Hydra 52 HD + T5 Settings

[dshots]

That would be way more than enough for a 3 ft tank of LPS and would grow SPS up top in some hight par areas as well. You are correct that some phosphate and some nitrate are good for SPS.....and especially for LPS.

Ok. Thanks for the response. I only had one SPS in my old tank. It was a Nanocube with the lower led light. It didn't make it very long. Maybe the light just wasn't powerful enough, maybe because it was only the white light only I think it was 14000k. I grew a ton of LPS though. This is my first "real tank". I'm really liking the t5 hybrid though. I figure if I can get by with primes I can get an Apex too which would be awesome.

 

[Seminoles76]

Ok. Thanks for the response. I only had one SPS in my old tank. It was a Nanocube with the lower led light. It didn't make it very long. Maybe the light just wasn't powerful enough, maybe because it was only the white light only I think it was 14000k. I grew a ton of LPS though. This is my first "real tank". I'm really liking the t5 hybrid though. I figure if I can get by with primes I can get an Apex too which would be awesome.

No problem. With SPS it's tough sometimes. The one that died on you could have been too much light, to little light or a plethora of other things such as alk swings or nutrients. If your going to do SPS for the first time I would recommend T5 as they are a plug it in and forget it and they will help balance out your primes. If you haven't already, check out BRS TV investigates and look at their recommended settings for the primes or get some settings from another reefer who has had the AI's going for awhile. That way your not all over the place on the spectrum.
Once you get your parameters dialed in, make sure you check Alk frequently and keep it stable as it's one of the biggest culprits when it comes to SPS woes. If you were able to have a thriving LPS tank, there is no reason why you can't dial in a great SPS tank!

 

[dave57]

Hey Dave, looks really good. Are you going to replace two Blue + with the Coral + tubes?

Post another pic once you get those Coral + in there. I think I am going to go with Two B+/Two Coral+

Yes I’ll be replacing two of my blue plus bulbs with coral plus bulbs. I got them yesterday but they both arrived broken I was so ticked off

 

[dshots]

No problem. With SPS it's tough sometimes. The one that died on you could have been too much light, to little light or a plethora of other things such as alk swings or nutrients. If your going to do SPS for the first time I would recommend T5 as they are a plug it in and forget it and they will help balance out your primes. If you haven't already, check out BRS TV investigates and look at their recommended settings for the primes or get some settings from another reefer who has had the AI's going for awhile. That way your not all over the place on the spectrum.
Once you get your parameters dialed in, make sure you check Alk frequently and keep it stable as it's one of the biggest culprits when it comes to SPS woes. If you were able to have a thriving LPS tank, there is no reason why you can't dial in a great SPS tank!

Ok, I'll check it the brs investigates for the prime. I haven't seen that one. So what do you think of the RS coral pro salt? Is the high alk a good thing? I thought so, that's what salt I had last time and what salt I have bought this time. I hoping to get it going this week.

 

[dshots]

No problem. With SPS it's tough sometimes. The one that died on you could have been too much light, to little light or a plethora of other things such as alk swings or nutrients. If your going to do SPS for the first time I would recommend T5 as they are a plug it in and forget it and they will help balance out your primes. If you haven't already, check out BRS TV investigates and look at their recommended settings for the primes or get some settings from another reefer who has had the AI's going for awhile. That way your not all over the place on the spectrum.
Once you get your parameters dialed in, make sure you check Alk frequently and keep it stable as it's one of the biggest culprits when it comes to SPS woes. If you were able to have a thriving LPS tank, there is no reason why you can't dial in a great SPS tank!

Also, which 4 bulb combo should I go with? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the aquatic life and two primes

 

[Seminoles76]

Ok, I'll check it the brs investigates for the prime. I haven't seen that one. So what do you think of the RS coral pro salt? Is the high alk a good thing? I thought so, that's what salt I had last time and what salt I have bought this time. I hoping to get it going this week.

The RS coral pro is probably a very good salt. I have personally never used it as I use the blue bucket which is the regular RS salt. One thing to keep in mind with the coral pro salt is that it runs high alkalinity. If your NO3 runs low and you maintain your alkalinity up in that range of 12 you can hurt SPS with burnt tips and possibly killing them off with STN/RTN. If you go with that salt, just ensure your nutrients run a little higher to match that high alkalinity.

Also, which 4 bulb combo should I go with? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the aquatic life and two primes

While there are all kinds of different bulb combo's out there for the T5, a general safe bet would be to run 2 Blue + coupled with 2 Coral + bulbs from ATI. There are many T5 users out there that run a 50/50 combo of those bulbs with great success as it offers a great spectrum. I have also run this combo with T5 only and had great growth and great color. The primes would then be used to either boost par numbers or just give you what is visually pleasing to your eye. A par meter or lux meter would be great as well to give you an idea of what your par number is with that t5 combo along with your primes.
This forum also has tons of experts at doing this. You can read thread after thread of users that all do it a little differently and all have great success. Hope this helps a little. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.

 

[Seminoles76]

Also, which 4 bulb combo should I go with? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the aquatic life and two primes

Wanted to clarify a little on my light recommendation above. With the two Blue + and two Coral + bulbs you can be certain that your coral are getting a good spectrum which alleviates you from depending on the primes from filling in a missing part of the spectrum. In this instance it's almost like the primes are just supplementing the T5. You can also get this same configuration from two Giesmann actinic blue and two aqua blue coral bulbs.

 

[dshots]

Wanted to clarify a little on my light recommendation above. With the two Blue + and two Coral + bulbs you can be certain that your coral are getting a good spectrum which alleviates you from depending on the primes from filling in a missing part of the spectrum. In this instance it's almost like the primes are just supplementing the T5. You can also get this same configuration from two Giesmann actinic blue and two aqua blue coral bulbs.

Awesome, thanks for the advise. I'm excited about getting it running this week.

 

[Moonrock]

Hey yes! I’m happy to report it is setup and running, it’s currently running 4 blue plus bulbs however I’m waiting for my 2 coral plus bulbs to come in this week

How far is your fixture from the water? Looks to be around 6 inches or so like mine. Can you give an exact measurement?

 

[Moonrock]

So I've been tweaking my lights bit by bit and holy crap. Ever since I added the fixture I have see an explosive amount of growth. Noticeable growth, not just increased 2 part consumption. New SPS (Home Wrecker and Walt Dis) that I put in around a month or so ago are already encrusted. My Monti cap colony gained a richer and deeper color, It went from a "bleh red" to a deep deep red (Example attached). I had a acropora valida (GARF bonsai valida acro) frag from unique that I've had for nearly a year and had absolutely no growth on it what so ever. When I first got the frag it started to encrusted but barely touched the rock and stopped. Didn't see any growth from that frag for nearly an entire year. After installing the lights that frag has doubled in size in the past month and the encrustation has quadrupled in length. It wouldn't grow a centimeter within the past year and now its blowing up and can see 2 new branches starting to form. I have seen more growth in the past month of having the lights compared to the previous 4-6 months before the T5's. I have a big setosa that went from a pale red/white to a vibrant red and my jedi mind trick monti has gained a bright green color as well. Overall everything has changed colors and have gotten much deeper and vibrant. Quite amazing the growth I've seen in the past month.

I've more than doubled my 2 part dosing in the past month compared to what I was dosing before. Now I'm dosing 2.3 times more 2 part than what I was dosing before. It could very well be the Triton method that is providing all of this growth since I installed the lights 2 weeks after starting the triton method. Other than that no other changes besides the lights. It just seems that everyday or so I'm adding more and more 2 part because the tank is just drinking it like steroids. I've been trying to stay at 8-dkh but it seems impossible because everyday I'm increasing the dose and my alk continues to drop. All of the growth came after I installed the supplemental T5 lights.

I'm extremely happy with the light choice I made and the bulb's. I think they are doing a fantastic job. Try the geissman lights, You wont be disappointed. I promise. I'm going to attached the updated AI program to this chat so that anyone who is interested in it can use it.

https://thesurgeagency-my.sharepoin...hEnH9RJNbIOxIBNJq4ahj-XCgRhfQxiYmaSg?e=xa9YXU

^^^ Configuration is on point with the bulb config I have ^^^ I followed the same Ratio's that Coral Labs AB+ has but included the waves/rest points. It has been working GREAT with the T5 combo.

I also went ahead and created some diffusers for the Hydra's. Anyone who is interested about the diffusers I created a thread here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/led-light-diffuser-hydra-52-hd.374780/#post-4585343

Check this out

 

[Luno]

I'll be running hydra 52's and t5's in my upcoming build. The plan I was thinking of going with hydras run length ways and front and back with 2xT5HO back and front. Using the settings to create the AB+ from radion and then using two t5's to whiten out all that blue. I prefer a whiter look with a hint of blue. So I was thinking either 2x15,000k or 1x 15000k and 1x17500k depending on how the mix of blue and white ends up.

Anyone do something similar to that?

 

[Seminoles76]

So I've been tweaking my lights bit by bit and holy crap. Ever since I added the fixture I have see an explosive amount of growth. Noticeable growth, not just increased 2 part consumption. New SPS (Home Wrecker and Walt Dis) that I put in around a month or so ago are already encrusted. My Monti cap colony gained a richer and deeper color, It went from a "bleh red" to a deep deep red (Example attached). I had a acropora valida (GARF bonsai valida acro) frag from unique that I've had for nearly a year and had absolutely no growth on it what so ever. When I first got the frag it started to encrusted but barely touched the rock and stopped. Didn't see any growth from that frag for nearly an entire year. After installing the lights that frag has doubled in size in the past month and the encrustation has quadrupled in length. It wouldn't grow a centimeter within the past year and now its blowing up and can see 2 new branches starting to form. I have seen more growth in the past month of having the lights compared to the previous 4-6 months before the T5's. I have a big setosa that went from a pale red/white to a vibrant red and my jedi mind trick monti has gained a bright green color as well. Overall everything has changed colors and have gotten much deeper and vibrant. Quite amazing the growth I've seen in the past month.

I've more than doubled my 2 part dosing in the past month compared to what I was dosing before. Now I'm dosing 2.3 times more 2 part than what I was dosing before. It could very well be the Triton method that is providing all of this growth since I installed the lights 2 weeks after starting the triton method. Other than that no other changes besides the lights. It just seems that everyday or so I'm adding more and more 2 part because the tank is just drinking it like steroids. I've been trying to stay at 8-dkh but it seems impossible because everyday I'm increasing the dose and my alk continues to drop. All of the growth came after I installed the supplemental T5 lights.

I'm extremely happy with the light choice I made and the bulb's. I think they are doing a fantastic job. Try the geissman lights, You wont be disappointed. I promise. I'm going to attached the updated AI program to this chat so that anyone who is interested in it can use it.

https://thesurgeagency-my.sharepoin...hEnH9RJNbIOxIBNJq4ahj-XCgRhfQxiYmaSg?e=xa9YXU

^^^ Configuration is on point with the bulb config I have ^^^ I followed the same Ratio's that Coral Labs AB+ has but included the waves/rest points. It has been working GREAT with the T5 combo.

I also went ahead and created some diffusers for the Hydra's. Anyone who is interested about the diffusers I created a thread here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/led-light-diffuser-hydra-52-hd.374780/#post-4585343

Check this out

Nice man. Glad they are working out for you and thanks for the update. Thanks also for posting the share point file. I am using the David Saxby file and just toned it down after adding the aquatic life fixture. Same profile just less percentage.
I struggled and struggled with bulb choice. Finally settled on B+, Aquablue Coral, AI HYDRA, Super Actinic, Coral + in that order from front to back. I couldn't bring myself to come away from the ATI B+ C+ combo since I have had so much success with it in just regular T5 setups. So, in the end I opted for two ATI and two Giesmann bulbs. I love the setup so far. I wanted to give the tank the majority of 10k spectrum coming from the T5 tubes vice the cool white LED on the HYDRA. I'll keep you posted on how things turn out.
I'll take a few pics and send once the all the lights come on.
That is crazy how you did the diffusers. I struggled with getting my fixture 10 inches off the water just so the AI's were high enough. Initially it was sitting at 5 inches until I modified the hell out of it to hang higher. I just got the thing up like three days ago. Wish I would have seen the diffuser earlier.

 

[Seminoles76]

I'll be running hydra 52's and t5's in my upcoming build. The plan I was thinking of going with hydras run length ways and front and back with 2xT5HO back and front. Using the settings to create the AB+ from radion and then using two t5's to whiten out all that blue. I prefer a whiter look with a hint of blue. So I was thinking either 2x15,000k or 1x 15000k and 1x17500k depending on how the mix of blue and white ends up.

Anyone do something similar to that?

Yes I am doing something similar but with a C+ and Aquablue coral from Giesmann. I would go with either two C+ or two Aquablue coral in the 15k spectrum for that whiter look. Then run the Ab+ schedule and you should be close to that whiter look your going for. I will post some pics of my setup that would be similar to what your looking for. Only difference would be is that I run the David Saxby AI profile vs. the AB+ profile.

 

[Luno]

Yes I am doing something similar but with a C+ and Aquablue coral from Giesmann. I would go with either two C+ or two Aquablue coral in the 15k spectrum for that whiter look. Then run the Ab+ schedule and you should be close to that whiter look your going for. I will post some pics of my setup that would be similar to what your looking for. Only difference would be is that I run the David Saxby AI profile vs. the AB+ profile.

Thanks man, good to know it works practically not just in my head

 

[Seminoles76]

You are pushing a lot of actinic with the two super actinic and the AI Hydras UV and Violet channels up high. Good to note that you are seeing a lot of good growth with that. I'm sure you are getting crazy color pop as well.

 

[Moonrock]

I'll be running hydra 52's and t5's in my upcoming build. The plan I was thinking of going with hydras run length ways and front and back with 2xT5HO back and front. Using the settings to create the AB+ from radion and then using two t5's to whiten out all that blue. I prefer a whiter look with a hint of blue. So I was thinking either 2x15,000k or 1x 15000k and 1x17500k depending on how the mix of blue and white ends up.

Anyone do something similar to that?

If you look at the settings I recently uploaded with the bulb configuration I have, thats exactly what you get. It sorta gives the tank an aquatic look? If that makes any sense lol. It's a white with a tint of blue.

 

[dave57]

How far is your fixture from the water? Looks to be around 6 inches or so like mine. Can you give an exact measurement?

Yes they’re about 6 inches from the water,
Did you happen to measure the par levels on your tank now that you’re running the hybrid setup?

 

[Moonrock]

i did a par reading when i installed the aquatic life fixture and put almost everything around 200-350.

I havent done one yet with the little light diffuser that i made. It seems to be working very well, just havent checked how much par dropped.

 

[choco24]

Just wanted to see if this setup is still doing for ya. Thanks

 

[B-ridge]

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