Help with Light Settings for AI Prime 16HD

[TheNative192]

Hey Guys! I have looked at a lot of different of the older posts about the AI Prime 16HD and was hoping to get some assistance with setting up the light. I have a Redsea Desktop Cube and a Kracken lid on the way. My corals are very weird lol. Sometimes they are open all the way and other times they are shut for no reason. I am worried it may be because of my light settings.

At the moment I have:

GSP on Back wall and front rock.
Xenia on other front rock

Bam Bam Zoas
Two other smaller zoa frags and im not sure what type they are.

As for life I have:
2 Clownfish,
2 Peppermint Shrimp
3 Blue leg hermit crabs
3 Bumblee snails
2 Turbo Snails
2 Emerald Crabs

Plans:

Once I get a Kracken Lid (on its way)
I may add one other fish like an orchid dottyback, goby, or wrasse (recommendations are appreciated, want them to be kind to my clowns)
At some point maybe an Anemone or a Torch Coral -->(really want one of these but worried about managing water parameters for Torch).

The blue is kind of tough on my eyes (or maybe its the Violet/UV) so I was kind of hoping of turning it down or maybe even increasing the cool white. I just don't want to bleach the corals or cause massive algae growth.

Thanks again!

 

[EliteReefing1023]

I think the setting you have on it currently is fine. I run a super blue program because that’s what I like but I’m throwing about 20ish watts into a 25G peninsula. My UV/violet ramps up to 100% and my royal blue and blue goes to 60%, I don’t use r/g/cw

 

[TheNative192]

I think the setting you have on it currently is fine. I run a super blue program because that’s what I like but I’m throwing about 20ish watts into a 25G peninsula. My UV/violet ramps up to 100% and my royal blue and blue goes to 60%, I don’t use r/g/cw

I heard having too high of UV light and Violet light will burn out the bulbs and can hurt the corals do you have softies? At only 40% UV and Violet do you think that's too low and I should turn those up to 60% Also do corals even use Cool White Red or Green? Are you able to post your settings and what corals you have <3

 

[X-37B]

I had excellent results running 16hds @
First 4 100%
All others at 50%
The 16hds will grow anything with good color at those settings.
They work well for nems to.
My old 30 on 16hds.

 

[TheNative192]

So I just turned up my UV and V to 60%, Royal Blue and Blue to 80%, 5% Green 5% Red, and 25% Clearwhite. Just don't want to bleach my corals. My zoas were kinda acting up but I think it was my peppermint shrimp lol

My first ramp is 3 hours 11:30 to 2:30 full light till 9:30 and ramp down to 12AM. Not sure if thats way too much light time as well.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

Your light setting look pretty good to me. I’ve personally found that cranking the blues doesn’t phase most corals but if you crank the whites you can definitely melt stuff. Add white a bit slower. The vast majority of PAR generated by Primes come from the RB, B and W LEDs.

Peppermint shrimp can absolutely annoy Zoas and you gotta keep an eye on them because they sometimes nibble coral.

 

[TheNative192]

Your light setting look pretty good to me. I’ve personally found that cranking the blues doesn’t phase most corals but if you crank the whites you can definitely melt stuff. Add white a bit slower. The vast majority of PAR generated by Primes come from the RB, B and W LEDs.

Peppermint shrimp can absolutely annoy Zoas and you gotta keep an eye on them because they sometimes nibble coral.

So do you think I should go back to the settings I had before or keep the new settings at 60% V and UV 80% both blues and 5% Green Red and 25% Whites.

Before it was 40% UV and V 60% Blues 5% Green and Red and 25% white. I do want to try and grow corals as fast as possible too to frag into another tank for my office that's cycling

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

I think the change you made is fine. Long term you could probably crank those blues higher even, but baby steps.

There is nothing in the hotspot (dead centre under the light) so I’m not too worrried about your coral.

Here’s how I run my Hydra32 (peaks around 70w) over my 25g frag tank full of shrooms, Zoas and LPS.

 

[Hooz]

So... First things first...

How high is the light mounted? Google says the desktop cube is basically an 18" cube, right? If so, you need to have the light mounted 10" above the waterline for the most even coverage.

As for color settings, I'd recommend an "AB+" type color mix. It has a good mix of blue and white, and it's been proven over and over to grow coral. There are several "schedules" out there that use a similar color mix. If you're in the AI Prime/Hydra users' group on Facebook, they have a TON of schedules you can download. A lot of people like the Pennywise settings. I'd recommend one of the 12 hour DAYlight schedules.

Intensity is a little more difficult. The stuff you are hoping to grow in the tank isn't too light demanding. Softies, LPS and BTAs all do well in moderate lighting. Using the Pennywise schedules I mentioned before, I'd probably start with the "Pennywise Daylight POP 71% 12Hr" and see how you (and your coral) like it.

One last thing: I recommend watching this video. The whole thing. Twice. It'll teach you SO much about how your light works.

 

[TheNative192]

So... First things first...

How high is the light mounted? Google says the desktop cube is basically an 18" cube, right? If so, you need to have the light mounted 10" above the waterline for the most even coverage.

As for color settings, I'd recommend an "AB+" type color mix. It has a good mix of blue and white, and it's been proven over and over to grow coral. There are several "schedules" out there that use a similar color mix. If you're in the AI Prime/Hydra users' group on Facebook, they have a TON of schedules you can download. A lot of people like the Pennywise settings. I'd recommend one of the 12 hour DAYlight schedules.

Intensity is a little more difficult. The stuff you are hoping to grow in the tank isn't too light demanding. Softies, LPS and BTAs all do well in moderate lighting. Using the Pennywise schedules I mentioned before, I'd probably start with the "Pennywise Daylight POP 71% 12Hr" and see how you (and your coral) like it.

One last thing: I recommend watching this video. The whole thing. Twice. It'll teach you SO much about how your light works.

10-11 Inches from the level of the water. I am also getting a Kracken lid which I plan to put on the tank so I know that will also affect the light level.

I have property watched that video like 5 times now. I am kind of an weird situation as I have a Duncan and candy cane coral which are at the middle to top side of the tank and I am actually getting two pieces of Favia today. I know they also have two inch stinging sweepers so I plan to put them lower in the sane bed on a small rock but I was worried about adjusting my settings up and frying my Duncan. I will also check out the Facebook groups to check those schedules out. A lot of schedules seem to only run for 9 or 10 hours which includes ramp so I am hoping I can do a longer ramp with maybe less max time to balance things out.

The two circles are where I plan to put the Favia (two types and I heard they can sting each other so opposite ends of the tank) and I also got a Paly which I plan to put on the other side next to where the Paly is. I also have one mystery coral that is arriving today (LPS) I got these in the Top Shelf Aquatics deal (shout out to them for giving me a random different LPS instead of the Acro I accidentally bought (hahahaha) since I was trying to get their $1, $5, & free deals.

I think I changed my Settings up a bit too and all the corals have been doing well. Its full blast for 7 hours from 2 to 9 Ramp up from 11 to 2 and ramp down from 9 to 12. I tried to have less maxed out time and more ramp up time and ramp down time so I would have more viewing hours with the tank and corals on weekends and when I get back from work.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I have AI Prime on a 15 gallon 12" depth tank, mostly zoa's and mushrooms, set at 80% for 10 hours peak time. My lights is on a goosemount 8" above the water. I would turn your lights up if it was me.

 

[rtparty]

I would bet you are running them too high and getting more PAR than you think

Ryan at Serious Reefs just did a video on setting up lights with 1 watt per gallon for LPS settings and surprisingly most did extremely well this way.

That looks like a 12-15g tank? Meaning 15 watts or so. I believe MyAI tells you power usage. Set your blues and violets to 11-12w. Then use the whites for the rest

 

[TheNative192]

I would bet you are running them too high and getting more PAR than you think

Ryan at Serious Reefs just did a video on setting up lights with 1 watt per gallon for LPS settings and surprisingly most did extremely well this way.

That looks like a 12-15g tank? Meaning 15 watts or so. I believe MyAI tells you power usage. Set your blues and violets to 11-12w. Then use the whites for the rest

I ended switching the Pennywise 70% settings The UV and V stay at around 50-60% and the Blues are around 60%. When you said you think I am running them too high do were you referring to the person above running them at 80%. This schedule definitely runs for a lot longer than mine used too. Curious what should I be on the look out for with my Duncan Zoa's Trumpet as signs of stress.

View attachment 4153098

 

[Hooz]

10-11 Inches from the level of the water. I am also getting a Kracken lid which I plan to put on the tank so I know that will also affect the light level.

I have property watched that video like 5 times now. I am kind of an weird situation as I have a Duncan and candy cane coral which are at the middle to top side of the tank and I am actually getting two pieces of Favia today. I know they also have two inch stinging sweepers so I plan to put them lower in the sane bed on a small rock but I was worried about adjusting my settings up and frying my Duncan. I will also check out the Facebook groups to check those schedules out. A lot of schedules seem to only run for 9 or 10 hours which includes ramp so I am hoping I can do a longer ramp with maybe less max time to balance things out.

The two circles are where I plan to put the Favia (two types and I heard they can sting each other so opposite ends of the tank) and I also got a Paly which I plan to put on the other side next to where the Paly is. I also have one mystery coral that is arriving today (LPS) I got these in the Top Shelf Aquatics deal (shout out to them for giving me a random different LPS instead of the Acro I accidentally bought (hahahaha) since I was trying to get their $1, $5, & free deals.

I think I changed my Settings up a bit too and all the corals have been doing well. Its full blast for 7 hours from 2 to 9 Ramp up from 11 to 2 and ramp down from 9 to 12. I tried to have less maxed out time and more ramp up time and ramp down time so I would have more viewing hours with the tank and corals on weekends and when I get back from work.

Your screenshots aren't showing a moonlight channel. That means you have a Prime HD and not a Prime 16HD. Mounting height, etc will be the same, but the spectrum mix will be a little different.

I recommended the Pennywise because people seem to like all the peaks and valleys. Personally, I run a much simpler schedule. I also run a very long schedule (14 hours total), but I use VERY long ramps and only "peak" for 6 hours during the middle of the day, so nothing gets blasted for too long.

An example of my personal schedule using the AB+ settings for the Prime HD at the intensity that I'm guessing will be right for your setup would be...

8:30am - 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
10:30am - 70, 70, 63, 63, 0, 0, 0
12:30pm - 70, 70, 63, 63, 7, 7, 18
6:30pm - 70, 70, 63, 63, 7, 7, 18
8:30pm - 70, 70, 63, 63, 0, 0, 0
10:30pm - 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

That gives a nice blue viewing period in the morning and evening, and the "peak" with all the colors lasts for 6 hours in the middle of the day. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

To piggyback on what @rtparty said about the 1w/gallon, the settings I posted show as 22w in the myAI app, which should be spot on for your tank. That's how I tuned the settings above in the app.

ETA Screenshots

 

[TheNative192]

My Tank is Redsea desktop which is essentially 18.5 gallons I think in the photo I cut off the top of the tank as it was reflecting my computer screen. There is a solid 4-5 inches above the rockwork with just water.

Here is a look at the new settings as well as mentioned the The UV and V stay at around 50-60% and the Blues are around 60% other than the peak in the middle at the end of around 100% royal blue and 25% blue. @rtparty. I am curious your opinion on this as My Duncan is very much towards the top of my tank. Its also 10 inches from the surface. Based on the Facebook group it seems like a lot of people had great success with this schedule. I may check with my LFS to see if they have a par meter I can borrow or rent. Concerned that the Favia may get less light than 80 at the bottom but also don't want my Duncan to be melting away towards the top. I would put the Favia at the top of the rock but with its sweeper tentacles and change to grow that worried me with Coral warfare. I am kinda worried about my trumpet corals having that same issue but I think they mostly grow up and not wide so hopefully no issue there.

Thanks again everyone for your help!

 

[ColorMeGone]

I run 8" off the water and with GSP, Zoes, Palys, Shrooms, Anthelias, and Acans. My light is set at what I think is close to a correct spectrum except for white which I run low. I was running a bit higher but went back to these low settings and it's perfect for my tank.
This is at 25% or 12w. I just added 10% of these settings for the Diffuser I added this last week.
42
42
31
31
3
3
2 ramp up, 8 hrs. 2 ramp down.

 

[TheNative192]

I run 8" off the water and with GSP, Zoes, Palys, Shrooms, Anthelias, and Acans. My light is set at what I think is close to a correct spectrum except for white which I run low. I was running a bit higher but went back to these low settings and it's perfect for my tank.
This is at 25% or 12w. I just added 10% of these settings for the Diffuser I added this last week.
42
42
31
31
3
3
2 ramp up, 8 hrs. 2 ramp down.

Seems like all of those tend to be acceptable with medium to low light like 100 par or less. I think Duncan and Favia prefer like 80-150 par. Problem is my Duncan is going to be much higher than my Favia's as to try to avoid coral warfare. Right now im at around 18-20 watts in the schedule but I bet if I decreased it around 10% I could get it down to 16-17 watts. Mainly worried about the Favia corals coming in today getting around 80 Par at the lower rock areas. I could put them higher on the main rock structure but I hear they do grow and have sweeping tentacles and they would be within an inch or couple inches or each other or my other corals.

 

[Hooz]

Seems like all of those tend to be acceptable with medium to low light like 100 par or less. I think Duncan and Favia prefer like 80-150 par. Problem is my Duncan is going to be much higher than my Favia's as to try to avoid coral warfare. Right now im at around 18-20 watts in the schedule but I bet if I decreased it around 10% I could get it down to 16-17 watts. Mainly worried about the Favia corals coming in today getting around 80 Par at the lower rock areas. I could put them higher on the main rock structure but I hear they do grow and have sweeping tentacles and they would be within an inch or couple inches or each other or my other corals.

I would suggest staying right around 20-25w for your tank.

 

[jweiner]

10-11 Inches from the level of the water. I am also getting a Kracken lid which I plan to put on the tank so I know that will also affect the light level.

I have property watched that video like 5 times now. I am kind of an weird situation as I have a Duncan and candy cane coral which are at the middle to top side of the tank and I am actually getting two pieces of Favia today. I know they also have two inch stinging sweepers so I plan to put them lower in the sane bed on a small rock but I was worried about adjusting my settings up and frying my Duncan. I will also check out the Facebook groups to check those schedules out. A lot of schedules seem to only run for 9 or 10 hours which includes ramp so I am hoping I can do a longer ramp with maybe less max time to balance things out.

The two circles are where I plan to put the Favia (two types and I heard they can sting each other so opposite ends of the tank) and I also got a Paly which I plan to put on the other side next to where the Paly is. I also have one mystery coral that is arriving today (LPS) I got these in the Top Shelf Aquatics deal (shout out to them for giving me a random different LPS instead of the Acro I accidentally bought (hahahaha) since I was trying to get their $1, $5, & free deals.

I think I changed my Settings up a bit too and all the corals have been doing well. Its full blast for 7 hours from 2 to 9 Ramp up from 11 to 2 and ramp down from 9 to 12. I tried to have less maxed out time and more ramp up time and ramp down time so I would have more viewing hours with the tank and corals on weekends and when I get back from work.

Your screenshots aren't showing a moonlight channel. That means you have a Prime HD and not a Prime 16HD. Mounting height, etc will be the same, but the spectrum mix will be a little different.

I recommended the Pennywise because people seem to like all the peaks and valleys. Personally, I run a much simpler schedule. I also run a very long schedule (14 hours total), but I use VERY long ramps and only "peak" for 6 hours during the middle of the day, so nothing gets blasted for too long.

An example of my personal schedule using the AB+ settings for the Prime HD at the intensity that I'm guessing will be right for your setup would be...

8:30am - 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
10:30am - 70, 70, 63, 63, 0, 0, 0
12:30pm - 70, 70, 63, 63, 7, 7, 18
6:30pm - 70, 70, 63, 63, 7, 7, 18
8:30pm - 70, 70, 63, 63, 0, 0, 0
10:30pm - 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

That gives a nice blue viewing period in the morning and evening, and the "peak" with all the colors lasts for 6 hours in the middle of the day. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

To piggyback on what @rtparty said about the 1w/gallon, the settings I posted show as 22w in the myAI app, which should be spot on for your tank. That's how I tuned the settings above in the app.

ETA Screenshots

Pardon my stupidity, but what is AB+?

 

[TheNative192]

Pardon my stupidity, but what is AB+?

AB+ is a spectrum and intensity that BRStv came out with for the AI lights. It’s a good schedule but it’s very intense. They have different versions of it as well. If you search on YouTube AB+ BRS AI prime they have a video on it.