AI Hydra 26 HD Discussion

[Schteeve]

Hey all,
I wanted to start a thread discuss this particular model of LED Aquarium Lights. Not just the 26 but any of the Hydra HD line.
What I wanted to ask others about was their lighting settings. Assuming the scale you can set the different temperatures is a % and not arbitrary, I have found that anything over 50% is a bit too bright some corals comfort. Only learning this after my corals started to show negative signs of over-exposure to light.

The Hydra's have UV, Violet, Royal Blue, Light Blue, Green, Deep Red and Cool White. But I find i dont even use the green or red settings.
At the brightest time of day my settings are:

UV - 40
Violet - 40
Royal - 40
Blue - 30
Green - 0
Red - 0
Cool White - 20


With these settings my corals open up nicely and have great extensions on the polyps. My Goni lives just higher then halfway up the tank and doesnt stay open all day, more towards the end of the day - unsure if thats the lighting doing it or something else though as he is a new addition to the tank.

Picture included is a nice snap of my clowns enjoying their Hammer

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

The hd series do pack some punch. Some of the par does depend on the tank height and the height the fixture is set above the tank. If you check out the signature series on the AI website a lot of them are running their light in the higher numbers.

I would say run them at the numbers that your coral respond best to.

Signature Series - AquaIllumination

www.aquaillumination.com

 

[hotdrop]

All the numbers I’ve seen on it it barely hits 200 par in the 6” square at 12” deep on ab + setting. Some of your corals might find it too bright if grown in low light though. A lot of my lps took a couple months to adjust

 

[JonChicago]

I have the same light. Like you I don't use the red or greens. I have a small open-top 30 gall, 12in deep so light doesn't have to penetrate much water. Looks like my settings are pretty
similar to yours.