Kessil A80 to AI Prime 16HD

[SimplisticDesign]

Hey guys,

Doing the big switch from my current Kessil A80 to a new Prime 16HD. I know there's an acclimation feature, but does anyone have ideas of the acclimation I should set it to that light resembles more like the Kesil? I have not received it yet, but I don't want to stun my coral. For ramp up and ramp down, I have a secondary Fluval marine nano 3.0 which is also powered at 100% with Purple, BlueAttach files, and Cyan at 100% and two hours 50% whites during the eight hours.

 

[EricR]

Your best bet would be to rent/borrow a PAR meter to have on hand right before and during the light swap, so you can:
- check PAR levels with current lights
- get new lights in and set to your future target PAR levels
- start long acclimation mode at whatever % matches your current lighting

Another option (although not as accurate) would be to use an app on your phone like "Photone" app for iPhone just to check current levels and then dial in your new lights to match.

I had Kessil A80 + Nicrew 50W, each over half of my 40 gallon tank, and switched to 2x AI Prime 16HD LEDs.
I just used Photone app like I mentioned above but I wasn't really that concerned since I only had a couple of zoas at the time.
*didn't even bag the phone and go underwater,,, just compared levels with the phone sitting on top of the tank
...since then, I've rented an Apogee MQ510 PAR meter a couple of times from a semi-local reefer

 

[SimplisticDesign]

Your best bet would be to rent/borrow a PAR meter to have on hand right before and during the light swap, so you can:
- check PAR levels with current lights
- get new lights in and set to your future target PAR levels
- start long acclimation mode at whatever % matches your current lighting

Another option (although not as accurate) would be to use an app on your phone like "Photone" app for iPhone just to check current levels and then dial in your new lights to match.

I had Kessil A80 + Nicrew 50W, each over half of my 40 gallon tank, and switched to 2x AI Prime 16HD LEDs.
I just used Photone app like I mentioned above but I wasn't really that concerned since I only had a couple of zoas at the time.
*didn't even bag the phone and go underwater,,, just compared levels with the phone sitting on top of the tank
...since then, I've rented an Apogee MQ510 PAR meter a couple of times from a semi-local reefer

I did purchase that app, but it felt very inaccurate as I was getting readings of 1000+ par from underwater when I did "bag" my phone. I really didnt bag it lol just threw my phone in.

 

[EricR]

I did purchase that app, but it felt very inaccurate as I was getting readings of 1000+ par from underwater when I did "bag" my phone. I really didnt bag it lol just threw my phone in.

Yeah, the accuracy is likely questionable but I just cared about matching current levels and not adjusting to anything specific,,, but whatever PAR I saw in the app didn't seem too ridiculous for what I was doing so I went with it and didn't have any problems ... but real PAR meter would obviously be better