AI blade coral grow

wjm6449 · May 31, 2023

Hi I’m building a 125 gallon reef setup. Anyone know with the ai blade coral grow if it needs more than one blade on a 125 gallon setup? If so I can buy one and buy a second later.

Troylee · May 31, 2023

You would need 4 or 5 to get proper coverage or mount them very high for now.. a single one won’t cover it.

wjm6449 · May 31, 2023

Troylee said:
You would need 4 or 5 to get proper coverage or mount them very high for now.. a single one won’t cover it.

Ok, we’ll the tank isn’t even built yet, 4/5? Really? I’m assuming for the SPS would need that many? Seems heavy duty.

nereefpat · May 31, 2023

6 foot 125 gallon tank?

The biggest blade is 66" long and about 140 watts, if that helps you. 140 watts of LED over 6 feet will be pretty weak, assuming you want corals. I haven't used them, but I think that I'd start with 3 fixtures.

Troylee · May 31, 2023

wjm6449 said:
Ok, we’ll the tank isn’t even built yet, 4/5? Really? I’m assuming for the SPS would need that many? Seems heavy duty.

What’s the foot print of the tank? Many different configurations meet a 125gal tank.

twentyleagues · May 31, 2023

I've got a 21" version over a roughly 20"x20" tank it's 18" deep. It's currently set at 35% intensity max. I have 2 hammers 1 torch 2 Duncan a few zoas and 5 rfa no coral is past the bottom 3rd of the tank. All are happy and healthy. I have no idea what the par is, I don't have a meter. The light is dead center on the included tank mounts. Most corals are in directly below the light but the he torch and 1 hammer are more towards the back and 2 of the rfas are touching the front pane. These are more powerful then people give credit. I'd think 3 would be more then enough on a standard 125 probably over kill. Not sure at the ends of the tank may need to keep low light or no corals in the last 3" on both sides. My light goes wall to wall. I get a decent algae dusting on the sides after a few days probably could have used a 12" for my purposes.

wjm6449 · May 31, 2023

twentyleagues said:
I've got a 21" version over a roughly 20"x20" tank it's 18" deep. It's currently set at 35% intensity max. I have 2 hammers 1 torch 2 Duncan a few zoas and 5 rfa no coral is past the bottom 3rd of the tank. All are happy and healthy. I have no idea what the par is, I don't have a meter. The light is dead center on the included tank mounts. Most corals are in directly below the light but the he torch and 1 hammer are more towards the back and 2 of the rfas are touching the front pane. These are more powerful then people give credit. I'd think 3 would be more then enough on a standard 125 probably over kill. Not sure at the ends of the tank may need to keep low light or no corals in the last 3" on both sides. My light goes wall to wall. I get a decent algae dusting on the sides after a few days probably could have used a 12" for my purposes.

thats encouraging. I mean, itll be a standard 72" length tank.

rtparty · May 31, 2023

A standard 125g is 72*18. You need 2 and could keep almost anything you want. 1 Blade per every 8” of tank depth (front to back) will give you full blown SPS numbers all over the tank

twentyleagues · May 31, 2023

rtparty said:
A standard 125g is 72*18. You need 2 and could keep almost anything you want. 1 Blade per every 8” of tank depth (front to back) will give you full blown SPS numbers all over the tank

Agree, easily.

Troylee · May 31, 2023

rtparty said:
A standard 125g is 72*18. You need 2 and could keep almost anything you want. 1 Blade per every 8” of tank depth (front to back) will give you full blown SPS numbers all over the tank

I’d still go with 3 myself on that foot print.. I was thinking more along the lines of a 120 that’s 2x2x4 that I would use 4 or 5… 18” wide I’d say 3 but I guess you could get away with 2 with some minor shadowing…

rtparty · May 31, 2023

twentyleagues said:
Agree, easily.

3.5 months of running them as my primary lighting plus my PAR meter came to that conclusion

rtparty · May 31, 2023

Troylee said:
I’d still go with 3 myself on that foot print.. I was thinking more along the lines of a 120 that’s 2x2x4 that I would use 4 or 5… 18” wide I’d say 3 but I guess you could get away with 2 with some minor shadowing…

When mounted around 6-8" off the water, one per 12" gives mixed tank PAR. One per 8" is full blown SPS with very little shadowing. I have 3 57" Blades over a 72x36x22 peninsula and keep a mixed tank with SPS middle and above. I will eventually add 2 more for my own sake and could keep SPS top to bottom, corner to corner.

Troylee · May 31, 2023

rtparty said:
When mounted around 6-8" off the water, one per 12" gives mixed tank PAR. One per 8" is full blown SPS with very little shadowing. I have 3 57" Blades over a 72x36x22 peninsula and keep a mixed tank with SPS middle and above. I will eventually add 2 more for my own sake and could keep SPS top to bottom, corner to corner.

I was just gonna ask you if that’s what you’re running on your peninsula tank.. I have the exact same tank as you and run a couple 250w metal halides and radion, reef brite Xho supplements lol.. I’m Sps dominated with a couple torches and hammers..

rtparty · May 31, 2023

Troylee said:
I was just gonna ask you if that’s what you’re running on your peninsula tank.. I have the exact same tank as you and run a couple 250w metal halides and radion, reef brite Xho supplements lol.. I’m Sps dominated with a couple torches and hammers..

I used to run 3 - 250w ReefBrite halides (used ReefBrite and Radium bulbs) and 2 60" XHO supplements over the tank. With everything on and a new Radium bulb I was getting 310 PAR at the top of my rocks. I am now getting 450 PAR at the same spot with my 3 Blades and 2 XHOs. The Blades aren't at a full 100% either. I lower the royal blues to like 70% but I bump up the Cool White to 110% to get a whiter look to the tank overall.

The XHOs don't add a ton of PAR but they help. They are coming down for 2 more Blades in time as I like the Blade look and control more.

Troylee · May 31, 2023

rtparty said:
I used to run 3 - 250w ReefBrite halides (used ReefBrite and Radium bulbs) and 2 60" XHO supplements over the tank. With everything on and a new Radium bulb I was getting 310 PAR at the top of my rocks. I am now getting 450 PAR at the same spot with my 3 Blades and 2 XHOs. The Blades aren't at a full 100% either. I lower the royal blues to like 70% but I bump up the Cool White to 110% to get a whiter look to the tank overall.

The XHOs don't add a ton of PAR but they help. They are coming down for 2 more Blades in time as I like the Blade look and control more.

I’m running Phoenix 14k myself.. not sure what my par is but I have 3 radions in between them.. I need to get my hands on a par meter..