AI Hydra 52 HD Set up and settings

GARY666772 · 05/30/2016, 11:18 PM

i just ordered 2 AI Hydra 52 HD lights to hang over my 90 gallon sps start up tank. was looking for suggestions on setting up, how high off water to hang them? run them parallel or perpendicular to tank? hours, ramp up and down time? and what color settings? thanks in advance

Piranha_Owns · 05/31/2016, 04:58 AM

I hang mine 10" above water line, parallel with tank, 4 hour ramp up 4 hour ramp down and 4 hour max intensity 60%

Optionman · 05/31/2016, 07:13 AM

i have 4 hydra 26 units hanging about 8 inches over a 175 reef (6x2x2) and run 60% violet and blues and almost zero red green and white. i ramp up and down 2 hrs and leave the lights on for 10 hrs total. switched from 10 bulb t5 hood after 8 weeks and love the LEDs, especially how the zoa and other corals' colors pop.

GARY666772 · 06/01/2016, 12:24 AM

Thank you. Just waiting for them to come in should be in in the next day or two.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

bdturtle21 · 10/16/2016, 02:20 PM

Hey all,

I'm joining this thread a bit late but am curious what settings you are running running your AI Hydra 52 HDs.

I have one AI Hydra 52HD on a 54 gallon corner tank. It is a lot of light for this small tank, but I'm planning an upgrade soon.

In the meantime, I'm curious what settings you've found to be best. I used to run mind at 65% max, 14.5K. Turned on at 8am, maxed at 1300, and ramped down until lights out at 8pm. (I did leave the two blues on at 5% until 10pm for personal enjoyment). I didn't alter the individual colors at all, and just left it at 14.5K. At max this meant 60% UV, Violet, RB, and B and 44% red, green and cool white.

Over the past 6 months I've noticed that my coral lost some color. (All parameters have been stable and the tank has been up and running for ~2 years). I have mostly LPS with some SPS and am moving towards more SPS.

After reading multiple blogs/postings, I'm going to try the following:
Lights on at 0800, 2 hour ramp up and down, so lights are on max from 10am-6pm. At 8pm all but the blues turn off. I keep the RB and B on for another 2 hours at about 5%.
Here's the settings at max:
80% UV
60% Violet
87% Royal blue
83% blue
35% green
15% deep red
40% cool white

First, is this UV setting too high? (I will run acclimation for a week.)

I'm curious what programs other folks run and if folks think it is better to go back to a standard Kelvin setting, rather than specific settings for the different colors and UV.

Thanks!

dz6t · 10/16/2016, 06:32 PM

IMO, people are looking too much into programming LED.
For me, I have been using this setting for my coral farm (mostly Acropora):
White: 65%
Red: Off or 15% if you want it
Green: Does not matter, keep it 100% or off makes no difference. Green LED is low efficiency so the power output is not much there. The spectrum is already covered by white LED.

RB: 100%
Violet: 100%
Blue: 100%
UV (wait, at 400nm, it is not true UV, let's all it near UV): 100%

Coral are highly adaptable to lighting.

Bret61081 · 01/02/2017, 06:04 PM

I just upgraded from the original Hydra to the 52HD. I can't get the Blues to come out as much as they did with the original. Using the same settings I had on my Original Hydra the tank looks extremely white! running everything at 50%and the blues at 100% I still can't get the colors to POP like they did on the Old Hydra fixture. I only have softies(GSP, leathers, zoos, RBA, Gorgonians) in my tank so I'm not worried about intensity but I want the colors to look better!! Any help of Ideas??

05/30/2016, 11:18 PM	#1
GARY666772 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Posts: 27	AI Hydra 52 HD Set up and settings i just ordered 2 AI Hydra 52 HD lights to hang over my 90 gallon sps start up tank. was looking for suggestions on setting up, how high off water to hang them? run them parallel or perpendicular to tank? hours, ramp up and down time? and what color settings? thanks in advance

05/31/2016, 07:13 AM	#3
Optionman Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: NJ Posts: 774	Hydra i have 4 hydra 26 units hanging about 8 inches over a 175 reef (6x2x2) and run 60% violet and blues and almost zero red green and white. i ramp up and down 2 hrs and leave the lights on for 10 hrs total. switched from 10 bulb t5 hood after 8 weeks and love the LEDs, especially how the zoa and other corals' colors pop.

05/31/2016, 04:58 AM	#2
Piranha_Owns Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Sedalia, Mo Posts: 147	I hang mine 10" above water line, parallel with tank, 4 hour ramp up 4 hour ramp down and 4 hour max intensity 60%

06/01/2016, 12:24 AM	#4
GARY666772 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Posts: 27	Thank you. Just waiting for them to come in should be in in the next day or two. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

10/16/2016, 06:32 PM	#6
dz6t Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Boston MA Posts: 414	IMO, people are looking too much into programming LED. For me, I have been using this setting for my coral farm (mostly Acropora): White: 65% Red: Off or 15% if you want it Green: Does not matter, keep it 100% or off makes no difference. Green LED is low efficiency so the power output is not much there. The spectrum is already covered by white LED. RB: 100% Violet: 100% Blue: 100% UV (wait, at 400nm, it is not true UV, let's all it near UV): 100% Coral are highly adaptable to lighting.

01/02/2017, 06:04 PM	#7
Bret61081 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 2,078	I just upgraded from the original Hydra to the 52HD. I can't get the Blues to come out as much as they did with the original. Using the same settings I had on my Original Hydra the tank looks extremely white! running everything at 50%and the blues at 100% I still can't get the colors to POP like they did on the Old Hydra fixture. I only have softies(GSP, leathers, zoos, RBA, Gorgonians) in my tank so I'm not worried about intensity but I want the colors to look better!! Any help of Ideas??