Reef tank lighting

[dante2046]

So i have started reefing since last november, havent do any corals till recently. I came to a LFS and the guy telling me AI prime 16 is bad for reefing, good enough for softies but not good enough for torches and hammers. I have a 15 gallon waterbox peninsula mini. So my question is do I really need to spend 500$ to do torches, i have two hammers, and they are doing quite fine, opening up and stuffs. The way the LFS owner say, the number of beams in AI 16 isnt strong enough to enhancing coloring of the torches.

 

[rtparty]

Sorry, but he's wrong. The Prime is more than capable

 

[VanDalsenReef]

Sorry, but he's wrong. The Prime is more than capable

Especially on a nano. More than enough. You can do literally any coral with that light on a nano of that size. Seems they are out to just make money and not create happy people, who actually enjoy this hobby and not just worry about the cost and stress of it all. I'm sorry they said that to you. Reef2reef is a fantastic place to find great people with the experience to match.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

The prime is junk. he’s wrong about them not supporting lps corals. but they’re still junk. Check out the Current USA Orbit R24. It is much better than the AI and $239 each with the mounting bracket. If you want to go more budget, the ViparSpectra black box on Amazon is very good and will grow anything.

 

[BiggestE222]

Go with an Ecotech xr15. Mobius app is awesome. You hold spend 400 bucks though.

 

[dedragon]

Sorry, but he's wrong. The Prime is more than capable

This ^, it is more than powerful enough for lps. IDK why people are trying to sell you on other things that arent needed

 

[Ef4life]

The prime is junk. he’s wrong about them not supporting lps corals. but they’re still junk. Check out the Current USA Orbit R24. It is much better than the AI and $239 each with the mounting bracket. If you want to go more budget, the ViparSpectra black box on Amazon is very good and will grow anything.

ai prime is an excellent light more than capable of growing anything, why do you consider it junk?

 

[dedragon]

... i live in nassau county, what store told you this info, it is incorrect

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

ai prime is an excellent light more than capable of growing anything, why do you consider it junk?

A lot of hobbyists don’t know about electronics cooling solutions. It’s not an excellent light. You’re welcome to like it, but it doesn’t change the poor design and construction of it. The design was entirely focused on looks and a compact size.

No thought was given to providing it an adequate and Quiet cooling solution. The heat sink is a joke, the fan is a piece of junk and is too small for the wattage. The result is a light that is too noisy and the fan has to run near 100% constantly which isn’t how it should be.
I’m sure you’re going to say “but mine is quiet!l No, no it’s not. Besides not knowing much about electronics, they also don’t know much about appropriate decibel levels for them either.
Basically, brands like Ecotech and Ai profit off of reef hobbyists ignorance and depend on it to stay in business.

 

[dante2046]

The way hes saying is AI 16 beams arent good enough for LPS coloring. He means if i want torches and hammers thrive, i need at least AI prime 32 or they wont enhance in color.

 

[dedragon]

the only complaint there was noise being a problem, if that isnt a problem with your unit i dont see why the light isnt adequate for the system

 

[dedragon]

Will it win our best light of the year? Testing the AI Prime 16 on Nano, 40 Breeder and 120g tanks!

Using real PAR data, we find the optimal mounting configuration for the Aqua Illumination Prime HD LED lights over a nano tank, 40 breeder and standard 120 gallon aquarium. In addition, Randy explores just how capable this extremely popular pico sized LED light is and shares the BRS

www.bulkreefsupply.com

here is some brs research about it

 

[dante2046]

Problem is I havent do too much research when i go into this hobby, got carry away by waterbox aquarium elegant tank design. So just got a whole set of stuffs together from their site, now already establish my nano tank, kinda dont wanna start back on equipment replacement, especially couple hundreds again on lighting. But i really love hammers and torches and really wanna start some torch soon. So not sure if AI 16 really true that cant handle torches or not.

 

[dedragon]

Nano Build - 13.5 Fluval Evo Build Thread: Mixed Reef (Exotic Invert Tank)

Some history behind why I got back into the hobby - my marine biologist friend took many of my corals when I had to take my older tank down about 3-4 years ago. He contacted me a few weeks before I started the fluval saying his tank is not doing well. I got this fluval up ASAP and took in the...

www.reef2reef.com

here is just 1 tank for evidence that the ai prime works, i do agree about the fan and heatsink design not being great but light output is

 

[dedragon]

dw you didnt waste your money like people are having you believe

 

[Azedenkae]

Problem is I havent do too much research when i go into this hobby, got carry away by waterbox aquarium elegant tank design. So just got a whole set of stuffs together from their site, now already establish my nano tank, kinda dont wanna start back on equipment replacement, especially couple hundreds again on lighting. But i really love hammers and torches and really wanna start some torch soon. So not sure if AI 16 really true that cant handle torches or not.

Literally every single person bar one has told you the AI Prime 16 HD will do well to grow LPS. Why still not sure? I mean you are looking for people's experiences as to whether it will allow LPS to thrive right?

 

[Ef4life]

A lot of hobbyists don’t know about electronics cooling solutions. It’s not an excellent light. You’re welcome to like it, but it doesn’t change the poor design and construction of it. The design was entirely focused on looks and a compact size.

No thought was given to providing it an adequate and Quiet cooling solution. The heat sink is a joke, the fan is a piece of junk and is too small for the wattage. The result is a light that is too noisy and the fan has to run near 100% constantly which isn’t how it should be.
I’m sure you’re going to say “but mine is quiet!l No, no it’s not. Besides not knowing much about electronics, they also don’t know much about appropriate decibel levels for them either.
Basically, brands like Ecotech and Ai profit off of reef hobbyists ignorance and depend on it to stay in business.

Any led you run flat out at 100% is going to have a shorter lifespan than one you don’t. I won’t run anything I own at wide open for long periods of time because it will kill them.

my ai prime is around 30-35% max per channel - the cooling fan never even turns on. Ever. So it’s totally silent always. You don’t necessarily need to run these at 100% especially on small tanks like 5-20gal


is it the greatest light? No, but it honestly the most popular light sold at brs for a reason, and it’s far from junk. Made to fit into a price point - absolutely, but not junk.

 

[dedragon]

yes azedenkae, it might not be my favorite light but idk why people are trying to just make them buy a new one for literally no reason, that seems wrong to me

 

[dante2046]

Got it, thank you guys. Really helpful responses, now im sure i should be able to start torches at some point. Btw any low to medium cost good torches to start as beginner?

 

[dedragon]

Got it, thank you guys. Really helpful responses, now im sure i should be able to start torches at some point. Btw any low to medium cost good torches to start as beginner?

Advanced marine aquatics has some pretty nice ones for cheap as well as aquarium village. I would dip the ones from aquarium village a lot though as i have personally seen them dipping for flatworms in the store