Do I only need one ai prime for my 24 by 24 cube?

[Gabe aqua]

So I have a Kessil A160WE currently which I am going to sell as soon as my 30 days are up but I am going to buy an ai prime do I only need one to support a mixed coral tank? My tank is a 24x24 cube. Currently I am cycling my tank and waiting for my other fish to arrive so I have time to buy the light.

 

[piranhaman00]

No those are weak lights you would want two for sure, but at the price go with a short panel, maybe reef breeders? Or 24” t5

 

[Gabe aqua]

No those are weak lights you would want two for sure, but at the price go with a short panel, maybe reef breeders? Or 24” t5

So I am going to need to buy 2

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

So I am going to need to buy 2

or buy one better quality. AI16 is a nano tank light, not really strong enough to light 24" deep

 

[Gabe aqua]

Do you know what other light would work best?

 

[V A R I A N T]

Navigate to the 3:45 minute mark

 

[Gabe aqua]

Navigate to the 3:45 minute mark

Ok thank you I just him talking and all I need is one, so tonight I will purchase it.

 

[nuxx Verified Sponsor]

Can always add down the line and just keep more demanding coral in the higher par areas. I had shadows in my tank with 6 Kessils.

 

[Gabe aqua]

Can always add down the line and just keep more demanding coral in the higher par areas. I had shadows in my tank with 6 Kessils.

Ok great to know and thanks

 

[Tathamet]

I think a Noo-Psyche k7 pro mini should work decently on this. Max coverage is 24x24 inches but its recommended for 20x20 inches. It seems to have really good penetration though so I think it would work well for mixed reef 24” deep. If you want to get a little better coverage you could go with the k7 pro v3. Note the mini has only 3 colour channels and the v3 has 6 so you’ll have more control/customization with the v3.

 

[Nburg's Reef]

All depends on what you want to keep, but most likely, it will look dim, have shadows along the sides and will not penetrate 24" deep very well. Even 2 would be low light on that deep of a tank. If you're keeping all low light LPS, 2 would work, but I would look more into a larger fixture.

If price was an issue, you could get a used radion G4 XR30 for a really good price. Hell, one of the black boxes like MarsAqua would blanket that tank, but doesn't have as many bells and whistles, and may not be as reliable, but they are powerful lights at a good price.

 

[Dkmoo]

Really depends what you want to keep when you say "mixed reef". softy/lps, most lightly ok. Add in SPS might be OK for some of the lower light requirement ones like Lepto. Definitely no if you want acros and montis

When in doubt, get a par meter.

 

[mike550]

Ok thank you I just him talking and all I need is one, so tonight I will purchase it.

There’s another video on BRS that shows suggested setting and PAR values. My recollection is that one Prime can support soft corals (see attached PAR map) on a 24x24. But you’ll get higher readings as you get closer to the lamp — let this guide your coral placement

 

[Tamberav]

I would plan on needing two imo eventually unless mostly softy/some LPS tank.

I do not like running these fixtures at 100%. Get TWO!

 

[Gabe aqua]

I would plan on needing two imo eventually unless mostly softy/some LPS tank.

I do not like running these fixtures at 100%. Get TWO!

Ok

 

[Spare time]

You don't need 2 for that size tank but as others mentioned if you run them above 100% or so they melt the lenses (hence why I don't like AI lights).

 

[Gabe aqua]

You don't need 2 for that size tank but as others mentioned if you run them above 100% or so they melt the lenses (hence why I don't like AI lights).

Ok yeah I might just go with two ai primes

 

[Gabe aqua]

What I was looking more for is euphillia corals, torches mainly, but then some other corals like zoas, Lps corals, and probably a birdsnest, and pulsating Xenia,but I don’t want Sps that much, so do you guys think that the ai prime will support these corals?

 

[TheStrangler]

I ran a Hydra 32HD (I assume pretty comparable to two 16s) on a 24x24 cube and while it had more than enough power to grow LPS and probably even SPS, the light coverage was pretty poor. I went to a reefbreeders Photon 24 and have been pretty happy with it.

This is just my guess, but I'd think that a single 16 on a 24x24 at 100% power would be capable of growing what you want, but not everywhere in the tank and you'll see dark zones in places. With two 16s you'll probably get better coverage than my single 32 just because you can move the lights around where you want, and won't have to run them at high power. I don't remember what settings I had mine at, but the lenses did melt though (annoying...)

If you're set on the 16s, I'd say you probably want two. No harm in starting with one though and seeing just how much it'll cover.

 

[Gabe aqua]

I ran a Hydra 32HD (I assume pretty comparable to two 16s) on a 24x24 cube and while it had more than enough power to grow LPS and probably even SPS, the light coverage was pretty poor. I went to a reefbreeders Photon 24 and have been pretty happy with it.

This is just my guess, but I'd think that a single 16 on a 24x24 at 100% power would be capable of growing what you want, but not everywhere in the tank and you'll see dark zones in places. With two 16s you'll probably get better coverage than my single 32 just because you can move the lights around where you want, and won't have to run them at high power. I don't remember what settings I had mine at, but the lenses did melt though (annoying...)

If you're set on the 16s, I'd say you probably want two. No harm in starting with one though and seeing just how much it'll cover.

Ok I will check out the other light and I probably will get the two ai primes though but when I go to my local fish store I will ask how I should space out the two lights, but thank you.