Reef LED vs. AI Prime

[Jonathan.T]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to upgrade my lights may I know Reef LED or AI Prime is more worth to get? What are the pros and cons?

 

[Spare time]

Red sea
pros: -simple light settings with only three channels (blue, white, and moonlight)
-good power and nice pricepoint

cons: - you can't control the blue into more specific ranges like the ai, which is nice for people who don't understand lighting too well, but some may like to have the ability to adjust those for looks

- some complain about a narrower light range but honestly this isn't probably a big deal since red is controversial and white covers the range that non-primary photopigments may work in.
-very little hot spot effect




AI
pros: -more customize-ability
- have been in the light business longer
- can get multiple pucks per a fixture
- broader spectrum

cons: -can be confusing for those who do not have a firm understanding of light and how to choose what channel to be at what percent

- uses 6 out of 16 LEDs on channels that are not particularly for coral growth ( 4 white, 1 red, 1 green )

- slightly more expensive

 

[Jonathan.T]

Red sea
pros: -simple light settings with only three channels (blue, white, and moonlight)
-good power and nice pricepoint

cons: - you can't control the blue into more specific ranges like the ai, which is nice for people who don't understand lighting too well, but some may like to have the ability to adjust those for looks

- some complain about a narrower light range but honestly this isn't probably a big deal since red is controversial and white covers the range that non-primary photopigments may work in.
-very little hot spot effect




AI
pros: -more customize-ability
- have been in the light business longer
- can get multiple pucks per a fixture
- broader spectrum

cons: -can be confusing for those who do not have a firm understanding of light and how to choose what channel to be at what percent

- uses 6 out of 16 LEDs on channels that are not particularly for coral growth ( 4 white, 1 red, 1 green )

- slightly more expensive

What would you recommend personally? Thanks for the detailed write up !

 

[PicassoClown04]

I highly recommend the AI Primes, especially the HD. I currently have one prime and one HD on my 20 gal peninsula and my corals look amazing! I have hydras on my other two tanks and they don’t look nearly as good as the AIs IMO. The app is super easy to use and tweak as needed, the easy set up is especially good and it’s easy to do sunrise/sunset fades and even weather events! I think it’s neat that sometimes I get a lightning storm around 4 pm. Here’s some pics

 

[Spare time]

What would you recommend personally? Thanks for the detailed write up !

The problem with me in terms of visuals is that I am colorblind so its difficult for me to say which one I like better. I really enjoyed the visuals of the AI Prime HD when I had it set up. There was more of a subtle blue and glow with all the blues maxed out compared to the red sea. The only thing I hated was the app as connecting was quite a headache until I found a way to consistently do it. The reef LED had more of the actinic look to it with its blue channel, but looks pretty natural with 15k setting (100 blue 100 white).

It really is hard to say unless you see them in person

 

[AdamNC]

Here’s some comparisons for you.

 

[Jonathan.T]

I highly recommend the AI Primes, especially the HD. I currently have one prime and one HD on my 20 gal peninsula and my corals look amazing! I have hydras on my other two tanks and they don’t look nearly as good as the AIs IMO. The app is super easy to use and tweak as needed, the easy set up is especially good and it’s easy to do sunrise/sunset fades and even weather events! I think it’s neat that sometimes I get a lightning storm around 4 pm. Here’s some pics

Thank you for the write up and awesome looking pictures. Your tank is stunning !

 

[Jonathan.T]

The problem with me in terms of visuals is that I am colorblind so its difficult for me to say which one I like better. I really enjoyed the visuals of the AI Prime HD when I had it set up. There was more of a subtle blue and glow with all the blues maxed out compared to the red sea. The only thing I hated was the app as connecting was quite a headache until I found a way to consistently do it. The reef LED had more of the actinic look to it with its blue channel, but looks pretty natural with 15k setting (100 blue 100 white).

It really is hard to say unless you see them in person

I will have a look at it at my LFS this coming weekend. Cheers mate for the info!

 

[Secondhandreefer]

Here’s some comparisons for you.

Why would you have an AI prime or Red Sea 50 24 inch off the water.? And 36x36 space is not a recommended for these lights. That test is awful.

 

[Shooter6]

These are from a fellow reefer who bought one of the ledzeal.com mirage x300 lights. We are both end users and this is his findings. Ive not received my turnvwith the brs appogee meter yet.

 

[Spare time]

Why would you have an AI prime or Red Sea 50 24 inch off the water.? And 36x36 space is not a recommended for these lights. That test is awful.

The test is not awful. This is saying 24 inches away from the light not off the water.

 

[AdamNC]

Why would you have an AI prime or Red Sea 50 24 inch off the water.? And 36x36 space is not a recommended for these lights. That test is awful.

Im pretty sure AI knows what they’re doing when it comes to testing.

 

[Secondhandreefer]

Here’s some comparisons for you.

Why would you have an AI prime or Red Sea 50 24 inch off the water.And 36x36 space is not a recommended for these lights. That test is awful.

Im pretty sure AI knows what they’re doing when it comes to testing.

It doesn’t look like it. More like the marketing department trying to pull a fast one on the consumer. Why would you provide information on your product and another competitor, but use a test that no one would actually use on there tank. No one would use one light on a 36x36 tank. Plus if you are using the light over a 24 in open air area, that would not make any sense since water reflects light in weird ways.

 

[Phil D.]

I suggest watching the Red Sea lighting videos on You Tube. They researched lighting and found corals mostly use the 360-480nm spectrum and very little of the white. We have it on my daughter's E-170 and the corals are growing very nicely. I had some acans in my tank (AI Hydra 26 HDs) and they didn't like it, put them in her tank and they came back with brighter colors.

 

[Shooter6]

Redsea now has the reefled 160s i believe is its name. Its supposed to cover up to 3ftx3ftx3ft. If so thats a great competitor for the xr30g5 not only in price but als coverage. That beTs out the brs recommendation for an xr30.
Only issue is ive heard a number of people 4-6 who have had to return multiple of the led90 to be replaced under warranty. That is multiple times per person.

 

[Bpb]

Redsea now has the reefled 160s i believe is its name. Its supposed to cover up to 3ftx3ftx3ft. If so thats a great competitor for the xr30g5 not only in price but als coverage. That beTs out the brs recommendation for an xr30.
Only issue is ive heard a number of people 4-6 who have had to return multiple of the led90 to be replaced under warranty. That is multiple times per person.

problem with that coverage range is it is still coming from a source the size of a quarter. Anything not directly looking at the light will be nearly completely shaded. Even if it will throw the light 3 feet, I would never personally use, or recommend using any less than 1 dense matrix style led fixture every 12-18” of length If the user will be keeping any appreciable amount of branching coral.

Put ONE dense matrix smack dab in the center of a 24” cube, and the entire sandbed may be illuminated evenly, but any branching coral not situated directly under the point source will be half shaded. Yes, there will be a minuscule amount of back scatter from glass and sand, but not enough to make a big difference. There’s an easily dismissable but extremely important distinction between raw spread, and realistic coverage.

If keeping mostly encrusting corals or corals which are soft and wave around In the current, it is less of an issue since by design they will not self shade

 

[cshouston]

Why would you have an AI prime or Red Sea 50 24 inch off the water.And 36x36 space is not a recommended for these lights. That test is awful.

It doesn’t look like it. More like the marketing department trying to pull a fast one on the consumer. Why would you provide information on your product and another competitor, but use a test that no one would actually use on there tank. No one would use one light on a 36x36 tank. Plus if you are using the light over a 24 in open air area, that would not make any sense since water reflects light in weird ways.

You’re completely misinterpreting that test. It’s just meant to show the general par spread, not tell people how to use it on their tank. They recommend the Prime for 24x24 coverage. The dang test is just for visualizing.

 

[Shooter6]

problem with that coverage range is it is still coming from a source the size of a quarter. Anything not directly looking at the light will be nearly completely shaded. Even if it will throw the light 3 feet, I would never personally use, or recommend using any less than 1 dense matrix style led fixture every 12-18” of length If the user will be keeping any appreciable amount of branching coral.

Put ONE dense matrix smack dab in the center of a 24” cube, and the entire sandbed may be illuminated evenly, but any branching coral not situated directly under the point source will be half shaded. Yes, there will be a minuscule amount of back scatter from glass and sand, but not enough to make a big difference. There’s an easily dismissable but extremely important distinction between raw spread, and realistic coverage.

If keeping mostly encrusting corals or corals which are soft and wave around In the current, it is less of an issue since by design they will not self shade

Thats why i shared the results another person got from the ledzeal.com mirage x300. Thats 36" long.

 

[Bpb]

Thats why i shared the results another person got from the ledzeal.com mirage x300. Thats 36" long.

I tend to prefer that style of luminaire as well. They’re not as popular or stylish but functionally superior

 

[Spare time]

Here’s some comparisons for you.

Its not a good idea to ask a company if their product is better than their competitor because the odds are they are going to say theirs. You need to use 3rd party sources in a case like that.