AI Hydra 26 in a smaller Nano Reef tank

[CarlosM]

Looking for advice from anyone with experience using an AI Hydra 26 on a nano reef on the smaller side.

 

I have a 6 gallon and realize the light is more than I need, but I bought the light used for a really good deal ($60), and not able to afford the AI Prime new at this time.

 

I will have the light inside the stock hood, so it will only be about 3-4” above water. Tank is 14” high. I figure on the plus side this will somewhat limit the light on the edges and allow for lower light zones in a small tank.

 

Any insight on intensity and color settings to aim for are greatly appreciated...thanks!

[burtbollinger]

is the tank you have so specialized that you couldn't ditch it for a 20-30g?   just curious.  

[Clown79]

On a 6g 3-4" above the tank it will need to be run very low.

 

I had a regular prime on a 5g and fried corals with it set at 70%, I had to drop it significantly.

 

I run 2 primes on my 25g(equivalent to hydra) and have had to drop the lights a lot and slowly go up, I originally only had 1 light.

[CarlosM]

36 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

On a 6g 3-4" above the tank it will need to be run very low.

 

I had a regular prime on a 5g and fried corals with it set at 70%, I had to drop it significantly.

 

I run 2 primes on my 25g(equivalent to hydra) and have had to drop the lights a lot and slowly go up, I originally only had 1 light.

Thanks Clown79.

 

What did you end up dropping the  Prime on your 5g down to?

 

I assume the first sign that the light is too strong is some bleaching on the most sensitive corals. Do you know if the damage is normally reversible? Is it weeks, or months to recover usually? 

 

 

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, CarlosM said:

Thanks Clown79.

 

What did you end up dropping the  Prime on your 5g down to?

 

I assume the first sign that the light is too strong is some bleaching on the most sensitive corals. Do you know if the damage is normally reversible? Is it weeks, or months to recover usually? 

 

 

The corals in my 5g were used to higher light except for a few.

My hammers never opened and were transferred to another tank, I had 2 brain corals that were badly damaged under the light and they did not recover. 

 

Not all corals will recover. It depends on the damage done.

 

My single regular ai prime was run at 50%

[partlycloudy531]

On 3/14/2019 at 10:11 PM, CarlosM said:

Looking for advice from anyone with experience using an AI Hydra 26 on a nano reef on the smaller side.

 

I have a 6 gallon and realize the light is more than I need, but I bought the light used for a really good deal ($60), and not able to afford the AI Prime new at this time.

 

I will have the light inside the stock hood, so it will only be about 3-4” above water. Tank is 14” high. I figure on the plus side this will somewhat limit the light on the edges and allow for lower light zones in a small tank.

 

Any insight on intensity and color settings to aim for are greatly appreciated...thanks!

What intensity did you end up running your Hydra 26? I’m about to add a Hydra to my 9g and can’t put the light more than about 5” from the surface. Thanks 

[CarlosM]

8 hours ago, partlycloudy531 said:

What intensity did you end up running your Hydra 26? I’m about to add a Hydra to my 9g and can’t put the light more than about 5” from the surface. Thanks

Away on travel but think I ended up peaking the Violet-Blue end of the spectrum at ~28%. Did it gradually over 2 weeks and everything seemed to do well. Using a slightly tweaked AB+ profile. If you need more specifics, I can look up my setting when I get back home later this weekend.

[jservedio]

10 hours ago, partlycloudy531 said:

What intensity did you end up running your Hydra 26? I’m about to add a Hydra to my 9g and can’t put the light more than about 5” from the surface. Thanks 

Start it really, really low! I've got an original Radion Pro, which is just a tiny bit more powerful than the new Hydra 26 HD and I put the wide angle lenses on to lower intensity, and am about 12" over the surface and can't run more than 45% without starting to fry lower-light acros in a 20g tall.

 

Even light-loving corals will last for months with far too little light and it's easy to dial your light up - just a few days of too much light and they will bleach and take many months to recover.

[partlycloudy531]

6 hours ago, CarlosM said:

Away on travel but think I ended up peaking the Violet-Blue end of the spectrum at ~28%. Did it gradually over 2 weeks and everything seemed to do well. Using a slightly tweaked AB+ profile. If you need more specifics, I can look up my setting when I get back home later this weekend.

That would awesome if you could share the specifics when you get back. Thanks for the help!

[CarlosM]

Attached a pic. Looks like I actually ended up using the Saxby profile. Couldn’t exactly remember since I alternated between the AB+ and Saxby. My max peaks are actually in the 24%.

 

Theres a lot of variables that are going to go into determining appropriate intensity for your setup like: height of light above water, distance from corals, and of course type of corals. Really the best way IMO is start at a low or otherwise “safe” intensity and work your way up slowly using coral acclimation until you think you’ve gone far enough or the corals start to look slightly unhappy or bleaching.

[partlycloudy531]

2 hours ago, CarlosM said:

Attached a pic. Looks like I actually ended up using the Saxby profile. Couldn’t exactly remember since I alternated between the AB+ and Saxby. My max peaks are actually in the 24%.

 

Theres a lot of variables that are going go into what is appropriate intensity for your setup like height of light above water, distance from corals and of course type of corals. Really the best way IMO is start at a low or otherwise “safe” intensity and work you way up slowly using coral acclimation until you think you’ve gone far enough or the corals start to look slightly unhappy or bleaching.

I just got my light today. This is what I have it set at with 50% acclimation for 5 days. Just zoas in my tank right now so nothing that demands high light. I appreciate the help!

[ayobreezie]

On 11/9/2019 at 5:24 PM, CarlosM said:

Attached a pic. Looks like I actually ended up using the Saxby profile. Couldn’t exactly remember since I alternated between the AB+ and Saxby. My max peaks are actually in the 24%.

 

Theres a lot of variables that are going to go into determining appropriate intensity for your setup like: height of light above water, distance from corals, and of course type of corals. Really the best way IMO is start at a low or otherwise “safe” intensity and work your way up slowly using coral acclimation until you think you’ve gone far enough or the corals start to look slightly unhappy or bleaching.

Can you upload the settings file?  Just got a Hydra 26 HD that I'll be using on a Fluval 13.5

[mcarroll]

It would make sense to use a light meter to set up the light.   Either PAR or lux.   You can get a lux meter app to begin with, but I'd strongly suggest at least a handheld lux meter....they're around $7 and up, so it's an easy purchase. 

 

No more guessing on light setups. 

 

Measure to see what you're getting at the water surface, and use that as your point of comparison with the new light. 

 

So with the new light, dial in the colors you like (shooting for 20,000K in most cases) and then use the light meter to dial intensity to the proper level to match the old light.

[Riddex]

On 11/28/2019 at 12:41 AM, ayobreezie said:

Can you upload the settings file?  Just got a Hydra 26 HD that I'll be using on a Fluval 13.5

Hey man,

 

I'm looking at doing the same, how did it go? And what settings did you use?