don’t know of the requirement is for the weight on the glass where it mounts or just how the mount attaches to the tank

Hornet · Dec 30, 2019

Seanndenise said:
i just purchased 2 radion xr 30 pros today but was looking at the red sea lights and was impressed with the color of them.
as far as anything made by aqua illumination i wouldnt have took two of them today if they were half priced.
in my experience and dropping a boatload of cash on the sol blues years ago and finding out how bad their customer service and parts availability is for their products i would never ever consider buying from them again.
you can get 3 xr 15 pros for under 1200.

whatever you choose my opinion is to stay away from AI.

Thanks for the recommendation and sharing your opinion, I will look into the radions as well. Choosing the right lights is hard!
It's really bad that so many companies still have such bad customer service. I can understand that your experience made you not a fan of the brand. It's too often that companies do not see what a chance for good expierence a good customer service gives!

Hornet · Dec 30, 2019

Waynerock said:
For me I enjoy the blues of the primes the RS seem to be more violet/purple on my friends tank. Both are great choices the prime is tried and true, Red Sea is newer but it’s Red Sea and they know there stuff too. I had prime HD’s for three years and just got 3 prime 16’s (RS 250) so I am a fan I have not had a single issue in all of that time. Check with RS about putting the light on your glass thickness though they are heavy compared to a prime and I don’t know of the requirement is for the weight on the glass where it mounts or just how the mount attaches to the tank

Thank you for replying! Good to know about the visual color difference. I contacted Red sea and am still waiting on their reply.
Good to know you were happy with your Primes. I heard there will be a new version soon, so maybe I will wait a bit and check the new version.

Porpoise Hork · Dec 30, 2019

Probably the only complaint I had about the RS LED's was the muted color pop with reds and oranges compared to the AI lights. RS look amazing otherwise with some of the best shimmer I have seen, but I ultimately went with AI because they were able to produce much richer color in my corals. The Radeon's are look even better especially when running the diffusers.

Hornet · Jan 2, 2020

Thanks for the replies all!

I got a reply from Red Sea and they did advise me to not use the tank mount as they can't guarantee that it will be ok. They did tell me there's a pendant option, but sadly that is not really an option for me. So on goes the search.
I am afraid I will have the same problem with the AI, so I think I'll maybe DIY something to hang the lights from.

Porpoise Hork · Jan 2, 2020

Take a look at the AI Double Arm Kit. It's a slotted bar that rests on the top lip of the tank. It comes in several lengths and you can adjust the height fairly easily as well. Another added benefit is the power cable can be tucked up inside the rail to hide it. You may need an extension cable but those are fairly cheap. For mounting Prime's to it the best option I would say to use the hanging mounting kit but use a short stainless screw and nut with a nylon washer to secure it to the rail instead of the cable. This is how the Hydra mounts to it. First run the power cable(s) then slide the nut inside the rail and then place the nylon washer between the mount and the rail then position the mount(s) where you want and tighten them down. After that adjust the cable length and mount the light to the mount. Done. After that use a small bit of 3M double stick tape where the mount arms contact the tank (on the vertical wall part not on top) and then dial in the lights.

Look at the HMS2ARM setup.