Are my 2 x Ai Prime 16hd's enough?

belly14 · Mar 18, 2024

Hi All,

I wanted to gauge your opinion if my 2 x Ai Prime 16HD's are enough for my tank. It's a WaterBox Infinia Frag 125.4?

So it's 295L/78 Galon + SUMP and as it's the frag it's only 16.1 inches tall.

I upgraded from my previous tank to the waterbox 3 months ago and all corals and fish came over OK, however, growth seems slow and I did lose a knobbly green leather coral a few weeks back. Just wondering if an upgrade to 2 x Hydra 32 HD's would be necessary?

I bought the 16's from a fellow reefer last year and while they function OK are they enough to get a full mixed reef going?

Currently, I have a bit of everything, mainly smaller frags that I am trying to grow out such as zoas, blasto, mushroom, candy cane, montipora, GSP (that's growing well of course), frogspawn, xenia, favite and a chalice

Info:

Salinity 1.026 (I use natural seawater)
Alk: 8-9 (Dosing All-for-Reef)
Calc: 405
PH: 8.2
Nitrate/Phos: Both 0

any advice is greatly appreciated as always!

TokenReefer · Mar 18, 2024

What are the tank dimensions? Regardless, I'm going to say not enough for long term, but enough for now. I run 2 ai prime 16 and as frags grow out Im noticing shading underneath that doesn't grow as well (visible when lights are off). Sorry not a coral expert. But I'm trying to decide on an upgrade to fill these areas with light... If that makes sense. It may even be more prime 16s, but I haven't decided yet

Mr. Mojo Rising · Mar 18, 2024

As I'm using that light myself on a 15 gallon, I would say no, not even close.

It advertises a light coverage of 24" x 24", but realistically I would say more like 18"x18" effectively. If you put it up to max power then you risk melting the lenses.

But of course I'm just guessing, a par meter would be ideal to give the correct info.

belly14 · Mar 18, 2024

TokenReefer said:
What are the tank dimensions? Regardless, I'm going to say not enough for long term, but enough for now. I run 2 ai prime 16 and as frags grow out Im noticing shading underneath that doesn't grow as well (visible when lights are off). Sorry not a coral expert. But I'm trying to decide on an upgrade to fill these areas with light... If that makes sense. It may even be more prime 16s, but I haven't decided yet

Dimensions (LxWxH): 1,223 x 643 x 410mm (48.2" x 25.3" x 16.1")

Yeah I'm thinking long-term, and think I already knew the answer . I was maybe just hoping someone would tell me they are OK and save me £900 haha, wishful thinking in this hobby!

belly14 · Mar 18, 2024

Mr. Mojo Rising said:
As I'm using that light myself on a 15 gallon, I would say no, not even close.

It advertises a light coverage of 24" x 24", but realistically I would say more like 18"x18" effectively. If you put it up to max power then you risk melting the lenses.

But of course I'm just guessing, a par meter would be ideal to give the correct info.

Hoping to get a PAR reading as a mate has a device. But I think I already know an upgrade is sadly needed. It's the last thing left to upgrade and ironically probably the most important!

JoJosReef · Mar 18, 2024

belly14 said:
Dimensions (LxWxH): 1,223 x 643 x 410mm (48.2" x 25.3" x 16.1")

Yeah I'm thinking long-term, and think I already knew the answer . I was maybe just hoping someone would tell me they are OK and save me £900 haha, wishful thinking in this hobby!

I would have 4 over that tank, but could get away with 3, depending on what you are trying to grow. I run 3 Noopsyche Minis (a comparable, slightly more powerful light) over my ~36" tank.

aSaltyKlown · Mar 18, 2024

belly14 said:
Hoping to get a PAR reading as a mate has a device.

You can get an idea from this video. They recommend 3 on a 40 Breeder for SPS, the edges would not be well lit on your size. 4 would be better, but light would drop off at the front and back. 6 for best coverage. This would be for SPS.

belly14 · Mar 18, 2024

Thanks all! So.... if I get 2 x Hydra 32hd's, run these AND the 2 x 16's for best coverage? or is that too much?

belly14 · Mar 18, 2024

JoJosReef said:
I would have 4 over that tank, but could get away with 3, depending on what you are trying to grow. I run 3 Noopsyche Minis (a comparable, slightly more powerful light) over my ~36" tank.

love the tank!

ReefingDreams · Mar 18, 2024

belly14 said:
Thanks all! So.... if I get 2 x Hydra 32hd's, run these AND the 2 x 16's for best coverage? or is that too much?

Just get 2 more Primes and save your money. They Hydra are a lot less flexible because the pucks are a fixed distance from each other. With two Primes, you can space them where it makes sense.

Alternatively, sell the Primes and get a higher quality light with better spread like a Reefi Uno 2.0 Pro. You could get away with two and that would still leave you room for growth. But you weren't asking that . I'm mostly just bothered by the cartel and the quality of product...don't mind me...

belly14 · Mar 19, 2024

Yeah that’s not a bad shout actually as would save me a good £350. I had been looking at the Reefi products but they don’t seem available in the UK. I think 2 more primes might be the solution!

AquaLogic · Mar 19, 2024

You could consider some Noo-Psyche k7 pro III. Much cheaper. Or just add a couple more primes. But you could get 4 Noo-Psyche k7 pro III for 600$ might even only need 3

belly14 · Mar 19, 2024

AquaLogic said:
You could consider some Noo-Psyche k7 pro III. Much cheaper. Or just add a couple more primes. But you could get 4 Noo-Psyche k7 pro III for 600$ might even only need 3

Are you using the K7? Someone else mentioned this too and yeah for £450 I can get three of the dam things!! So certainly interesting….

AquaLogic · Mar 19, 2024

belly14 said:
Are you using the K7? Someone else mentioned this too and yeah for £450 I can get three of the dam things!! So certainly interesting….

No I use a Kessil a500x on my display, however I have a k7 mini from no-psyche that I use for frags and it’s great. The App needs polish but it gets the job done and the light is nice.

I plan on getting a k7 pro iii as a backup for my Kessil because I was impressed with the mini. It has a nice shimmer too, and I don’t notice any disco balling.

belly14 · Mar 19, 2024

AquaLogic said:
No I use a Kessil a500x on my display, however I have a k7 mini from no-psyche that I use for frags and it’s great. The App needs polish but it gets the job done and the light is nice.

I plan on getting a k7 pro iii as a backup for my Kessil because I was impressed with the mini. It has a nice shimmer too, and I don’t notice any disco balling.

OK thanks. I’m gonna have a dig around for some reviews and YouTube vids on them and see what I think!

JaaxReef · Mar 19, 2024

As others have mentioned, it seems smarter to go with two more primes and stagger the mounting pattern to get better spread (think zig zag or grid pattern). As corals grow in you could always add LED light bars for better coverage a couple years down the line too.

I run two Hydra 26HDs with diffusors basically at full blast over my 4ft mixed reef tank. Supplemented by an Illumagic Vitamini strip LED (adds about 30is par blanketed across the tank and helps shadowing.