Two Hydra 26, too much light?

[Krzydmnd]

Good morning! I have a biocube 32 that I was previously running Steve's LED upgrade on for a mostly SPS, LPS tank. The lights were running pretty high intensity and my corals are all thriving.

I had an opportunity to pick up two Hydra 26 HD for a good price and will be upgrading to a larger tank this summer so I couldn't pass on the deal.

In my current setup, the Steve's light had a nice wide coverage but lacked front to back. I rigged up the Hydra set because, well because new toys of course, and they offer much better front to back illumination but just one in the center didn't provide the same side to side so I threw the second one up for reference.

With both Hydra running I am very happy with the lighting coverage now, but I'm wondering if it's too intense for the health of the coral.

Disregard the shelf bracket and zip tie rigging and the egg crate cover, it's just temporary. Do you think this will be OK or is this way too much?

I'm running the AB+ settings right now.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Good morning! I have a biocube 32 that I was previously running Steve's LED upgrade on for a mostly SPS, LPS tank. The lights were running pretty high intensity and my corals are all thriving.

I had an opportunity to pick up two Hydra 26 HD for a good price and will be upgrading to a larger tank this summer so I couldn't pass on the deal.

In my current setup, the Steve's light had a nice wide coverage but lacked front to back. I rigged up the Hydra set because, well because new toys of course, and they offer much better front to back illumination but just one in the center didn't provide the same side to side so I threw the second one up for reference.

With both Hydra running I am very happy with the lighting coverage now, but I'm wondering if it's too intense for the health of the coral.

Disregard the shelf bracket and zip tie rigging and the egg crate cover, it's just temporary. Do you think this will be OK or is this way too much?

I'm running the AB+ settings right now.

Most likely. If you want to keep both of them up i'd turn them way down. One fixture would work great for that tank, two may be overkill

 

[trido]

If your'e running them both at 100% you'll find out rather quickly when your corals start bleaching if its too much light. I'd start them at 50% blue and then white to your liking and go from there.

 

[Krzydmnd]

Most likely. If you want to keep both of them up i'd turn them way down. One fixture would work great for that tank, two may be overkill

That begs the next question, I don't see an intensity slider in the settings. Am I missing something?

 

[Fudsey]

Are you using the mobile app or pc?

 

[Crabs McJones]

I'm not familiar with AI unfortunately, but I believe whatever color percentage you choose is also your intensity for each color.

 

[Fudsey]

You can find it under control/manual in the app.

There are literally tons of schedules you can download and then upload to myAI.

 

[reef lover]

You can manually turn them down. Or turn on the coral acclimation period under effects...and start at 50% .

 

[Krzydmnd]

You can find it under control/manual in the app.

There are literally tons of schedules you can download and then upload to myAI.

Mine doesn't show a single intensity slider. Do I just cut each channel by half (if I am targeting 50% as an example) of the AB+ numbers?

 

[hart24601]

And just watch the corals. Look at them every day, if you see some start bleaching turn the intensity down. Unless you really blast the heck out of them you can see bleaching starting and adjust before much happens.

Considering you can run them very low it’s not overkill, but would be at 100%!

 

[Crabs McJones]

Mine doesn't show a single intensity slider. Do I just cut each channel by half (if I am targeting 50% as an example) of the AB+ numbers?

I believe so

 

[reef lover]

U can do it that way or if u like ur settings then go down to effects go to coral acclimation pick ur start and end dates reduction % and turn on.

 

[Fudsey]

If you go into Auto you can set up a full schedule with ramp up and ramp down. This is mine

You can go here and download my settings as well as @jsker 's. I have also setup 2 AB+ settings you can look at if you want

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kDafH9GZGB6Hf2TmFQ0ZCJAVqNk0yb8R

All you do is download them to your device, go to "auto" then click the "share" button, as seen above on the bottom right, to upload it to your lights. On the app it's on the top right.

 

[Krzydmnd]

If you go into Auto you can set up a full schedule with ramp up and ramp down. This is mine

You can go here and download my settings as well as @jsker 's. I have also setup 2 AB+ settings you can look at if you want

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kDafH9GZGB6Hf2TmFQ0ZCJAVqNk0yb8R

All you do is download them to your device, go to "auto" then click the "share" button, as seen above on the bottom right, to upload it to your lights. On the app it's on the top right.

Sweet! Thank you for sharing! One weird thing I noticed is that my clowns are suddenly swimming all over the tank today. They NEVER did that before, they always hung out in the corner and I figured they didn't like the flow at the front. They are exploring everywhere now. It never crossed my mind that it could have been lights before.

 

[Krzydmnd]

If you go into Auto you can set up a full schedule with ramp up and ramp down. This is mine

You can go here and download my settings as well as @jsker 's. I have also setup 2 AB+ settings you can look at if you want

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kDafH9GZGB6Hf2TmFQ0ZCJAVqNk0yb8R

All you do is download them to your device, go to "auto" then click the "share" button, as seen above on the bottom right, to upload it to your lights. On the app it's on the top right.

OK a few more questions since the app is really anti-intuitive...

I've loaded one of your programs... I would like my start and end times to be earlier, like 8am to 9pm. Do I have to completely redo every hour setting or can I simply adjust the timeline of the program?

When I load a program and have acclimation mode turned on do I have to do anything else or is it automatically reducing the intensity? I don't notice a change when I flip acc mode on and off.

 

[Fudsey]

I have had issues with the app but I have been able to slide the whole program in it just don't remember how. I think it was something like tapping the time and sliding it but not sure. And you should see acclamation mode turn down the brightness after a few seconds

 

[esquare]

I have 2 Hydra 26hd over my 40 breeder and love the coverage. I started with the AB+ from BRS but have dialed it down a little and started to get more colors out of my acans.

 

[Rscott]

wow that is a lot of light for a biocube.

 

[Krzydmnd]

wow that is a lot of light for a biocube.

Lol yeah. I got them for my next tank but couldn't resist trying them out on the cube. All of my coral seem pretty happy so far!