AI prime wifi LED

[jedimasterben]

I don't know nearly what you do when it comes to LED lighting Ben, but I don't know if I totally subscribe to your theory with the aquarium lighting industry. It seems to me that it would be a competitive advantage to have a light that makes coral appear better to the average reefer's eyes as there are times you can see lights side by side such as my LFS. Just hard for me to think that these big companies don't ask or do experimental fixtures with different color combinations and ask reefers what they prefer.

 

My eye is not trained like yours, but my WW fixtures were not impressive to me color wise. Perhaps it was the quality of LED or something else, I have not a clue, but all I know is when I plugged in the AI I was very happy with the colors I could see that I couldn't before. With all your experimentation what LED combination did you finally find that you liked? I thought you ended up running LED with t5 to get the look you wanted, I don't think most of us have that critical of an eye.

There is a lot in the companies the produce for this hobby that just don't make sense yet continue happening. There are loads of supplements that have been sold for 10 years now that still don't do anything that they are claimed to do, yet people still buy the hell out of them and the companies keep producing them.

 

I found the best combination to be a mixture of a high-CRI warm white and lime in about a 1:1 ratio, then double that amount of royal blue, with a little bit of standard blue and cyan, and then add in violet to what you can afford price and power-wise. This covers basically the entire visible spectrum, especially from 540-640nm. I'm very, very surprised that in this new round of LED fixtures that is hitting now and in a short while that lime is not included, that is by far the biggest downfall next to no high-CRI whites.

 

I'm currently not running any T5 supplementation. Two rows of LEDs spaced out around 6-8" fixed the spread issues I was having over my 48x24 tank.

[Hart24601]

There are many supplements that are out there that do nothing, however they are not obvious as running two light fixtures side by side and picking the color you prefer, I don't think that is an suitable comparison, but I that's ok, it doesn't really matter.

 

The color combo you came up with is only 1 LED less color than the hydras now (same if you include their UV), so maybe we will eventually see those colors in a large manufacturer since they can still hype the different colors and leverage the "new" lime and WW for marketing.

 

Sorry for the digressing on the thread. FWIW the prime looks pretty amazing to me for $200 bucks with controller and I am sure many people will be thrilled with the spectrum.

[Horerczy]

He's just a fanboy of nanobox. Its ok, we all have our preferences. In all fairness....I think the nanobox has a great look to it as is!

Actually only one of my tanks is lit by nanobox. The others use Chinese lights and the lights i built with my dad are based on the evil cluster design. That said if you like the prime's spectrum then enjoy. I've never been a fan of ai spectrum myself.

 

So pay $200 just to use the shell? Wow.. But a couple of recent owners say that the light generated looks really nice?

Not just the shell. The fan and power supply at salvageable as well. The driver/wifi board, leds, and lens can be salvaged and sold to a prime owner that likes their light stock as spare parts for ~$100 to help make up for the cost of drivers, voltage regulator for the fan, controller.

[jmsalt1]

Looking at this light it's tempting to buy one ... So I can gut it and put a nanobox puck in there. That sexy body deserves a better spectrum.

 

Maybe conbined with a sheet of difusion material for that perfect color mix. Of course a gooseneck ala Dave and a bluefish mini to round out those features as well.

 

Um, that would be an unusual choice. I received my AI Prime today. As previously stated, I own both now and can compare and comment on each of them without bias in my opinion anyway. I'm just a regular guy, not getting kick backs or special pricing from either :-)

 

The body of the AI Prime is plastic folks, no getting around that fact. Not even plastic without flaws and minor finish imperfections. I believe the body on the Nano Box units is aluminum, regardless, it isn't plastic. There are swirls / blemishes in the finish and you can see a faint (very faint but there) seam right in the front of the unit from the mold used to form the body. If you received an Nano Box unit with any blemishes, I'm sure you could ship it back to Dave and he would rework it until it met your expectations. This level of service is not going to happen with a mass produced product like the Prime. If it wasn't to your liking or expectations, you would simply return it hoping the replacement was better, which it may or may not be, it would be all luck of the draw.

 

People seem to be getting a bit sensitive about the comments comparing the two lights here on the AI Prime thread so I will at some point start a separate thread (unless one gets started before I get around to it) with my head to head thoughts. FWIW, build quality goes to Nano Box, you get what you pay for folks. I'm not saying that the Prime is bad aesthetically, it just has more of a hobbyist vibe with regards to build quality vs. a more upscale professional grade build quality on the Nano Box units.

 

I played with the Prime for a bit earlier today, it's a neat little light and the wifi connection was very easy to set up. I'll continue to post Prime specific facts / comments / questions here and I look forward to seeing how it holds up over time and how the animals respond to it.

[gulfsurfer101]

Can this thing be programmed to have ramping capabilities, and what other bells and whistles do you get with the prime?

[reefernanoman]

Um, that would be an unusual choice. I received my AI Prime today. As previously stated, I own both now and can compare and comment on each of them without bias in my opinion anyway. I'm just a regular guy, not getting kick backs or special pricing from either :-)

 

The body of the AI Prime is plastic folks, no getting around that fact. Not even plastic without flaws and minor finish imperfections. I believe the body on the Nano Box units is aluminum, regardless, it isn't plastic. There are swirls / blemishes in the finish and you can see a faint (very faint but there) seam right in the front of the unit from the mold used to form the body. If you received an Nano Box unit with any blemishes, I'm sure you could ship it back to Dave and he would rework it until it met your expectations. This level of service is not going to happen with a mass produced product like the Prime. If it wasn't to your liking or expectations, you would simply return it hoping the replacement was better, which it may or may not be, it would be all luck of the draw.

 

People seem to be getting a bit sensitive about the comments comparing the two lights here on the AI Prime thread so I will at some point start a separate thread (unless one gets started before I get around to it) with my head to head thoughts. FWIW, build quality goes to Nano Box, you get what you pay for folks. I'm not saying that the Prime is bad aesthetically, it just has more of a hobbyist vibe with regards to build quality vs. a more upscale professional grade build quality on the Nano Box units.

 

I played with the Prime for a bit earlier today, it's a neat little light and the wifi connection was very easy to set up. I'll continue to post Prime specific facts / comments / questions here and I look forward to seeing how it holds up over time and how the animals respond to it.

 

You are thinking about starting a separate the thread about the PRIME? I think that we should continue it here no? Why start from scratch again? Even if another thread is started, I can almost guarantee that the comparisons will continue. Thanks for your input BTW.

[Surfzup2k4]

Wow, that is a sharp little light. It might end up being exactly what I have been looking for. You absolutely have to LOVE that price! I am looking forward to more pictures on tanks.

[jmsalt1]

You are thinking about starting a separate the thread about the PRIME? I think that we should continue it here no? Why start from scratch again? Even if another thread is started, I can almost guarantee that the comparisons will continue. Thanks for your input BTW.

That is not what I said. Please read more carefully. Some have complained about the this thread degrading into a debate about the AI Prime vs. the Nano Box Mini Tide. I think it is a valid point. Please read my post again and you will see that I plan to comment on and discuss Prime specific topics right here, further comparisons to the Nano Box elsewhere.

[jmsalt1]

Can this thing be programmed to have ramping capabilities, and what other bells and whistles do you get with the prime?

Yes, you can ramp and you can ramp each of the 7 color channels independently. This is all easily (my opinion) programmed through the app.

 

Bells & Whistles -

 

Storms / Clouds = gimmick IMO. I just turned it off and will play w it later.

 

Lunar mode - I turned it "on" in the app. but have not played w it much. I have the Violet channel set to a very low 5% peak overnight ramping up to that at 12 am and then back down to 0% by 6am. My DT is essentially a 12x12x12 cube so using more than a single led for moon phase is too much light. So, on this fixture I think the Violet or UV will be the best options? Thoughts on that welcomed. See below for additional information found on the Lunar Effect.

[jmsalt1]

Also, in the lack of bells and whistles category for the Prime, you cannot program the photoperiod based on lat. / long. whereby you select the lat. / long. of anywhere in the world and the photoperiod is adjusted 365 days a year to match sunrise and sunset at that location. I called AI and asked about this before ordering so this was not a surprise to me. However, in that same conversation w/ Justin, I was told the fan would be controlled by a thermal sensor so it would only be on when the operating temp. of the fixture called for it. Cool, right? This was INCORRECT. The fan runs all the time. If anyone has one that doesn't run constantly when plugged in, please post. I will say my fan is very quiet.

 

An annoying thing I have not figured out yet, no obvious on/off button in the app. or on the fixture!?! So, to shut this thing off for any reason you need to manually unplug the unit? Hope I just missed this or an update to the app. is on the way.

[gulfsurfer101]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like you can customize your night cycle to your own preferences then. Maybe a video demonstration of how you were able to achieve this once you become more familiar with the fixture would be very helpful if you have time.

[jmsalt1]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like you can customize your night cycle to your own preferences then. Maybe a video demonstration of how you were able to achieve this once you become more familiar with the fixture would be very helpful if you have time.

Yes, you can customize each of the 7 channels, 0-100% output over a 24 hour period in 10 minute increments. I don't see any ability to change it by day of the week, not that I would have any interest in doing that anyway.

 

At this point, I have not read any user manual. I have not looked on their web site for it yet. This is all learning through playing. I'm not sure, but you may be able to download the app. to your device and play around w it to get a sense for how it works even if you don't have the fixture.

[gulfsurfer101]

I've actually toyed with the idea of doing that. What kind of punch do these things have. I know they say at a depth of 12" they have plenty of power, but what if I wanted to run a pair over an 18" shallow tank. Will it provide enough punch to handle lps on the sandbed. I'm not too sure if this information is available yet so forgive me if I'm asking questions that are obvious or just plain dumb, but it be nice to know.

[Horerczy]

Good info Good info.

[jmsalt1]

My bad from earlier re: Lunar Cycle. Stumbled across this on the AI site while looking for a user guide.

 

"The Lunar Effect does not add light, it simply scales whatever values are set on your Prime's schedule based on the current cycle of the moon. So for instance, if the intensities during the Lunar Effect are at 10%, and the moon is half full, then the Prime will be on at about 5% intensity.

 

You should be able to control the schedule on the web interface. To adjust the intensity at a specific time, click the "+" on the graph. Adjust the intensity at that time using the sliders that appear. Then click the checkmark when you are done to save the schedule. Let us know if you have any troubles with this.

 

Regards,

 

Justin

 

AI Team "

[reefernanoman]

I'm glad to see that the Prime is delivering so far! Congrats to all the new owners.

[seecrabrun]

How many do you think you'd need over a 24x12" with some sps?

[gulfsurfer101]

Thanks for showing up Justin! I'm sure you are about to be bombarded with tons of questions in the following comments, and I'll be tagging along for the info.

[Sancho]

Yes, you can ramp and you can ramp each of the 7 color channels independently. This is all easily (my opinion) programmed through the app.

 

Bells & Whistles -

 

Storms / Clouds = gimmick IMO. I just turned it off and will play w it later.

 

Lunar mode - I turned it "on" in the app. but have not played w it much. I have the Violet channel set to a very low 5% peak overnight ramping up to that at 12 am and then back down to 0% by 6am. My DT is essentially a 12x12x12 cube so using more than a single led for moon phase is too much light. So, on this fixture I think the Violet or UV will be the best options? Thoughts on that welcomed. See below for additional information found on the Lunar Effect.

UV and violet I found were not a good option for lunar mode with my hydra. I am no expert on light spectrum but am pretty sure to much UV is a bad thing for corals. I had some coral melt off using UV and Violet. This is my experience using the Hydra not the Prime. I use Blue as my lunar mode and have it shut off around midnight.

[Horerczy]

Lunar mode - I turned it "on" in the app. but have not played w it much. I have the Violet channel set to a very low 5% peak overnight ramping up to that at 12 am and then back down to 0% by 6am. My DT is essentially a 12x12x12 cube so using more than a single led for moon phase is too much light. So, on this fixture I think the Violet or UV will be the best options? Thoughts on that welcomed. See below for additional information found on the Lunar Effect.

Unless thereb is a single chip option besides the two violet chips, the green chip, and the red chip, use red for moonlight. It's low par ratings are ideal for moonlight over the two violet chips included which have a higher par output.

 

Strictly speaking the UV chip isn't really uv. It's true violet just as the other chip is but with a lower peak. That said it does have some emission in the highest end of the uva spectrum.

[gulfsurfer101]

Will the prime be able to sustain lps and clams below the 12" point and if so, up to what depth? This is most likely going to be my selling point.

[Horerczy]

I'm not too familiar with clam requirements but this light has an output about 450-500 PAR at 12 inches at the center.

 

Therefore at 24 inches there would be about 112.5-125 PAR at the center.

 

Every time you double distance from the light you will get one quarter of the PAR.

 

So at 48 inches you would get about 28.125-31.25 PAR.

 

I'm not too sure what your tank depth is so I cannae determine if it's good for clams but it's likely to only be low light clams.

 

edit:

 

Just found a swanky calculator for measureing the inverse square law of light. : http://www.intl-lighttech.com/support/calculators/calculator03

 

It works good I tested it both using higher and lower calculations using numbers from a variety of fixtures including the Prime, Mini Tide, and XR15W Pro. The results were interesting btw. PAR per Dollar @ 18" all three are good options depending on what you want to spend.

[porkchop-rob]

Got home, and was able to reprogram mine to use without the home wifi.....Its working like a CHAMP. Not sure what caused the initial issue, but it is now working exactly like expected.

 

Good info on the moonlight, I was trying to figure that out this morning....I'll have to play with that setting again this evening.

 

Honestly, I have no idea what jmsalt1 is saying about imperfections...maybe he got a white one?? My black Prime looks amazing, and I am quite impressed with the mounting bracket as well. The light is plastic (as expected) and the fan does run all the time on my unit. Its literally on my nightstand, and I cannot hear the fan running AT ALL, so its no issue to me.

 

I am happy with my purchase!

[SouthFlorida_Tron]

So the fan runs constantly? even while the LEDs are off?

[jmsalt1]

So the fan runs constantly? even while the LEDs are off?

Yes, this is my observation. I think it is partially paranoia on the part of the mfg. and cost containment. If they design it so the user has control of the fan independent of the lights being hooked to power, some joker will screw up the programming and run it with the LED's at 100% w/ the fan off and then they are stuck debating issues with this end user. I just checked this out by going into the Manual mode under Controls and can confirm, when all lights are at 0%, the fan runs. Power = fan running. Will be curious to see how that holds up over time. Mine is VERY quiet.

 

Regarding the on / off function, I was correct, you cannot turn the unit off with a button on the fixture (keeps cost down) and there is no on/off button in the app. yet. You either need to unplug the unit from it's power source or using the app., enter Control and using Manual mode, slide all the channels to zero. I sent an inquiry to Justin at AI last night and received an email confirming this today. Not sure if they posted this on the AI site as it came to me via email and has some privacy statement attached so I'm not going to cut and paste the response. Basically, we can hope to see it in a future firmware update if the software team can do it. Seems pretty simple but then again I don't design software so will not pass judgment for now.