Upgrading from a HD Prime to XR15 G4 Pro. Need some advice.

tobes77

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Hi Everyone.

Need some lighting advice. I currently run a 50 ish litre tank (sumped fluval edge) under an AI Prime HD which is pretty much maxed out power wise, Although im running white, red & green very low.


My tanks mainly LPS at the moment, however i have quite a few acro & so frags which are living...but not much more. Ideally i plan for it do be more of an sps dominant tank. Im finding the prime isnt quite as powerful as i thought it would be and isnt bringing out the colors as much as i would like.

So im thinking of upgrading from my prime to a xr15 pro, im wondering how much more powerful they are and what kind of power i would need to run it at? i.e. 30-40% or near max like my prime is?

Appreciate any help.

Thanks
 

Highgrade

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The XR15 Gen 4 is 2x the power of the AI prime HD. You can set the XR15 for the same color spectrum you have on the AI prime and ramp up the intensity for your corals to adjust. What is your peak intensity currently on you prime?
 

basement reefer

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I have a similar sized setup (60 Liter ADA).

To get 150 PAR on the floor with the pendant 9" above the water takes "75%" intensity. Right now I am in acclimation mode on account of buying some new frags, so its currently somewhat less but will ramp up to that level. (The tank is 14" deep)

I think that gave me 240 ish PAR higher up in the tank, the approximate average I was shooting for.

You can't run it 24" away buy itself like they do in the Coral Labs.

I have the diffuser. Shimmer is increased the higher you mount the light.

I haven't checked the PAR at 100% intensity yet as I might not need it, plus the fan would start to get audible if I turned the light up to 100% but it does have more juice left.
 
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tobes77

tobes77

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The XR15 Gen 4 is 2x the power of the AI prime HD. You can set the XR15 for the same color spectrum you have on the AI prime and ramp up the intensity for your corals to adjust. What is your peak intensity currently on you prime?

four about 4 hours its:

v: 119%
uv: 117%
b:95%
rb:95%
 
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tobes77

tobes77

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You might consider a second Prime instead of the XR15. You can get T5-like coverage with LED control.

would it make a difference to the colors popping on the corals? I have a golen coral at the moment which is thriving, but it looks like a typical brown torch under the prime, i have tried all kinds of different settings and adjustments. Just think its not to my liking perhaps./
 

TheEngineer

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Generally speaking, LED lights all can give you about the same color temps. The blending, control and intensity are the primary differentiators. More blue usually makes them pop.
 

Highgrade

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four about 4 hours its:

v: 119%
uv: 117%
b:95%
rb:95%
If you go with the XR15 I would start around 30% intensity and ramp up over a few weeks. Keep in mind if you add the Radion diffuser you loose about 10-20%par. The Radion diffuser IMO is similar to the built in AI lens shield. Similar appearance rather than exposed LED diodes.
 
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tobes77

tobes77

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If you go with the XR15 I would start around 30% intensity and ramp up over a few weeks. Keep in mind if you add the Radion diffuser you loose about 10-20%par. The Radion diffuser IMO is similar to the built in AI lens shield. Similar appearance rather than exposed LED diodes.

OK perfect, I wasn't planning on buying the diffuser. I was thinking of going with the ab+ programme for sps so I know I'm using a tried and tested setting rather than guessing and playing around with the % all the time
 

Waynerock

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Another prime is cheeper by a long shot. But do what you want of course. I have two primes on my reefer 170 and only have everything at 70% on the David Saxby settings and still getting almost 200 on the bottom with very little shadowing. Just a thought
IMG_2889.JPG
 
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tobes77

tobes77

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Another prime is cheeper by a long shot. But do what you want of course. I have two primes on my reefer 170 and only have everything at 70% on the David Saxby settings and still getting almost 200 on the bottom with very little shadowing. Just a thought
IMG_2889.JPG

You are certainly getting more of a pop than i am from mine. I will post a pic of mine later on to compare. Of course i am only running one! maybe i will check out the saxby setting, i didnt use it before as i thought most were using it for lps but you seem to have some happy looking sps frags
 

JMoody

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Don't forget to acclimate they, they are much stronger than the Prime.
 
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tobes77

tobes77

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light arrived and i have it installed! looking good already. Just a quick question if anyone knows, i can probably work it out somehow.

I have choses reeflab ab+ for SPS. Then chose 45% intensity. It then shows on the graph overall brightness 35% at the peak point. Just wondering are brightness and intensity the same thing any why it would be showing 35% when i picked 45%.

Thanks :)
 

TheEngineer

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Poor UI design. The instensity is of the program. The brightness is for all of the LEDs in the fixture. Your program doesn’t use all of the LEDs.
 
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tobes77

tobes77

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Poor UI design. The instensity is of the program. The brightness is for all of the LEDs in the fixture. Your program doesn’t use all of the LEDs.

I see , so AB+ for SPS setting doesnt use all of the colors? hense the total % showing as 35 instead of 45?

The controlability of the ai prime is a tad easier!
 

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