AI Prime Presets - Which is best?

[laezur]

Hi everyone!

Just a quick one. Wondering if anyone has used any of the AI Prime presets on the website and which ones they prefer? The David Saxsby one looks interesting, but I fear it's overkill for my tank?

I'm running 2x 16HD Primes on a Reefer 170 with LPS/Anemone's.

Cheers!

 

[mike550]

@laezur I would start with something a bit simpler. Vazquez, Lund, and Guldaglar-Wallenwein all have tanks similar in size to yours. Vazquez is using an AI Prime

 

[laezur]

@laezur I would start with something a bit simpler. Vazquez, Lund, and Guldaglar-Wallenwein all have tanks similar in size to yours. Vazquez is using an AI Prime

I see, I may try Vazquez as I like the variation in intensity throughout the day giving the coral time to rest and high photo periods. She seems to have a lot of LPS in there too.

 

[Not woodyarmadillo]

I’m using the BRS AB+ with 8 hrs of full intensity and some ramp up and down. I just rented a par meter recently and adjusted based on my own situation and wrote down my numbers. I would recommend that. I feel much better knowing about what my par level is in each area of the tank and now it’s customized for how I’ve set my tank up. I printed out several pictures of my tank and wrote down the par readings at different %’s of the BRS AB+ and ended up adjusting to my own to meet my needs. It took me about 30 minutes to test at different intensities and now I know about where I’m at and I can stop worrying about it unless I see something going wrong. Was worth it for me.

 

[Hooz]

I'll just start by saying that any of the presets on the website will grow coral. There is no one that is "better" than another. They all work. It all comes down to personal preference on the "look" of the preset.

Just pick which one you like the look of, then adjust the start/end times to fit your viewing schedule, and use a PAR meter to dial-in the overall intensity to meet your PAR needs.

 

[laezur]

I'll just start by saying that any of the presets on the website will grow coral. There is no one that is "better" than another. They all work. It all comes down to personal preference on the "look" of the preset.

Just pick which one you like the look of, then adjust the start/end times to fit your viewing schedule, and use a PAR meter to dial-in the overall intensity to meet your PAR needs.

Oh, definitely! I can't imagine they'd post any crap on there.

I only wonder when it comes to reds/greens/purples as I simply don't run those whatsoever right now and never have, so some of the profiles do have them and some don't.

 

[Hooz]

Oh, definitely! I can't imagine they'd post any crap on there.

I only wonder when it comes to reds/greens/purples as I simply don't run those whatsoever right now and never have, so some of the profiles do have them and some don't.

You should definitely run some "purple". The red/green are more personal preference for visual appeal as they "warm up" the white a bit. If you run little to no white, I wouldn't worry about red/green. If you do run whites, then experiment with the red/green because it can really help the colors (especially fish) look much more natural.

 

[jkcoral]

I run 2 AI Prime 16HDs over my IM 30L (width of ~36 inches). I started with the Saxby and have never changed other than making some small tweaks like reducing some of the white percentage and adding moonlight. It’s always worked well for my RFAs, gorgonians, and LPS in the tank, and I have nice growth.

You can reduce the overall intensity if you fear it’s too much light. If anything, corals appreciate consistency, so make sure if you change schedules or presets that you use the acclimation feature.

 

[laezur]

I run 2 AI Prime 16HDs over my IM 30L (width of ~36 inches). I started with the Saxby and have never changed other than making some small tweaks like reducing some of the white percentage and adding moonlight. It’s always worked well for my RFAs, gorgonians, and LPS in the tank, and I have nice growth.

You can reduce the overall intensity if you fear it’s too much light. If anything, corals appreciate consistency, so make sure if you change schedules or presets that you use the acclimation feature.

Oh definitely, I don't want to go changing everything in an instant and upsetting everyone.

What does the moonlight actually do? I've seen it, but never used it. I turned it on once and saw absolutely no difference so just turned the feature back off.

 

[jkcoral]

Oh definitely, I don't want to go changing everything in an instant and upsetting everyone.

What does the moonlight actually do? I've seen it, but never used it. I turned it on once and saw absolutely no difference so just turned the feature back off.

I have the moonlight set at 25% and use the lunar effects in the app. The moonlight follows the moon cycle, so on a full moon the tank will be “glowing” pretty bright (not a blue color, but looks more like the tank is, well, on the moon). And when the moon is at different stages, the “glow” of the moonlight in the tank changes accordingly.

Personally, I don’t know if it “works” in the sense of benefiting the coral or growth in some way, but I’ve never had the feature on a light before and wanted to give it a try. Some corals/creatures are responsive to moon cycles when it comes to spawning, and I wanted to see if the rock flowers reacted. Overall, I can say that I haven’t noticed a single ill effect of the light on the tank, and so if nothing else, I think it is kinda neat and so I’ve just never removed it!

Here’s a screenshot of my current schedule at the peak in case you might find it useful. I don’t know the details on par throughout the tank (people might shame me, but on this tank I’ve always used the “eye” test), but I’ve been running this for two years with good results:

Moonlight:

 

[xiongsy]

Oh definitely, I don't want to go changing everything in an instant and upsetting everyone.

What does the moonlight actually do? I've seen it, but never used it. I turned it on once and saw absolutely no difference so just turned the feature back off.

I have the moonlight on along with the lunar cycle option. Setting is at 1%. Enough light to not spook my fish at night and not enough that it's morning/day/evening. I get a nice glimpse of what's going on in the middle night if I'm sleep walking to the fridge (I don't sleep walk lol)