Best settings for coral growth on AI Prime 16hd reef

[DaprDon]

Just bought an AI Prime 16hd reef light for my 20 gal AIO.
Wondering what the best color settings, ramp up and down settings, height above my JBJ Rimless 20 gal tank should be for good coral growth?
I know there has been a lot of success with this light and would love to achieve similar results.

 

[Saltyreef]

Just bought an AI Prime 16hd reef light for my 20 gal AIO.
Wondering what the best color settings, ramp up and down settings, height above my JBJ Rimless 20 gal tank should be for good coral growth?
I know there has been a lot of success with this light and would love to achieve similar results.

Go to this site and click on a featured reefers profile. You can download their AI light settings there.

Signature Series - AquaIllumination

www.aquaillumination.com

I was a big fan of David Saxbys preset when i had AI lighting.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Correct light settings will depend on how mature your system is, what type and how many corals you have in your 20g.

Ok, I see you are about three months in with a duncan, candy cane and some zoas.

If you’re going to use the AI presets, I’d lean more towards one of the smaller mixed reef profiles. Karen Vazquez’s looks like a good template for you to consider.

Remember that corals don’t like sudden increases in light so be sure to take this into account when swapping over to the Prime. You can set the intensity lower and increase manually or using acclimation mode.

 

[jhadaway]

I used brs settings for mixed reef with good success. Im using their settings for sps bow with 2 hydras. Its on youtube and the brs site. 12” above the water. Most important thing is to set it, use a long acclimation mode time and leave it alone.

 

[EricR]

Below is the BRS video link mentioned above.
They cover ideal mounting and do PAR testing on several different size tanks. (I think they do an 18"x18"x18" cube which might be close)

BRStv AI Prime 16 HD Testing

I'm using a scaled down version of their LPS settings on a 40 breeder and pretty happy with it.

Ideal would be to rent a PAR meter but the video might give you good starting ideas.

 

[jhadaway]

I did lower my whites to 20. I was having some algea issues at the time and just left it there. It was a little too white for me anyway.

 

[Hats_]

Go to this site and click on a featured reefers profile. You can download their AI light settings there.

Signature Series - AquaIllumination

www.aquaillumination.com

I was a big fan of David Saxbys preset when i had AI lighting.

i mean, that schedule is made for a bunch of different hydras above a huuuuge tank. i doubt it translates well to a single prime over a 20 gallon lol

the brs video is the way to go imo

 

[olonmv]

i mean, that schedule is made for a bunch of different hydras above a huuuuge tank. i doubt it translates well to a single prime over a 20 gallon lol

the brs video is the way to go imo

It does translate, it just need to be trimmed down some power wise. I use it on my 13.5, set to less than half of the preset power with whites 10% or below.

 

[Hats_]

It does translate, it just need to be trimmed down some power wise. I use it on my 13.5, set to less than half of the preset power with whites 10% or below.

might be worth mentioning that then lol, if you put that schedule on the way you download it you may burn some corals...

 

[olonmv]

might be worth mentioning that then lol, if you put that schedule on the way you download it you may burn some corals...

It’s super easy to trim down/up too. Go to your preset, with 2 fingers where your schedule is graphed, slide up for more power and down for less. It adjusts all levels simultaneously.

 

[Hats_]

Just bought an AI Prime 16hd reef light for my 20 gal AIO.
Wondering what the best color settings, ramp up and down settings, height above my JBJ Rimless 20 gal tank should be for good coral growth?
I know there has been a lot of success with this light and would love to achieve similar results.

i could send you mine, i use the same light over a 10 gallon tho, par is around 200 on the rocks so great for sps with lower 100s on the sandbed

 

[Hats_]

It’s super easy to trim down/up too. Go to your preset, with 2 fingers where your schedule is graphed, slide up for more power and down for less. It adjusts all levels simultaneously.

i never understood why the up and down of the blue channels in the middle of the day with the saxby schedule. what does it add anyway?

 

[olonmv]

i never understood why the up and down of the blue channels in the middle of the day with the saxby schedule. what does it add anyway?

I believe It’s suppose to simulate passing overcast. Gives corals small breaks during peak hours.

 

[Hats_]

I believe It’s suppose to simulate passing overcast. Gives corals small breaks during peak hours.

interesting, i wonder how much difference it makes... i run mine constant intensity all day with ramping up and down ofc.

 

[olonmv]

interesting, i wonder how much difference it makes... i run mine constant intensity all day with ramping up and down ofc.

I’m not to sure. I was blasting my corals previously with the original saxby setting. It wasn’t until I toned it down that I noticed my corals start to get happy. I’m at about 1/3 of the setting now.

 

[Hats_]

I’m not to sure. I was blasting my corals previously with the original saxby setting. It wasn’t until I toned it down that I noticed my corals start to get happy. I’m at about 1/3 of the setting now.

my corals love the high light, i run 4 primes over a 4ft tank and all blue channels are maxed on the outer 2 lights and 90% on the middle 2 lights. whites at about 20-25%

par hovers around 300-400 on the rocks and 250-270 on the sand

 

[olonmv]

my corals love the high light, i run 4 primes over a 4ft tank and all blue channels are maxed on the outer 2 lights and 90% on the middle 2 lights. whites at about 20-25%

par hovers around 300-400 on the rocks and 250-270 on the sand

No par meter here just the ol fashion eye. My deciding factor was poor coral health with ideal water chemistry. My numbers were usually on par but corals still suffered. As soon as I started to gradually dim the channels (about 5% every few days) I started noticing coral response. One day I’ll do the par meter thing lol.

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

So the takeaway for DaprDon is that you can stress a coral very quickly with too much light. You won’t kill them quickly with less light.

According to his other recent post he added a few low - medium light corals to his three month old system on Tuesday.

Any of the presets mentioned above will be fine for photoperiod and colour settings.

The real issue is intensity. I’d start with no channel over 40% and build up slowly from that.

 

[Saltyreef]

i mean, that schedule is made for a bunch of different hydras above a huuuuge tank. i doubt it translates well to a single prime over a 20 gallon lol

the brs video is the way to go imo

Its all relative and it depends on your circumstances with the tank. But yes, you will need and want to adjust intensity and possibly even peaks/photo period, and its easy to do with the AI app.

I used the saxby preset as a baseline schedule.
You can scroll through the preset offerings yourself and find karen vasquez's Profile. She runs a single prime over a biocube.

Karen Vazquez - AquaIllumination

www.aquaillumination.com

 

[EricR]

i mean, that schedule is made for a bunch of different hydras above a huuuuge tank. i doubt it translates well to a single prime over a 20 gallon lol

the brs video is the way to go imo

Tangent but I happened to rent an Apogee MQ-510 for $20 from local reefer last weekend and Saxby setting was one of multiple that I tested in my tank.

I expected Saxby setting to be HIGH PAR since, as you said, it's for higher end lights on HUGE system vs my 40 breeder with 2x AI Prime 16 HD.

Saxby settings at peak (as downloaded from AI) actually weren't very high in my tank (100-160 PAR in most of the tank).
*I assume it's because same percentage intensity on AI Prime is lower output than same percentage on his stronger lights.

I agree that BRS video is good place to start and also reminder (which someone else already posted) that 2 finger drag in myAI app to raise/lower intensity is quick and useful.