AI hydra 64 for 40 gallon breeder to much????

[Grimreefer89]

title pretty much covers it i want to be able to grow anything within reason. i do not want to buy lights again, ive asked before and with yalls help came to the conclusion 2 hydra 32s would be my best bet. im not opposed to this but if i go with the hydra 64 it should cover the 36in spread of the tank (i think) and when i want to upgrade to a 90 gallon tank ive got half my lights bought. i just need yall to tell me why this is not a good idea. before i spend 700 bucks(which is less than 2 hydra 32's) on a hydra 64. i just cant see a reason to buy 2 32's vs 1 64 heres a link to the 64
thanks guys i appreciate it.

 

[jda]

A single unit will not cover 36" once stuff starts to grow and you have shadows. A pair of 32s would be a lot better since you can spread them out. You might even have to add a third later, but that is easy.

 

[Grimreefer89]

ya thats what i was afraid of thank you

 

[DeepintheReef]

If your plan is to upgrade later, stick with the 32’s. You can spread them out to get better coverage

 

[BullyBee]

I have a 40g breeder and I am doing two AI prime 16HD’s. I have one already.

On my 90 gallon planted I have two AI primes and the lighting is fine. I realize this isn’t relevant to you but I would imagine 4 would be fine.

I was told flat out that dual 16s are better than one 32. And while dual 32s would be better, now you are spending a lot of money.

The question is the law of diminishing returns. How much more light are you getting for that 40gallon with dual 32’s over dual 16s?

 

[Grimreefer89]

i do not necessarily have a "PLAN" to upgrade but i know its inevitable ive got a biocube 32 led now and im building a 40 breeder with a sump and all that jazz. so i know eventually ill want a bigger tank with the same footprint as a 40 breeder, but that could be years down the road. bullybee you have a very valid point and thats the conundrum how much more light will i really get from the 32's. if i had done things slightly different id have been able to put 3 primes and i think that would have been the best route. unfortunately my over fill is centered on the tank so it will look horrible with 3 primes. thanks guys i truly appreciate all the advice and input.

 

[BullyBee]

Hang from ceiling!!!

 

[Grimreefer89]

that's a hard NO bullybee im gonna have to use the garbage hms mounts if i get the 32's. its a 400 dollar difference between the 16's and 32's. peoples opinions are split do you happen to have pics of yours with the 16's on it ive seen tanks with 2 hydra 26s i haven't seen 2 primes on one yet.

 

[BullyBee]

Yes but I’m freshwater.

Here’s where I’m at saltwater

 

[BullyBee]

My lights are dim in the 90 gallon and there is near 100 percent coverage on the surface with plants as well. You can see the algae on the background. I have co2 in there. These lights are f’ing bright.

 

[toady00]

I have a 40 breeder reef with 2 Al 32's. They're mounted 10" off the surface. I'm running all the blues and up hard. All above 100%. I'm starting to question if I need to add some t5s or switch the 2 g5 xr30 blues, cause there seems to be a lot of shading and the bottom of the few frags I have. I'm not happy with the spread on these AI hydras.

 

[BullyBee]

I have a 40 breeder reef with 2 Al 32's. They're mounted 10" off the surface. I'm running all the blues and up hard. All above 100%. I'm starting to question if I need to add some t5s or switch the 2 g5 xr30 blues, cause there seems to be a lot of shading and the bottom of the few frags I have. I'm not happy with the spread on these AI hydras.

I haven’t heard too many good things about the new G5. Something about “people need to stop freaking out about the G5. They will be releasing updates do t worry” I’m a planted Tank guy at heart and I have had both T5 and led and I can’t imagine going back to t5 on a planted tank. Both of my planted tanks have AI primes. The 90 gallon has 2.

What kind of gear is on your 40? I did all hang on. Aquamaxx skimmer, dual aquamaxx reactors (only have one right now) and an Aquaclear 70.

Edit: didn’t meant to hi jack by asking what kind of gear he ran. I thought this was a response to a similar thread I made.

 

[BullyBee]

To the OP. I took a pic of my Prime on a 40 gal and while it did cover it looked like ****. Shadows everywhere. If there weren’t any shadows this light would be amazzzzzzzzing. The blues were so vivid and the whites were so natural. It wasn’t like “hey that’s a nice light!” It was like the AI prime was one with the tank.

 

[lpsouth1978]

To the OP. I took a pic of my Prime on a 40 gal and while it did cover it looked like ****. Shadows everywhere. If there weren’t any shadows this light would be amazzzzzzzzing

I guarantee with a single prime mounted high enough to cover a 40b, the PAR would be next to nothing. I had 2 Hydra 26HD's over my 40b and had great results. You could definitely add an AL Hybrid if you wanted, though until things really start to grow a lot, I don't think it is necessary. You would just need to turn the Hydras down some if you got the hybrid.

 

[toady00]

He's some pics of 2 Hydra 32's over my 40

You can see how shaded the underside of the green Digi is.

I haven’t heard too many good things about the new G5. Something about “people need to stop freaking out about the G5. They will be releasing updates do t worry” I’m a planted Tank guy at heart and I have had both T5 and led and I can’t imagine going back to t5 on a planted tank. Both of my planted tanks have AI primes. The 90 gallon has 2.

What kind of gear is on your 40? I did all hang on. Aquamaxx skimmer, dual aquamaxx reactors (only have one right now) and an Aquaclear 70.

Edit: didn’t meant to hi jack by asking what kind of gear he ran. I thought this was a response to a similar thread I made.

I drilled it myself for 2 returns and an eshopps overflow. Got a 20g tank I turned into a sump with custom baffles I got from Lowe's. Small skimzs protein skimmer varioS return. There's a 5 gallon section for a fuge with Sea lettuce and a kessil h380. And a maxspect Gyre 330

 

[Grimreefer89]

Toady i really appreciate the pics and all the advice im sorry it took so long to respond to everyone my work schedule sucks at the moment. Im Super essiential lol... and im happy to say i did settle on the hydra 32s id rather have to much par than to little and the budget definitely increased with the work load. I wasnt planning on having this tank up till aug but it looks like it will be much sooner. Again thank yall for all the input yall, R2R always comes through for me.

 

[Airspy01]

Yes but I’m freshwater.

Here’s where I’m at saltwater

I know this is 2 years old and irrelevant but how reliable was that skimmer?

 

[gbroadbridge]

title pretty much covers it i want to be able to grow anything within reason. i do not want to buy lights again, ive asked before and with yalls help came to the conclusion 2 hydra 32s would be my best bet. im not opposed to this but if i go with the hydra 64 it should cover the 36in spread of the tank (i think) and when i want to upgrade to a 90 gallon tank ive got half my lights bought. i just need yall to tell me why this is not a good idea. before i spend 700 bucks(which is less than 2 hydra 32's) on a hydra 64. i just cant see a reason to buy 2 32's vs 1 64 heres a link to the 64
thanks guys i appreciate it.

A pair of 32's would be better with less shadowing for SPS