Wow the difference in BRS recommended spectrum from the 26 to the 32 has me scratching my head. Thanks so much for the information!! Super happy to the high mounting height as well! This should blend much better than what I have been doing!
Great video but a little confused on orientation. The drawing of the spacing shows the 4 lights running parallel with the 4’ tank however with the image of your test setup the lights are running perpendicular. Whats the orientation of the lights that gave you the data? Thanks!
Thanks for the info. Something that may be useful in the future is to show one light on a 4 foot wide tank just to see what happens in that 2' x 2' area when you don't have reflections from the sides, while I know one of the more common configurations of tanks is in 2 foot increments there are quite a few of us who have 30" front to back depth or even 36" front to back depth so knowing how the light behaves when it probably isn't going to be bouncing off the glass would be a nice piece of information to have. And not having that within 75% PAR rating isn't necessarily a bad thing, I really don't want corals within 6" of the glass because I know they'll grow closer to the glass and cleaning becomes a frag creation event then.
This one is up to you and your personal preferences. Since there hasn't yet been studies on using LED Lunar settings and how they affect corals, it's more used as an aesthetic look more than anything else.
At the 8:30 point, I see the space recommendations for 4 hydra 32s on a 48in, SPS dominate tank. Would 3 hydra 32s work for a 48×24 tank but instead, a mixed reef? If so, what would be the optimal spacing and height?
It would be nice if you do the same recommendation for SPS in a 60G as you do for LPS without the T5, this was a great video, but I really miss this peace of info. tanks Randy
yes and no... while he explains that hydra 32 will not cover SPS full tank... you can use it with a mix tank just look at the PARs above 200 and place your SPS corals there... if you want to do SPS full tank either use hydra 32 in combination with T5 or look at his video on the specific hydra 64 since you cant achieve full SPS corals tank with just hydra 32.... hope it makes sense for you
Great video as per usual guys! I'm setting up a red sea reefer 425 xl and planning to run two hydra 64 with a hydra 32 in between . Do you think this will be enough for wall to wall sps ?
Randy gives our BRS recommended spectrum settings at the time stamp in the link below. From there, adjust all channels down in equal ratio as needed to achieve the par level that you're going for with your tank. For SPS, we suggest 200-350 PAR. ua-cam.com/video/fQ_1yQiNIdc/v-deo.html
Are the PAR readings taken from the top or bottom of the tank? (Looks like bottom from video) If from the bottom how deep are the tanks? I also hope you can figure out a way reinstate the par meter rentals. I think it is a great tool for us hobbyists. Thanks again.
The mounting height tests in the beginning are based off the par levels 6" below the surface. Towards the end of the video, you'll see par readings at 6", 12", and 18" below the water surface
36"inch coverage might be a stretch, but could be doable for LPS and softies knowing that the outer edges will likely be pretty low. You could crank it up and mount it a bit higher and see if you reach your PAR goals.
Thanks for the video. So would 2 Prime HD's be advantageous to one Hydra for a smaller tank? 24" x 20" footprint Fijicube 32 ext. Would 14" mounting height for Primes be ideal like the Hydras?
@@BRStv thanks, I'm looking forward to the video! I'm guessing from this vid hanging the 2 lights centered at 6"/18" or 7"/17" would be idea. Appreciate all the hard work & data you provide to the reefing community
At 8:15, you show a photo of the lights with their long edges oriented to the front and back of the tank, then in the graphic at 8:35, you show them oriented to the sides of the tank. Then at 9:03, you show a photo of the long edge of the light oriented to the front and back again yet at 9:12, the graphic shows them oriented side to side again. which is correct? In the 4' tank in your example, should the lights have their long edge oriented front to back or side to side?
Sorry for the confusion. Our recommendation at those points in the video are to run the lights from front to back. In other words, perpendicular to the tank's length.
We would suggest 1 Hydra 32 per 1 foot of tank length for an SPS dominant system, or 1 Hydra 32 per 24" for an LPS system. For your 5 foot tank, you'd be looking at somewhere between 3 and 5 Hydra 32's, depending on the types of corals you'll be keeping.
I'm planning to have a mixed 90 gal reef tank and is considering buying 2 hydra 32s first and placing them 12 inches from the sides of the tank then eventually making it 3 for when I put in my SPS. Will this work?
Hey Randy, the test u did for the 8inch height with 32hd. Can I have the light settings? My tank is a 60x40x40cm aquarium. It might suit me as I'm running a mixed reef tank
Hello great review . I have an 8ft tank 28" high, looking to use multiple 32's. Your recommendation is set at 14" for 24". Should I look at lowering the units to say 12" ? Thanks
For the mounting height test we take a grid of measurements at 6"inches below the top of the tank. For spacing we are taking measurements directly in the middle of the tank at 12"inches below the top. Both 60 and 120 gallon tanks are 24inches tall.
: Hello. I need your help. I have 70.8 inch SPS dominant reef tank (Red Sea Reefer 750 xxl). I am using 61 inch Aquatic life T5 hybrid fixture combined with Hydra 32HD * 4 units. I set the Hydras according to the BRS recommended spectrum ratio, like that you described at the end of this video (SPS recommendation intensity). I just need your help about the 4 T5 bulb, I see some ATI T5 bulb color, but I don't know which color I have to choose that would be the best combination for my tank. Can you please tell me which 4 ATI T5 Bulbs is optimal for me to choose? I mean which color for each bulb. Total is 4 bulb. Thanks in advance. Dan
We usually use the ATI Blue Plus bulbs in our hybrid fixtures. Alternatively, if you prefer a less blue looking tank, you could opt to go with two Blue Plus and two Coral Plus instead.
Hi, great video! I am looking for lights for my reefer 250 and 2 hydras 32 sound like a great option! Also considered 2 Radion xr15 gen 5 or an Orphek Atlantik v4. I am going for a mixed reef. What is your suggestion and, in case I go with hydras, what spacing would you suggest? Thanks in advance for your time!
Two Hydra 32's would certainly do the trick! Spacing gets a bit tricky to try and predict. You could always start with them evenly spaced over the tank, but most likely the "optimal" spread will have them spaced a bit further apart from each other. The only way to be 100% certain is to check with a PAR meter. :)
Really useful, I have a question. The video states optimal height of 14 inches for the 32 and show the HMS mount which is what I have. I presume the measurement is taken from the top of the bracket, not from the lenses as the bracket isn’t long enough to extend to 14 inches?
Unfortunately the bracket isn't quite tall enough to reach our BRS optimal mounting height, so if you're using it, just try to get the light as high off the water surface as you can.
Hi, and thanks for the video! It's hard to find this type of info, and you guys explain it perfectly! I have a hood on my tank, and can only mount the lights 8" above the water, and there is also a lid on the tank. If I am aiming to do a mixed reef, how many Hydra 32s do you recommend, and at what intensity?
You don't mention your tank size, but given that you're trying to mount the lights closer to the water surface, you're almost certainly going to want to add in an extra light fixture or two, but turn the intensity down. This will give you the extra spread that you're losing by mounting the lights closer to the water.
Hello sir I have Redsea 170 I been using 2 32Hydeas LEDs lights for my tank now... You say that I can use one hydra 32 putting up too 14inches it well work for my SPS and LSP corals let's me try out sir Thanks again...
I’m just curious what is the best coral light that does the job but on a budget because I want to opportunity to have a mix reef but I just want to do a softy tank only
What's your preferred lighting approach? One or two larger LED fixtures or multiple smaller LED fixtures? Find out common reef lighting mistakes here! ua-cam.com/video/adFi3xL_gjc/v-deo.html
Nice video.. Q / my tank is 120x55x55cm mix reef with 2 Hydra 32.. so 14" Mount will be best? & what about lighting %? Mine start morning 8 to 9.30am 0%white & B,RY 70%& Uv & V 100% then 10 to 12pm white 28% & rest 108% 12 pm to 2pm white 50% & rest almost 130% up & down then start going down slowly slowly till full dark night time any advance please? Is lights % good for my corals or? Thanks in advance
That'll work, but probably overkill in most situations. Going with three AI Primes will be less expensive and still get you the PAR you need for an SPS dominant 40B.
@@BRStv That's what I was thinking as well. Thank you BRSTV team! That said, there are great deals out there on used AI lights! Now what about a Hydra 32 set to 13 inches above water on a 40 gallon AIO. (Aquatop Recife ECO 40) Dimensions: 21" length x 18" width (front to back) x 19" deep from the top of the sand bed to the water level . Probably overkill as well. 1 Prime 16HD was doing well as it was. Lol
For that tank size and softies/LPS, I would actually suggest going with two of the AI Prime fixtures. It'll get the job done and even save you some money :)
Hi , at 9.51 in the video BRS recommended % is : 110, 110, 120, 120, 10, 10, 0, 60 at 12.04 in the video for the 60 gallons it s downgraeded to % : 88, 88, 96, 96, 8, 8, 0, 48 I don't really understand what spectrum i should use as a result for my 30 gallons tank with a AI Hydra 32 HD Thanks for your help
This is all to hit a specific par goal. If your tank is a different size, you may need to us a par meter to measure the par you're seeing at the setting you see here and adjusting up or down to meet your needs.
Our goal for SPS dominated systems is to blanket as much of the tank from top to bottom in PAR ranges between 200-350 as possible. Given the mounting height for optimal spread and only 90watts of output, we found that a single Hydra36 (on its own) just doesn't have the output to achieve those ranges in a 24"sq inch area. Because of that, our recommendation is to add in some T5 supplemental light or upgrade to the larger Hydra64 to reach those goals. :)
@@BRStv I already removed the top as I am running an ancient t5/my combo. The ai is much more friendly to my budget so I will go that route. Do you recommend this 12 or 18 inch flex arm?
How do you scale those settings? I have a 32g bio cube so are those first recommended settings for something around that size since the settings for the 60g you said were scaled down?
A 32 gallon biocube is surprisingly pretty darn close to our 60 gallon test tank in terms of dimensions (24" cube vs a roughly 20.5" cube). If you take our BRS recommended settings from this video and reduce them by about 10%, that should get you pretty darn close.
Brains trust. Any ideas on 3 hydra over a cade 5ft? I have 2 hydra 26 and about to get a third which will be a hydra 32 but unsure of how they should be mounted for optimal spread. I thought even spread 3 ways across the tank horizontally but watching this video I’m unsure??
Because of the rectangular design, you will have more left to right spread if you mount them left/right oriented. Most will likely choose to run them in this configuration to spread the light more evenly across rectangular tanks. :)
Brian Robak I wanna see this 3 fixture test for all the lights BRS is testing over 48 inch tanks-could save $$$ and still get more than enough par for sps tanks!! How about it Ryan and Randy?!
I see at 8:39 the lights are horizontal with the tank, but on the actual tank image they are vertically aligned, I assume the image just did not correctly show the orientation for the test? (I just bought 4 of these so just confirming).
I ended up mounting my 4 hydra 32’s over my 6ft 180 with the 2 middle lights parallel to the tank and 2 outer light perpendicular. They are mounted 11 inches off the water. Spaced to center at 9” and 26” from each side of the tank. I’m likely going to add t5’s or reef brite addons when the colonies grow out. I don’t think I like the BRS spectrum. It’s a little odd to me. I’m going to pick up a spectrometer one of these days and double check that.
Hey guys, just wondering if you would be able to help. Looking for lighting for a 4x2x2 LPS dominant might have a few SPS closer to the top. What would you guys recommend?
If you're going to have a few SPS, I'd suggest three Hydra 32's or three Radion XR15's. That'll give you a little extra power for those SPS corals. If you were keeping LPS and softies only, you could run just two fixtures.
So, am I right to assume that 3 Hydra 32 would be more than enought to a Mixed Reef? That would be interesting to see in the testing has a lot of people does not stick to LPS OR SPS, but likely stay on middle. In this situation the Hydras should be mounted Vertically, ou horizontal to the tank?
I think that is a fair assumption! I would still mount them horizontally and at the recommended mounting height. A PAR meter will definitely be the right tool to getting this right.
Since the 40 breeder is 36" long, you're going to be much better off with the two Primes. You can go with the one 32 if you want, but keep in mind that you're going to have pretty noticeable shadows on the ends of the tank as that light is best for a max area of about 24"
Any reason why the ATi Blue Plus bulb is what you try to reproduce as far as spectrum? Having put an LED/T5 hybrid over my tank, of which ATi blue plus was a bulb type, when the T5 bulbs turned on the level of blue in my tank really gave my nostalgia a kick to the nuts, the overall look of the tank was so radically different than what the LEDs can produce at those bluer spectrum that I wished I could have the T5 spread but the LED spectrum with those bulbs.
I'd say we use the Blue Plus T5 spectrum more as a baseline comparison to what many reefers have become familiar with in terms of color in their tanks. It's hard to find a T5-only tank that strictly uses Blue Plus bulbs on their own, so rather than try to mimic that spectrum exclusively we do our best to balance a spectrum range with the proven B+ spectrum along with some white, green, red that looks pleasing to the eye. Ultimately, we would like to see more LED manufacturers do this on their own and produce spectrum recommendations that make their lights more "T5-like plug and play", but not everyone does this just yet.
We've not tested this fixture 36" above the water line, but you're likely going to lose a ton of par mounting them that high. You may want to look at metal halide fixtures as a potential option.
Q to BRS: Are your PAR numbers based off of your custom spectrum or all channels 100%? If you're adjusting for spectrum after measuring PAR then PAR will change!
Great questions! The PAR numbers for our spacing and mounting height tests are with all channels at 100% and specifically for testing purposes. The BRS Recommended spectrum ratio mix is the MAX intensity we would set each channel, which for our LPS and SPS tank type goals turned out to be too intense to meet our needs. So we scaled down the BRS spectrum ratio mix equally across all channels until we hit our PAR goal.
On a 3ft tank you could probably get it done with a single Hydra 64, but I would expect to see some lower numbers in the outer edges. In all honesty, after seeing our 5-Minute Tank Guide series and the 40breeder tank, I would definitely consider 3x- AI Prime 16's for that type of tank goal and that size of system. :)
I’m in the process of spacing out lights on a 40 breeder. I have two hydra 32s and was going to mathematically scale down the placement for two hydra on a 48”. So the spacing comes out to roughly 10” on center from the side and approx 11”-12” high. Would that be good for a mix reef setup?
If you're looking in the Aqua Illuminations brand, A single Hydra 32 would work out really well for a tank with a 19" x 23" footprint. When the time comes to add your SPS coral or two, you'd just have to mount your future SPS coral towards the top of the tank.
I have a 42" long tank 30 wide 30 tall and I'm curious. Should I mount it at your recommended height (14 inches) or should I raise or lower it? Also what do you recommend with the spacing?
I have a few questions. I have a 50 gallon cube 24x24x20, and have 1 Hydra 32. I have tried raising it on the bracket about as high as it will go without coming out, and the most I can go is 12 inches above water line. I was going to try for 14 like in the video. Is 12 inches fine, or should i find a way to try and get it a few inches higher? I also set the spectrum to the recommended settings and it just seems a little to white to me. Am i doing something wrong? or do i need to tone the whites down some? I originally had whites at about 21 before the video.
No problem mounting it at 12"inches, with the understanding that there is slightly less spread performance expected in those outer edges of the tank. Will that make or break your tank as a whole??..Not at all. When we create our BRS Recommened spectrum we add in the white channel until the tank looks pleasing to our eyes. This is kind of suggestive to what you might consider eye pleasing, but you can always slightly tweak these recommendations to meet your needs. PAR meters are a very useful tool to make sure you got your light dialed in!
Can you help me with settings my Hydra 32 ? My coral don't like it, I think the light is very high power I have 3 hydra 32 My aquarium size 140*60 h 55 cm what distance between them should be? I watched the video in your youtube channel but there is information about 2 or 4 lamps and the size of the aquarium 120 * 60 cm Please help
My question, your video shows 2 different mounting direction. Some of the video shows the lights mounted horizontal (led puck side by side) and some of the video shows the lights mounted vertical (led pucks front and back) why?
Since each fixture has two pucks, we were testing out if we could get more even coverage by running them parallel and perpendicular to the length of the tank. Ultimately, not a whole lot of difference with this particular fixture.
Not yet, but we're looking around the office for some older fixtures that many reefers still use, so we can get a ballpark idea of how they compare. :)
A hydra 32 is really best for a 24" wide area, so you'd actually be better off with two AI Primes so that you can space them out evenly over the 36" length of the tank. This will be sufficient light for LPS, softies, and a couple of well placed SPS corals.
Where can I find those fixtures you use for the lights and how much do they run for because I have a rimmed tank and nothing fits over it and I don’t want to hang my lights 8 feet from my roof
Im getting a 75cm x 65cm x 55cm(height) tank - I want mainly lps and maybe 1-3 SPS later ob , would you recommend for this size the Hydra 32 Hd or the Radion XR15 Blue ? I was wondering cause on the site of Ecotech marine they say the xr15 covers 24-30 inches so that would acctually fill out my tank or not ? Thank you allready
We still have plans to test the 16HD in the near future, but if it's anything like the AI Prime video we did here, you'll likely need multiple fixtures to get the job done. We'll have more direct setting recommendations after we wrap up the testing for the 16HD. ua-cam.com/video/WWc3dUwQuWI/v-deo.html
How many hydra 32s would I need for 6ft tank.. Mixed Reef, mostly LPS and would love a have about 10 sps frags on the back wall aquascape. I have Hamilton MH/T5 fixture, where I will just remove the MH bulbs and insert the hydras and leave it incase I need to revert
For a mixed reef with majority LPS, you probably could get it done with 4x Hydra32s. I would start there and test the PAR then decide if I needed a 5th Hydra32 to even out the spread.
@@BRStv Thank you for the response. For the same configuration, I am getting a great deal on 1 hydra 26 and 2 hydra 64 with mounting brackets for under $1k. Would this be a better setup for the cost? Later on I would mount them in AL 61" T5 fixture
I'm not sure anyone has truly gotten to the bottom of that question. Anecdotally, we've not noticed any reduction in longevity. Granted, we've not done a side by side test and it would take years to get definitive data. By then, the next model would probably be released.
I was looking for some settings for my 32hd but i only have 15 gallon, there are 4 acros on the top, if i divide the recommended LPS settings through 4 it should be fine or am i wrong?
You can use the same BRS Recommended spectrum ratio that we developed, then use a PAR meter to turn down that spectrum ratio until it hits your PAR goals for your tank. That way you know you have your specific tank dialed in optimally!
I just compared your par charts and data for the BlacBox with the Zetlight Q Maven and the Hydra 32. I have to say there is a distinct difference where the Hydra 32 is superior to the Q Maven for almost the same price. On the other hand the Q Maven did marginally better than the Black Box Led for almost 200 dollars more. After looking at the numbers idk why anyone would run a Qmaven let alone pay that crazy price. I would go Hydra 32 all day everyday if you want to drop the money.
I'm really struggling with lighting and I have no idea what is best for my 5ft tank 22in high 26wide 60long help would be appreciated thank you it's mostly soft and lps corals.
There are a lot of great options to choose from, so I could see being overwhelmed. If I were advising a friend, I would tell them to go with three approx. 90w fixtures for a tank of that size with the goal of softies and LPS corals. The Hydra 32 in this video would certainly fit that bill and has the added benefit of included on-board control, so it's hard to go wrong with it. The Kessil A360X and EcoTech XR15 would be the other two that you might also want to consider.
For an SPS system, we used 4 of them on our 4 foot test tank. In other words, 1 light per foot of tank. In your case with a 5 foot tank, we'd suggest 5 of the Hydra 32's. If you're going LPS only, three of the Hydra 32's will do the trick just fine.
It will depend on what types of corals you're looking to keep, but assuming a mixed reef like most reefers shoot for, three of the Hydra 32's over your 5 foot long tank will do the trick.
OMMMGGGG ITS TIME!!!! Thank you all for your hard work getting this content out!!!!
Wow the difference in BRS recommended spectrum from the 26 to the 32 has me scratching my head.
Thanks so much for the information!! Super happy to the high mounting height as well! This should blend much better than what I have been doing!
Brilliant! I’ve been waiting for this since your Hydra 64 video.
Very informative.. well done Randy and BRS. This has helped me set Up my 32.
I Would Love it you you guys did this with a 6FT Tank as well!
Great video but a little confused on orientation. The drawing of the spacing shows the 4 lights running parallel with the 4’ tank however with the image of your test setup the lights are running perpendicular. Whats the orientation of the lights that gave you the data? Thanks!
Been waiting on this one!
As someone who has a 60g cube, I want to see more videos like this for more lights!
Great review! What would you recommend for a 42 gallon 10 cm long sps dominated reef tank?
As always great content. I have 3 Hydra 32 HD and it would have been awesome to know the right placement for them on my Red Sea 525 XL
Thanks for the info. Something that may be useful in the future is to show one light on a 4 foot wide tank just to see what happens in that 2' x 2' area when you don't have reflections from the sides, while I know one of the more common configurations of tanks is in 2 foot increments there are quite a few of us who have 30" front to back depth or even 36" front to back depth so knowing how the light behaves when it probably isn't going to be bouncing off the glass would be a nice piece of information to have. And not having that within 75% PAR rating isn't necessarily a bad thing, I really don't want corals within 6" of the glass because I know they'll grow closer to the glass and cleaning becomes a frag creation event then.
Sound feedback, Mike! Thanks. I'll see if we can mock something like this up for a future test of something like the AI Prime 16HD
Great video. I am setting my light up with these settings.
What if anything do you recommend for the Lunar option?
This one is up to you and your personal preferences. Since there hasn't yet been studies on using LED Lunar settings and how they affect corals, it's more used as an aesthetic look more than anything else.
At the 8:30 point, I see the space recommendations for 4 hydra 32s on a 48in, SPS dominate tank. Would 3 hydra 32s work for a 48×24 tank but instead, a mixed reef? If so, what would be the optimal spacing and height?
2 would be fine. I was running 3. One pooped out on me. So I'm down to 2. It's been about 8 months. Nothing has changed. Same steady growth
Great video 💪🏽
It would be nice if you do the same recommendation for SPS in a 60G as you do for LPS without the T5, this was a great video, but I really miss this peace of info. tanks Randy
yes and no... while he explains that hydra 32 will not cover SPS full tank... you can use it with a mix tank just look at the PARs above 200 and place your SPS corals there... if you want to do SPS full tank either use hydra 32 in combination with T5 or look at his video on the specific hydra 64 since you cant achieve full SPS corals tank with just hydra 32.... hope it makes sense for you
This was GREAT info... looks like I'm buying more hydra 32s!
Exactly what I needed to see, thanks so much!
Glad it helped!
Great video as per usual guys! I'm setting up a red sea reefer 425 xl and planning to run two hydra 64 with a hydra 32 in between . Do you think this will be enough for wall to wall sps ?
I actually think this may be a winning combo in both output/spread and cost!
Hi,thnks for the video. I've 26 gallon mix sps dominant. What is your reccomendation spectrum for the tank? Thanks
Randy gives our BRS recommended spectrum settings at the time stamp in the link below. From there, adjust all channels down in equal ratio as needed to achieve the par level that you're going for with your tank. For SPS, we suggest 200-350 PAR.
ua-cam.com/video/fQ_1yQiNIdc/v-deo.html
Are the PAR readings taken from the top or bottom of the tank? (Looks like bottom from video)
If from the bottom how deep are the tanks?
I also hope you can figure out a way reinstate the par meter rentals. I think it is a great tool for us hobbyists.
Thanks again.
The mounting height tests in the beginning are based off the par levels 6" below the surface. Towards the end of the video, you'll see par readings at 6", 12", and 18" below the water surface
@@BRStv Ok thanks. I misunderstood those measurements as the distance the light was from the surface of the water.
Nice job, very detailed info. One Hydra 32 at 14-15” set in middle of IM 30 Long?
36"inch coverage might be a stretch, but could be doable for LPS and softies knowing that the outer edges will likely be pretty low. You could crank it up and mount it a bit higher and see if you reach your PAR goals.
Thanks for the video. So would 2 Prime HD's be advantageous to one Hydra for a smaller tank? 24" x 20" footprint Fijicube 32 ext. Would 14" mounting height for Primes be ideal like the Hydras?
My gut tells me that this would definitely be the right tool option for that size of tank. We plan to test the Prime 16s very soon!
@@BRStv thanks, I'm looking forward to the video! I'm guessing from this vid hanging the 2 lights centered at 6"/18" or 7"/17" would be idea. Appreciate all the hard work & data you provide to the reefing community
I have 2 Hydra 32 on my 90 gal that’s 48” long and 18” wide what light setting and spacing and how high should I have them
Im scanning comments looking for same answer. Any result?? I am running 2-32s on a 90 also
At 8:15, you show a photo of the lights with their long edges oriented to the front and back of the tank, then in the graphic at 8:35, you show them oriented to the sides of the tank. Then at 9:03, you show a photo of the long edge of the light oriented to the front and back again yet at 9:12, the graphic shows them oriented side to side again. which is correct? In the 4' tank in your example, should the lights have their long edge oriented front to back or side to side?
Sorry for the confusion. Our recommendation at those points in the video are to run the lights from front to back. In other words, perpendicular to the tank's length.
Can you do the 50%, 75%, 90% chart like you did on the Hydra 16 HD.
What would be the spread for a 60" inch long 100 gallon tank? And how many 32s light would you recommend?
We would suggest 1 Hydra 32 per 1 foot of tank length for an SPS dominant system, or 1 Hydra 32 per 24" for an LPS system. For your 5 foot tank, you'd be looking at somewhere between 3 and 5 Hydra 32's, depending on the types of corals you'll be keeping.
Hi BRS, what is the mounting rack used here?
The mounts used to collect the data here are a little bit of a DIY setup using camera mounting gear from B&H photo.
I'm planning to have a mixed 90 gal reef tank and is considering buying 2 hydra 32s first and placing them 12 inches from the sides of the tank then eventually making it 3 for when I put in my SPS. Will this work?
Solid plan!
Hey Randy, the test u did for the 8inch height with 32hd. Can I have the light settings? My tank is a 60x40x40cm aquarium. It might suit me as I'm running a mixed reef tank
Hello great review . I have an 8ft tank 28" high, looking to use multiple 32's. Your recommendation is set at 14" for 24". Should I look at lowering the units to say 12" ? Thanks
If you can mount the lights 14" above the water surface, that is our recommendation.
How deep in the tank were you taking the par measurements.
For the mounting height test we take a grid of measurements at 6"inches below the top of the tank. For spacing we are taking measurements directly in the middle of the tank at 12"inches below the top. Both 60 and 120 gallon tanks are 24inches tall.
Hey there! Do you have a recommendation for WATERBOX Infinia 190.5 with 4 AI HYDRA 32 spacing for softies?
:
Hello.
I need your help.
I have 70.8 inch SPS dominant reef tank (Red Sea Reefer 750 xxl).
I am using 61 inch Aquatic life T5 hybrid fixture combined with Hydra 32HD * 4 units.
I set the Hydras according to the BRS recommended spectrum ratio,
like that you described at the end of this video (SPS recommendation intensity).
I just need your help about the 4 T5 bulb, I see some ATI T5 bulb color, but I don't know which color I have to choose that would be the best combination for my tank.
Can you please tell me which 4 ATI T5 Bulbs is optimal for me to choose?
I mean which color for each bulb.
Total is 4 bulb.
Thanks in advance.
Dan
We usually use the ATI Blue Plus bulbs in our hybrid fixtures. Alternatively, if you prefer a less blue looking tank, you could opt to go with two Blue Plus and two Coral Plus instead.
Thanks for this. I was wondering more about this since I have a 93 gallon cube.
So now you're done, you can send me the 32s you used lol
Hi, great video!
I am looking for lights for my reefer 250 and 2 hydras 32 sound like a great option! Also considered 2 Radion xr15 gen 5 or an Orphek Atlantik v4. I am going for a mixed reef. What is your suggestion and, in case I go with hydras, what spacing would you suggest? Thanks in advance for your time!
Two Hydra 32's would certainly do the trick! Spacing gets a bit tricky to try and predict. You could always start with them evenly spaced over the tank, but most likely the "optimal" spread will have them spaced a bit further apart from each other. The only way to be 100% certain is to check with a PAR meter. :)
Really useful, I have a question. The video states optimal height of 14 inches for the 32 and show the HMS mount which is what I have. I presume the measurement is taken from the top of the bracket, not from the lenses as the bracket isn’t long enough to extend to 14 inches?
Unfortunately the bracket isn't quite tall enough to reach our BRS optimal mounting height, so if you're using it, just try to get the light as high off the water surface as you can.
Hi, and thanks for the video! It's hard to find this type of info, and you guys explain it perfectly! I have a hood on my tank, and can only mount the lights 8" above the water, and there is also a lid on the tank. If I am aiming to do a mixed reef, how many Hydra 32s do you recommend, and at what intensity?
You don't mention your tank size, but given that you're trying to mount the lights closer to the water surface, you're almost certainly going to want to add in an extra light fixture or two, but turn the intensity down. This will give you the extra spread that you're losing by mounting the lights closer to the water.
Sorry! It’s a 120g. 48 1/2 x 24 1/4 x 25 1/2
Hello sir I have Redsea 170 I been using 2 32Hydeas LEDs lights for my tank now... You say that I can use one hydra 32 putting up too 14inches it well work for my SPS and LSP corals let's me try out sir Thanks again...
Absolutely love this series...thank you Randy
Would I need more than one on a waterbox AIO 50.3? 35" across?
I’m just curious what is the best coral light that does the job but on a budget because I want to opportunity to have a mix reef but I just want to do a softy tank only
I wish the maxspect ethereal got a little bit more attention. You guys should do an easy setup for the light or compare it against others.
During the last live I believe Ryand and Randy mentioned some Maxspect lighting is coming up in the next few investigates!
Check this video out too!
ua-cam.com/video/4I4maV6yGF4/v-deo.html
What's your preferred lighting approach? One or two larger LED fixtures or multiple smaller LED fixtures?
Find out common reef lighting mistakes here! ua-cam.com/video/adFi3xL_gjc/v-deo.html
Nice video.. Q / my tank is 120x55x55cm mix reef with 2 Hydra 32.. so 14" Mount will be best? & what about lighting %? Mine start morning 8 to 9.30am 0%white & B,RY 70%& Uv & V 100% then 10 to 12pm white 28% & rest 108% 12 pm to 2pm white 50% & rest almost 130% up & down then start going down slowly slowly till full dark night time any advance please? Is lights % good for my corals or? Thanks in advance
Hi BRS I have Red Sea reefer 350 LPS dominant . which one is the best for me to coverage and pricing too ? And how many I should use ? Thanks
Two of the Hydra 32's will work great for an LPS Reefer 350
What about two Hydra 32s on a 40 breeder?
SPS tank?
That'll work, but probably overkill in most situations. Going with three AI Primes will be less expensive and still get you the PAR you need for an SPS dominant 40B.
@@BRStv That's what I was thinking as well. Thank you BRSTV team! That said, there are great deals out there on used AI lights!
Now what about a Hydra 32 set to 13 inches above water on a 40 gallon AIO.
(Aquatop Recife ECO 40)
Dimensions: 21" length x 18" width (front to back) x 19" deep from the top of the sand bed to the water level . Probably overkill as well. 1 Prime 16HD was doing well as it was. Lol
What do you recommend for 30" x 13.5" x 18" tank for softies / LPS and mounting height? will 2 hydra 32s or 1 hydra 64 be overkill
For that tank size and softies/LPS, I would actually suggest going with two of the AI Prime fixtures. It'll get the job done and even save you some money :)
what the point intensity for each tank? i saw that AI prime 16 has point intensity recommendation but AI hydra 32 doesn't
Hi ,
at 9.51 in the video BRS recommended % is : 110, 110, 120, 120, 10, 10, 0, 60
at 12.04 in the video for the 60 gallons it s downgraeded to % : 88, 88, 96, 96, 8, 8, 0, 48
I don't really understand what spectrum i should use as a result for my 30 gallons tank with a AI Hydra 32 HD
Thanks for your help
This is all to hit a specific par goal. If your tank is a different size, you may need to us a par meter to measure the par you're seeing at the setting you see here and adjusting up or down to meet your needs.
I think something that you left out is the settings and par readings for a 24"x24" sps tank with only a single hydra32hd
Great writeup tho!
Our goal for SPS dominated systems is to blanket as much of the tank from top to bottom in PAR ranges between 200-350 as possible. Given the mounting height for optimal spread and only 90watts of output, we found that a single Hydra36 (on its own) just doesn't have the output to achieve those ranges in a 24"sq inch area. Because of that, our recommendation is to add in some T5 supplemental light or upgrade to the larger Hydra64 to reach those goals. :)
@@BRStv Oh okay I see your point. Thanks!
Which AI fixture do you recommend for a 29 gal LPS/nem biocube? Or is there another fixture outside of the AI you would recommend more highly?
The AI Prime or Kessil A160 would both be perfect options. Granted, you'd have to remove the lid
@@BRStv I already removed the top as I am running an ancient t5/my combo. The ai is much more friendly to my budget so I will go that route. Do you recommend this 12 or 18 inch flex arm?
How do you scale those settings? I have a 32g bio cube so are those first recommended settings for something around that size since the settings for the 60g you said were scaled down?
A 32 gallon biocube is surprisingly pretty darn close to our 60 gallon test tank in terms of dimensions (24" cube vs a roughly 20.5" cube). If you take our BRS recommended settings from this video and reduce them by about 10%, that should get you pretty darn close.
@@BRStv thanks a ton will give these a try!
Brains trust. Any ideas on 3 hydra over a cade 5ft? I have 2 hydra 26 and about to get a third which will be a hydra 32 but unsure of how they should be mounted for optimal spread. I thought even spread 3 ways across the tank horizontally but watching this video I’m unsure??
at 8:34 should the hydra 32 lights be front/back or left/right oriented? I thought I saw in another video about having them front/back oriented.
Because of the rectangular design, you will have more left to right spread if you mount them left/right oriented. Most will likely choose to run them in this configuration to spread the light more evenly across rectangular tanks. :)
would be great to get this kind of configuration help for the more common 40g breeders...
Why not test with 3 32hds over 48 inch tank? Betcha that would be enough for even sps tanks, especially if you use T5 supplement like most reefers do.
I'd also like to see this config (since Its what I'm running). 3x HD 32's + 4 55w T5's
Brian Robak I wanna see this 3 fixture test for all the lights BRS is testing over 48 inch tanks-could save $$$ and still get more than enough par for sps tanks!! How about it Ryan and Randy?!
@@MW-ut3dk I'd also like to see 2 32's w/ the 4 55w ATI hybrid fixture as long as we're wishing.
Would two Hydra 32s be enough to light a 36 long tank with 20in of height?
With like two boomies for SPS and a center one for low light stuff
Absolutely! Plenty of light for SPS with Two Hydra 32's over that tank size
I see at 8:39 the lights are horizontal with the tank, but on the actual tank image they are vertically aligned, I assume the image just did not correctly show the orientation for the test? (I just bought 4 of these so just confirming).
I ended up mounting my 4 hydra 32’s over my 6ft 180 with the 2 middle lights parallel to the tank and 2 outer light perpendicular. They are mounted 11 inches off the water. Spaced to center at 9” and 26” from each side of the tank. I’m likely going to add t5’s or reef brite addons when the colonies grow out.
I don’t think I like the BRS spectrum. It’s a little odd to me. I’m going to pick up a spectrometer one of these days and double check that.
Did you par test it to get these distances from the side of the tank? or did it just look right. Will be doing the same :)
@@elliottcomans5133No need to par test etc just put them on and if they look good then job done
Are the par levels given for the bottom of the tank at 24” down?
On the left side of the screen, you'll see PAR numbers for 6", 12", and 18" below the water surface.
Hey guys, just wondering if you would be able to help. Looking for lighting for a 4x2x2 LPS dominant might have a few SPS closer to the top. What would you guys recommend?
If you're going to have a few SPS, I'd suggest three Hydra 32's or three Radion XR15's. That'll give you a little extra power for those SPS corals. If you were keeping LPS and softies only, you could run just two fixtures.
@@BRStv Thanks heaps!!
So what would the best spacing be for 4 on a 6" LPS/Softie tank? A 6" mixed reef?
So, am I right to assume that 3 Hydra 32 would be more than enought to a Mixed Reef? That would be interesting to see in the testing has a lot of people does not stick to LPS OR SPS, but likely stay on middle. In this situation the Hydras should be mounted Vertically, ou horizontal to the tank?
I think that is a fair assumption! I would still mount them horizontally and at the recommended mounting height. A PAR meter will definitely be the right tool to getting this right.
Would one of the Hydra 32's work for my 40 gallon breeder or do I need to go the more expensive route of 2--Ai Primes?
Since the 40 breeder is 36" long, you're going to be much better off with the two Primes. You can go with the one 32 if you want, but keep in mind that you're going to have pretty noticeable shadows on the ends of the tank as that light is best for a max area of about 24"
@@BRStv Are there any less expensive options for the first time reefer? T-5's in a hybrid fixture for now??? Thanks
Any reason why the ATi Blue Plus bulb is what you try to reproduce as far as spectrum? Having put an LED/T5 hybrid over my tank, of which ATi blue plus was a bulb type, when the T5 bulbs turned on the level of blue in my tank really gave my nostalgia a kick to the nuts, the overall look of the tank was so radically different than what the LEDs can produce at those bluer spectrum that I wished I could have the T5 spread but the LED spectrum with those bulbs.
I'd say we use the Blue Plus T5 spectrum more as a baseline comparison to what many reefers have become familiar with in terms of color in their tanks. It's hard to find a T5-only tank that strictly uses Blue Plus bulbs on their own, so rather than try to mimic that spectrum exclusively we do our best to balance a spectrum range with the proven B+ spectrum along with some white, green, red that looks pleasing to the eye. Ultimately, we would like to see more LED manufacturers do this on their own and produce spectrum recommendations that make their lights more "T5-like plug and play", but not everyone does this just yet.
What light would you recommend to a older red sea 130L (35G) tank?
Will mainly have lps and maybe some sps at the top later on
What's the footprint you're trying to light?
@@BRStv 40cm x 60 cm x 50 cm
15.7 x 23.6 x 20 inches tall
is it possible to mount the lights 36" above the water? I have a 2000gallon pond and need your recommendation.
We've not tested this fixture 36" above the water line, but you're likely going to lose a ton of par mounting them that high. You may want to look at metal halide fixtures as a potential option.
How many wats should my 32 be set at?
Q to BRS: Are your PAR numbers based off of your custom spectrum or all channels 100%? If you're adjusting for spectrum after measuring PAR then PAR will change!
Or are the first PAR measurements used for placement only?
Great questions! The PAR numbers for our spacing and mounting height tests are with all channels at 100% and specifically for testing purposes. The BRS Recommended spectrum ratio mix is the MAX intensity we would set each channel, which for our LPS and SPS tank type goals turned out to be too intense to meet our needs. So we scaled down the BRS spectrum ratio mix equally across all channels until we hit our PAR goal.
Hi BRStv, I have a 48G 3ft lps & softie tank which is more suitable a 32 or 64 in terms of cost wise ?
On a 3ft tank you could probably get it done with a single Hydra 64, but I would expect to see some lower numbers in the outer edges. In all honesty, after seeing our 5-Minute Tank Guide series and the 40breeder tank, I would definitely consider 3x- AI Prime 16's for that type of tank goal and that size of system. :)
Bulk Reef Supply thank you BRStv
Than you...thank you...thank you!!! :)
I’m in the process of spacing out lights on a 40 breeder. I have two hydra 32s and was going to mathematically scale down the placement for two hydra on a 48”. So the spacing comes out to roughly 10” on center from the side and approx 11”-12” high. Would that be good for a mix reef setup?
That sounds like a great starting point for both spacing and mounting height 🙂
What light would you recommend for a 35G cube
19'' x 23'' x 19''
50cm x 60cm x 50 cm
Will mostly grow lps and maybe one or two sps later on
If you're looking in the Aqua Illuminations brand, A single Hydra 32 would work out really well for a tank with a 19" x 23" footprint. When the time comes to add your SPS coral or two, you'd just have to mount your future SPS coral towards the top of the tank.
I have a 42" long tank 30 wide 30 tall and I'm curious. Should I mount it at your recommended height (14 inches) or should I raise or lower it? Also what do you recommend with the spacing?
I have a few questions. I have a 50 gallon cube 24x24x20, and have 1 Hydra 32. I have tried raising it on the bracket about as high as it will go without coming out, and the most I can go is 12 inches above water line. I was going to try for 14 like in the video. Is 12 inches fine, or should i find a way to try and get it a few inches higher?
I also set the spectrum to the recommended settings and it just seems a little to white to me. Am i doing something wrong? or do i need to tone the whites down some? I originally had whites at about 21 before the video.
No problem mounting it at 12"inches, with the understanding that there is slightly less spread performance expected in those outer edges of the tank. Will that make or break your tank as a whole??..Not at all. When we create our BRS Recommened spectrum we add in the white channel until the tank looks pleasing to our eyes. This is kind of suggestive to what you might consider eye pleasing, but you can always slightly tweak these recommendations to meet your needs. PAR meters are a very useful tool to make sure you got your light dialed in!
What do you recommend for a 700mm x 700mm tank (500mm height) x3 Hydra 32w or a single 64?
Three Hydra 32's would be extreme overkill. Two Hydra 32's or a single 64 will both work fine!
Merci pour ta vidéo !!! 👍👍👍
Can you help me with settings my Hydra 32 ?
My coral don't like it, I think the light is very high power
I have 3 hydra 32
My aquarium size 140*60 h 55 cm
what distance between them should be? I watched the video in your youtube channel but there is information about 2 or 4 lamps and the size of the aquarium 120 * 60 cm
Please help
My question, your video shows 2 different mounting direction. Some of the video shows the lights mounted horizontal (led puck side by side) and some of the video shows the lights mounted vertical (led pucks front and back) why?
Since each fixture has two pucks, we were testing out if we could get more even coverage by running them parallel and perpendicular to the length of the tank. Ultimately, not a whole lot of difference with this particular fixture.
Thank you.
Question the lights are nice but they don’t have the pop I want for my corals how do you get that nice dark blue for them
Is there any data comparing this model (32) to the old 26 non hd? Mine are working like champ and I don't feel like spending on new ones
Not yet, but we're looking around the office for some older fixtures that many reefers still use, so we can get a ballpark idea of how they compare. :)
@@BRStv that would be awesome. I knew I could count on you guys
I have a 40 gallon breeder tank, would you recommend just one 32hd?
A hydra 32 is really best for a 24" wide area, so you'd actually be better off with two AI Primes so that you can space them out evenly over the 36" length of the tank. This will be sufficient light for LPS, softies, and a couple of well placed SPS corals.
Where can I find those fixtures you use for the lights and how much do they run for because I have a rimmed tank and nothing fits over it and I don’t want to hang my lights 8 feet from my roof
I have a rim tank I used the mounts that are made for the hydra 32’s I had to cut the inner lip to make them fit
Im getting a 75cm x 65cm x 55cm(height) tank - I want mainly lps and maybe 1-3 SPS later ob , would you recommend for this size the Hydra 32 Hd or the Radion XR15 Blue ? I was wondering cause on the site of Ecotech marine they say the xr15 covers 24-30 inches so that would acctually fill out my tank or not ?
Thank you allready
What setting would you recommend for a Ai prime 16hd for sps tank
And settings for ai hydra 32hd for an sps tank
We still have plans to test the 16HD in the near future, but if it's anything like the AI Prime video we did here, you'll likely need multiple fixtures to get the job done. We'll have more direct setting recommendations after we wrap up the testing for the 16HD. ua-cam.com/video/WWc3dUwQuWI/v-deo.html
Thank you
How many hydra 32s would I need for 6ft tank.. Mixed Reef, mostly LPS and would love a have about 10 sps frags on the back wall aquascape. I have Hamilton MH/T5 fixture, where I will just remove the MH bulbs and insert the hydras and leave it incase I need to revert
For a mixed reef with majority LPS, you probably could get it done with 4x Hydra32s. I would start there and test the PAR then decide if I needed a 5th Hydra32 to even out the spread.
@@BRStv Thank you for the response. For the same configuration, I am getting a great deal on 1 hydra 26 and 2 hydra 64 with mounting brackets for under $1k. Would this be a better setup for the cost? Later on I would mount them in AL 61" T5 fixture
So if just doing softies. With three of them over a 180. How would I distance them.
Is running any given channel above 100% significantly detrimental to the longevity of the LED's in said channel?
I'm not sure anyone has truly gotten to the bottom of that question. Anecdotally, we've not noticed any reduction in longevity. Granted, we've not done a side by side test and it would take years to get definitive data. By then, the next model would probably be released.
Please do ai prime next 🙏🏻🙏🏻
I was looking for some settings for my 32hd but i only have 15 gallon, there are 4 acros on the top, if i divide the recommended LPS settings through 4 it should be fine or am i wrong?
It may get you close, but we'd suggest using a par meter to dial in your lights if your tank is significantly different in size than our test tanks.
@@BRStv But I dont have one, so its hard to figure out :/ Should i brighten it a little bit?
Can you recommend spectrum for 75 gallon? I have two Hydra 32s.
You can use the same BRS Recommended spectrum ratio that we developed, then use a PAR meter to turn down that spectrum ratio until it hits your PAR goals for your tank. That way you know you have your specific tank dialed in optimally!
Hello ,for a tank with 35"-25"-15" mostly SPS , what would be the best configuration of hydras ?3 x16 hd or 2 x32 HD. Its a shallow reef tank.
I'd suggest two of the 32's and run them from front to back to cover that 25" depth.
@@BRStv Thanks
do you know if you can mix 32's and 64's on the app for functionality?
What would you guys recommend for this light over a nuvo 20
Yesss i need to know this too. Got same tank
I just compared your par charts and data for the BlacBox with the Zetlight Q Maven and the Hydra 32. I have to say there is a distinct difference where the Hydra 32 is superior to the Q Maven for almost the same price. On the other hand the Q Maven did marginally better than the Black Box Led for almost 200 dollars more. After looking at the numbers idk why anyone would run a Qmaven let alone pay that crazy price. I would go Hydra 32 all day everyday if you want to drop the money.
I'm really struggling with lighting and I have no idea what is best for my 5ft tank 22in high 26wide 60long help would be appreciated thank you it's mostly soft and lps corals.
There are a lot of great options to choose from, so I could see being overwhelmed. If I were advising a friend, I would tell them to go with three approx. 90w fixtures for a tank of that size with the goal of softies and LPS corals.
The Hydra 32 in this video would certainly fit that bill and has the added benefit of included on-board control, so it's hard to go wrong with it. The Kessil A360X and EcoTech XR15 would be the other two that you might also want to consider.
What depth is the PAR meter reading those levels at?
All measurements are taken at 6" / 12" / 18" deep in the tank
I have a 150 gallon tank 60 x 24 x 24 how many of these will I need if I’m doing lps and or sps corals?
For an SPS system, we used 4 of them on our 4 foot test tank. In other words, 1 light per foot of tank. In your case with a 5 foot tank, we'd suggest 5 of the Hydra 32's. If you're going LPS only, three of the Hydra 32's will do the trick just fine.
@@BRStv I don’t quite understand I thought these lights were optimal in a 24 inch radius with just a 60 inch long tank why would I need more than 3?
What would you recommend for a 38gal bow front with a bracket right in the middle
This might be a great job for a couple of Prime 16HDs! We'll be testing them in the near future!
Bulk Reef Supply awesome thanks
Hey do you know if the
Aqua Illumination Flex Mounting Arm for Hydra LED Lights - 18 Inch will work for the new hydra 32 ?
well darn my tank is 5 ft long just like the Red Sea 525XL's. can ya'll suggest how many for a 5 ft tank? Of course i'm the oddity lol
It will depend on what types of corals you're looking to keep, but assuming a mixed reef like most reefers shoot for, three of the Hydra 32's over your 5 foot long tank will do the trick.
What would bubble tip anemones fit under in terms of light demand closer to softie/lps or sps?