Swapping Mh to Hydra 52's is this a good move

bmasculine · 10/29/2014, 11:57 AM

I'm currently running a Hamilton fixture with three 175w 15k XM bulbs with 2 165w T-12 VHO actincs. I really like the shimmer and color of the tank but I'm getting very poor growth out of my sps. I had LED's on a previous tank although much smaller but seemed to get much better growth. I'm also having heat issues and a lot of evaporation. I've been looking at these new hydra 52's and talked to a guy at LFS and he set up a tank a few months ago and seems to be getting really good growth out of his frags. Does anyone have experience with these lights or an opinion of something else I could try?

markalot · 10/29/2014, 12:08 PM

What size tank?

bmasculine · 10/29/2014, 12:19 PM

72x24x24 bow front 175gal. With 30gal sump

bmasculine · 10/29/2014, 12:22 PM

Also can I run 3 units with one controller or does each unit need its own?

VegasMike · 10/29/2014, 12:30 PM

All three units off the same controller.

bmasculine · 10/29/2014, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VegasMike

All three units off the same controller.

Thanks for the reply. Do you have these lights or experience with them? I've only seen the one tank setup at the LFS they look really blue. I'm wondering if the color is adjustable. Less blue looking.

lyang415 · 10/29/2014, 12:40 PM

the spectrum is adjustable! just be sure to take it easy on the whites and ramp slowly until you see a happy zone or you can easily fry your coral with too much lighting

bmasculine · 10/29/2014, 12:43 PM

Do you think the PAR is that much more than my current setup?

VegasMike · 10/29/2014, 12:50 PM

I run the sol Blu's, but will be upgrading to Hydra 52's as soon as they can send me the kits. Each color is adjustable and, yes, be careful with acclimation. Find a color rendition you are happy with and go up from there about 1% per day, or every other day, on each color. Much depends on how high your lights are above the tank with around 10" being the norm. Be very careful with the red, green and UV. You may not want to ramp those as much. There are many threads on here about AI Hydra 52 settings, so look at one of those and it will give you a good feeling for where to start. Based on my initial research, I will probably start the white out at 30, the blue and royal at 50, the violet at 20, the red and green at 10 and the UV at 15. I will adjust from there.

phenom5 · 10/29/2014, 01:04 PM

I have 3 Hydra52s on my tank. Seem great, but to be fair, I am still in the process of the first fill up, so I can't comment on growth/ color.

IMO/ IME, if you are having heat/ evap issue, then maybe look into switching, but if it's strictly about growth, I would exhaust other possibilities before I made a wholesale change in lighting.

bmasculine · 10/29/2014, 01:05 PM

Thanks a lot for the info. So yall think I'd be better off making the swap from MH to LED. There's alot of diehard MH people but I had LED's in the past and felt like I had better results. And the LED's I was running were nothing like what's out now. If I was getting good growth id probably deal with the water temp and evaporation because I really like the look.

bmasculine · 10/29/2014, 01:12 PM

It's mainly sps growth. Lps hammer torch Duncan's all growing like crazy.

10/29/2014, 11:57 AM	#1
bmasculine Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Richmond Tx Posts: 80	Swapping Mh to Hydra 52's is this a good move I'm currently running a Hamilton fixture with three 175w 15k XM bulbs with 2 165w T-12 VHO actincs. I really like the shimmer and color of the tank but I'm getting very poor growth out of my sps. I had LED's on a previous tank although much smaller but seemed to get much better growth. I'm also having heat issues and a lot of evaporation. I've been looking at these new hydra 52's and talked to a guy at LFS and he set up a tank a few months ago and seems to be getting really good growth out of his frags. Does anyone have experience with these lights or an opinion of something else I could try?

10/29/2014, 12:08 PM	#2
markalot ... Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Florence, KY Posts: 3,806 Blog Entries: 3	What size tank? __________________ -- Mark 150G (72x18x27) \| 35G sump \| SRO-XP2000INT Skimmer \| ATI SunPower T5 / NanoBox LED hybrid 60" x 4 + 8 NanoBox v3.1 arrays

10/29/2014, 01:04 PM	#10
phenom5 Unregistered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,096	I have 3 Hydra52s on my tank. Seem great, but to be fair, I am still in the process of the first fill up, so I can't comment on growth/ color. IMO/ IME, if you are having heat/ evap issue, then maybe look into switching, but if it's strictly about growth, I would exhaust other possibilities before I made a wholesale change in lighting. __________________ Rob Current Tank Info: DSA 155 Pro \| ATI Sunpower \| ATB 840 v2 \| Apex \| Wav

10/29/2014, 12:19 PM	#3
bmasculine Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Richmond Tx Posts: 80	72x24x24 bow front 175gal. With 30gal sump

10/29/2014, 12:22 PM	#4
bmasculine Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Richmond Tx Posts: 80	Also can I run 3 units with one controller or does each unit need its own?

10/29/2014, 12:30 PM	#5
VegasMike Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,556	All three units off the same controller.

10/29/2014, 12:40 PM	#7
lyang415 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 32	the spectrum is adjustable! just be sure to take it easy on the whites and ramp slowly until you see a happy zone or you can easily fry your coral with too much lighting

10/29/2014, 12:43 PM	#8
bmasculine Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Richmond Tx Posts: 80	Do you think the PAR is that much more than my current setup?

10/29/2014, 12:50 PM	#9
VegasMike Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,556	I run the sol Blu's, but will be upgrading to Hydra 52's as soon as they can send me the kits. Each color is adjustable and, yes, be careful with acclimation. Find a color rendition you are happy with and go up from there about 1% per day, or every other day, on each color. Much depends on how high your lights are above the tank with around 10" being the norm. Be very careful with the red, green and UV. You may not want to ramp those as much. There are many threads on here about AI Hydra 52 settings, so look at one of those and it will give you a good feeling for where to start. Based on my initial research, I will probably start the white out at 30, the blue and royal at 50, the violet at 20, the red and green at 10 and the UV at 15. I will adjust from there.

10/29/2014, 01:05 PM	#11
bmasculine Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Richmond Tx Posts: 80	Thanks a lot for the info. So yall think I'd be better off making the swap from MH to LED. There's alot of diehard MH people but I had LED's in the past and felt like I had better results. And the LED's I was running were nothing like what's out now. If I was getting good growth id probably deal with the water temp and evaporation because I really like the look.

10/29/2014, 01:12 PM	#12
bmasculine Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Richmond Tx Posts: 80	It's mainly sps growth. Lps hammer torch Duncan's all growing like crazy.