Ai prime

[the schwartz]

I have seen Some mixed reviews on the prime and while they were all mostly good I was just trying to figure out for those of you that have it if you have good results and if you have had any problems? Thanks.

 

[Garf]

I have seen Some mixed reviews on the prime and while they were all mostly good I was just trying to figure out for those of you that have it if you have good results and if you have had any problems? Thanks.

One of my lenses has melted out but still works ok. Don’t know if that’s a common LED thing with other types/makes as these are my first dabble into LEDs for a display tank.

 

[Tathamet]

I have a prime hd (not 16hd) and do love the colours and controls/programming more than any other light I’ve seen in person. love the wifi/cloud connection too but apparently the new primes don’t have it enabled.

Downsides are it was way weaker than I expected and read about. And apparently if you keep channels at 100% or higher the lenses will eventually burn/melt. I haven’t experienced that yet personally though.

 

[the schwartz]

I have a prime hd (not 16hd) and do love the colours and controls/programming more than any other light I’ve seen in person. love the wifi/cloud connection too but apparently the new primes don’t have it enabled.

Downsides are it was way weaker than I expected and read about. And apparently if you keep channels at 100% or higher the lenses will eventually burn/melt. I haven’t experienced that yet personally though.

Okay thanks, as an alternative is there something else that is preferred in same range of price?

 

[the schwartz]

One of my lenses has melted out but still works ok. Don’t know if that’s a common LED thing with other types/makes as these are my first dabble into LEDs for a display tank.

Ok thanks!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I've had mine about a year, I'm about 70% happy with it. I use it on a 15 gallon softie tank.

It's not very strong, the light dispersement isn't very good, and it just feels very blue no matter how I fix the settings. The fan is also a bit noisy.

I chose this light over a kessil because of the lower cost, which I regret.

 

[Mjl714]

One of my lenses has melted out but still works ok. Don’t know if that’s a common LED thing with other types/makes as these are my first dabble into LEDs for a display tank.

Contact AI, they’ll send you replacement lenses. Mine were well out of warranty and they sent me free replacements.

 

[the schwartz]

I've had mine about a year, I'm about 70% happy with it. I use it on a 15 gallon softie tank.

It's not very strong, the light dispersement isn't very good, and it just feels very blue no matter how I fix the settings. The fan is also a bit noisy.

I chose this light over a kessil because of the lower cost, which I regret.

So I should just go for a Kessil?

 

[brandon429]

I went from kessil last 7 years to ai prime 16 hd and its better by far in every way. you dont need to run 100% on your size tank with it/ it'll be fine

I had a guy run one over his 29 gallon reef/ 1 ai prime 16 hd/ and it's doing great with the corals/just fine.

instead of stacking his corals all over the tank, we're building them up in the dead center under the light. when he gets growth + a bunch of corals on the side he can buy one more light.

 

[Mjl714]

So I should just go for a Kessil?

what size and dimensions is your tank?

I have both, two AI 16 hd’s (on a 30 gallon IM) and two Kessil a360we (on a 75 gallon since 2015), with their contoller. The Kessil’s are better built, but more powerful, more expensive and have better color blending. The AI’s are lower profile, which I like on my smaller kitchen 30g IM (since 2018) I like the AI control app, except that it is only accessible from inside our home. My lenses did melt in two places, same place on both lights, but AI did send out free replacements. What else would you like to know?

 

[Tathamet]

Okay thanks, as an alternative is there something else that is preferred in same range of price?

I should say it’s still an adequate light power wise. Maybe a little under performing for sps on its own but can still work for them.

I picked up 2 different Noo-Psyche lights a while ago that I’m still messing with (not using yet). I got the k7 mini which is way cheaper than the prime and has lots more power. And light penetration is insane on this thing too. Downside to it is there are only 3 colour channels to control and it always seems to have a bit of a purple hue to it no matter what setting you use. It’s not as bad as I’m making it sound but I think I’ve just been spoiled by the colours and controls of the prime.

the second one I got is the k7 pro v3 which is still cheaper than a prime (maybe just over 3 times more powerful than the prime) but it has 6 controllable channels compared to the 3 on the mini. So getting the colours you like is better with this light. Note if you go with this one you can probably turn down the percentages considerably to work with your tank. Should keep it cooler and it’s life should last longer with the lower power use.

 

[Tathamet]

I've had mine about a year, I'm about 70% happy with it. I use it on a 15 gallon softie tank.

It's not very strong, the light dispersement isn't very good, and it just feels very blue no matter how I fix the settings. The fan is also a bit noisy.

I chose this light over a kessil because of the lower cost, which I regret.

Interesting that it’s noisy. I wonder if the 16s are louder than the prime hd cause I cant even hear mine when it’s on unless I put my ear right up to it. My noops definitely make some noise though.

 

[Mjl714]

Interesting that it’s noisy. I wonder if the 16s are louder than the prime hd cause I cant even hear mine when it’s on unless I put my ear right up to it. My noops definitely make some noise though.

I don’t hear any fan noises from my AI 16 HD’s, unless I go and listen right next to them.

 

[brandon429]

the new ones don't have that issue. the old ones with wifi were a terrible back door hacking risk due to the chip used/this new bluetooth only solves that issue. my ai prime 16 hd is very quiet and I'm running about 40% power due to running it over a one gallon pico reef/my fan never comes on not ever.

 

[the schwartz]

what size and dimensions is your tank?

I have both, two AI 16 hd’s (on a 30 gallon IM) and two Kessil a360we (on a 75 gallon since 2015), with their contoller. The Kessil’s are better built, but more powerful, more expensive and have better color blending. The AI’s are lower profile, which I like on my smaller kitchen 30g IM (since 2018) I like the AI control app, except that it is only accessible from inside our home. My lenses did melt in two places, same place on both lights, but AI did send out free replacements. What else would you like to know?

I have the Im 15 so total water volume is 15 by 15 and display is 15 by 12 I believe

 

[Garf]

Contact AI, they’ll send you replacement lenses. Mine were well out of warranty and they sent me free replacements.

It’s a bit of a hassle getting replacements, being in the UK, as far as I can tell. My plan is to ignore it until the lense on the other one melts (bit odd only one has melted away, as of yet) perhaps lowering the lights to see what happened. It may just spread out the available light to other parts of the tank and bounce off the glass. I’ve run a turf scrubber without lenses before, but that was at really close quarters. I’m not seeing anything bad happening under the melted lense though. I do have two aqua ray led bars along the front and back however, which maybe helping out I suppose.

 

[Mjl714]

It’s a bit of a hassle getting replacements, being in the UK, as far as I can tell. My plan is to ignore it until the lense on the other one melts (bit odd only one has melted away, as of yet) perhaps lowering the lights to see what happened. It may just spread out the available light to other parts of the tank and bounce off the glass. I’ve run a turf scrubber without lenses before, but that was at really close quarters. I’m not seeing anything bad happening under the melted lense though. I do have two aqua ray led bars along the front and back however, which maybe helping out I suppose.

I ran mine with melted lenses for a couple years with no issues.

Bummer on the lenses replacement hassle. You do know they just mailed me the lenses and I installed them, so I was not without the lights.

 

[brandon429]

it will work great for that, a single ai prime 16 hd.

 

[Mjl714]

I went from kessil last 7 years to ai prime 16 hd and its better by far in every way. you dont need to run 100% on your size tank with it/ it'll be fine

I had a guy run one over his 29 gallon reef/ 1 ai prime 16 hd/ and it's doing great with the corals/just fine.

instead of stacking his corals all over the tank, we're building them up in the dead center under the light. when he gets growth + a bunch of corals on the side he can buy one more light.

I am curious as to why you like the ai prime hd way better than the kessil’s (160’s or 360’s other)?

 

[Mjl714]

I have the Im 15 so total water volume is 15 by 15 and display is 15 by 12 I believe

In this size, I’d probably choose the ai 16 hd, due to the more compact profile, and the assumption that AI has fixed the lenses melting issue. Nevertheless either light will do.