AI HYDRA EDGE
- Thread starter Heres_doe_
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Announced this morning on the AquaIllumination website. Looks like you can order now on Bulk Reef Supply.
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Here is a thread that was created this morning going over everything you need to know about the lights!
www.reef2reef.com
AquaIllumintaion creates new "cutting-edge" light! The New Hydra Edge is HERE!
Hey Reef2Reef! You're going to want to stay tuned for this exciting news! AquaIllumination has revolutionized reefing gear time and time again, and now they've gone "cutting-edge" one more time! We're excited to announce the launch of the all new Aqua Illumination Hydra Edge! Envision all the...
www.reef2reef.com
We have them arriving on Monday, the day we will begin shipping orders.
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areefer01
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Yes, is there anything specific you are looking for? I have three that have been in acclimation mode now over my 210 gallon reef. They are running in conjunction with my primary lights the Neptune SKY.
Few things I can share that are not related to PAR numbers. I will defer that to others who are better at it such as @telegraham although not sure if he has looked at it or if any hobbyist have sent him one. The lad is very busy.
Build quality:
- Well built
- No gaps in material seams or fittings (remember the 1999 Lexus Ball Bearing advertisement). Fit and finish is well done.
- No lose parts, lightly shaken, not stirred, it is solid - I shook it a bit gently to see. My SKY's for example the diffuser is loose (design reason)
- Removable fan cover for easy cleaning
- Panel type layout
- Solar ring which is used for shimmer effect. It does shimmer. Not like a Kessil a360x but it is noticeable with no disco effects.
- I am not using the myAI app
- Control at the moment is via Mobius
- I have them connected to my Apex EB832 set to ON
- I am not a Mobius power user but they are easy to connect
- Grouped together the three are
- 3 Pre built Templates
- Solar Blue - fresh daylight-white spectrum with a hint of blue.
- Solar Peak - Richer blue tones
- Deep Sea - Intense blues
- Scheduler builder which allows hobbyist to setup custom schedules and spectrum. Can choose between linear, sinusoidal, or parabolic daily schedule (I use Parabolic)
- Spectrum and editor is easy enough to use even for a novice like me
- Acclimation mode is nice - set percent. UI tells you how many days remaining
- Lunar/moon light notes the actual moon type(?)
- Once schedule is picked can edit, then hit play, and it will run through it quickly so you can see the changes, save or cancel
- You can get all the details of size and power consumption from any of the web portals including AI.
- I am using the Edge 44HD which is 95 Watts
- If I was a good hobbyist I would have setup 1 Edge 44 HD's and my older Kessil a360x, and did some comparisons as both are of similar wattage. I did not, I apologize.
- Attention to detail. It is of my opinion that AI paid attention to the build quality first and foremost. There are no loose parts. No cracks. No fan noise. Packed nice and neat ready to go. I did not even have to update the firmware.
- Attention to detail part 2. I've not personally seen this with my other lights not that I am a world consumer of lights but.... AI included thread-locking fluid (thread locker, lock tight type product) on the bolts/screws for the rails. Whoever thought of that needs a pay raise. That is why I note AI's attention to detail.
- Mounting options are good. I'm using mine on an 80/20 rail as that is how my SKYs are mounted. I am using their backets and you can tilt/direct the lights a bit to different positions. The one in the center is level, the outer lights I have slightly pointing in.
- Upon first glance I was worried that they lights would be too blue but there are enough presets and control that it isn't the case.
- User has control of the following channels
- UV
- Violet
- Royal
- Blue
- Moonlight
- White
- When manual adjusting there is a power usage indicator which is dynamic. As you select a channel and move it the wattage is shown. You cannot exceed 95W so when you adjust things like UV that probably demand more watts it limits other selections. Made sense to me and a good feature to prevent dumb things from happening.
- I have not connected it to the Apex via the MXM module
That is a wall of text that probably didn't really help you much. The meat and potatoes everyone is after is the PAR and spread. I do not have that. I attempted to but my PAR meter (Seneye) isn't working being the first hurdle. The second hurdle is that my reef has large colonies so measurement points wouldn't help anyone and you probably want the display empty, dry, or wet, depending on which you prefer. So again I apologize.
Few notes: AI provided me these lights as I was part of the beta testing. I am looking at the light in a holistic manor and not at the raw PAR vs dollar ratio. As I noted above I will leave to others. BRS price point is 400 USD. I think hobbyist will look at the Atlas and ReefFi's to compare. Not a fair fight as it relates to watts but it is something AI and others should be aware of as it relates to overall cost.
TL; DR - ignoring price, PAR numbers, this is a well built light in my opinion. AI has paid attention to detail. The rest I will leave to my fellow hobbyist.
Image below of the installation. Ignore the canopy as I had to remove some panels to add them in.
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