A 3 Yr Old Prime - Worth it?

[SURVEYMAN46123]

So a local reefing friend has a 3 yr old AI Prime for sale.   Has offered me a good deal on it as well.    However being 3 years old, I'm hesitant.   

 

Would you pull the trigger?

 

Do you think it would have a positive effect on my tank/corals switching from a Kessil A80 to this light?  

 

 

 

[Tamberav]

The light will be long out dated and replaced or you will move on to a different tank...or such ... before the LEDs age is of concern.

 

If we'll cared for 3 years would not bother me but If it has 3 years of dust build up...I would be concerned. Overheating the LEDs from lack of maintenance is a problem.

 

Keep in mind there is a HD version now.

 

 

I have seen some really nice reef tanks running gen 1 radions. That is like 7 or 8 years and going strong.

[mcarroll]

On 7/12/2019 at 7:15 AM, SURVEYMAN46123 said:

Do you think it would have a positive effect on my tank/corals switching from a Kessil A80 to this light?

You're moving up from 15 watts to around 50 watts. 

 

That could be something like a 300% increase in light intensity, not to mention any spectral differences since "you're on your own" for that with the AI.

 

So no I would not automatically expect a positive effect. 

 

If your corals are happy now I would take some pain to assure the light coming out of the Prime was as close to the light from the A80 as possible when you install it on the tank -- close in intensity and as close as you can get in spectrum as well.  No changes from the A80 would be the ideal.

 

If you decide you want to increase intensity, I would do it later on...maybe a month or two after installation...if corals are all still doing well.  When you start making changes, make them small (around 2500 lux) and space them out by at least a week or two.

 

If you normally keep really-low nutrient levels, you might consider slacking off (or dosing a small amount of phosphate) during times when corals are photo-acclimating after a change in lighting.