Could I Get Away With 3 AI Sol?

[Bblinks]

I am not sure if AI made that chart to sell you more units, but when I contacted customer service at AI, they told me that I would need 12-15 units on my 300DD which I thought that was a bit ridiculous. I would say depends on what you are planning to keep 1 unit should be good for a 24x24 area coverage if they are situated 10-12inch awl. I was thinking about getting all 70 degrees lens so I can get a bigger spread since these things are par monster anyways.

Hey Marko, how areyou liking the AI compare to your aquamedic fixture in terms of front and back coverage?

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by Bblinks

I am not sure if AI made that chart to sell you more units, but when I contacted customer service at AI, they told me that I would need 12-15 units on my 300DD which I thought that was a bit ridiculous. I would say depends on what you are planning to keep 1 unit should be good for a 24x24 area coverage if they are situated 10-12inch awl. I was thinking about getting all 70 degrees lens so I can get a bigger spread since these things are par monster anyways.

Hey Marko, how areyou liking the AI compare to your aquamedic fixture in terms of front and back coverage?

i am basically buying enough AI units to cover my rock where the corals are going to be. fall off light will light the sand around it.

since my tank is a peninsula it has 6 inches of overflow box on one end. and my rock structure starts about 6 inches from the left end of the tank so basically 5 feed of rock to cover.

and front to back the rock structure is about 1 foot deep (rocks dont lean on the back glass)

so with 3 AI modules mounted perpendicular to the front glass i can cover all the rock and the middle section where my clams are.

the coverage is similar to my halides

[mark]

well with your 5" AWL I'll definitely be following along since with my canopy and the what AI says is needed to clearance above (3") if I went with Sols would have the same AWL.

No way could I convince the wife needed 5 modules, 3 maybe.

[BlueTang<3]

Marko did you buy a controller with the lights are running them on 100%

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by BlueTang<3

Marko did you buy a controller with the lights are running them on 100%

I got a controller. Currently at 50%O

[Madreefer]

I would suggest you turn them down to 30%

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

I would suggest you turn them down to 30%

why? they seem pretty dim at 50% even.

i've had three 250 watt metal halides running over the tank for the past 5 months

[Madreefer]

Cause you'll bleach your corals. They are not dimmer. They just appear that way to the human eye. It's good to start them out at 30% and increase by 3-5% per week. I switched over fron 2 250W with 4 54w T5s. I've had 4 for a couple of months now and they are now running at a max 55w 60b 65rby. Probably going to keep it like that. I had them turned up alot higher due to impatience and started to have issues with a bit of algae on my sandbed. Several other people who have switched over to the Sols have experienced the same problems.

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Cause you'll bleach your corals. They are not dimmer. They just appear that way to the human eye. It's good to start them out at 30% and increase by 3-5% per week. I switched over fron 2 250W with 4 54w T5s. I've had 4 for a couple of months now and they are now running at a max 55w 60b 65rby. Probably going to keep it like that. I had them turned up alot higher due to impatience and started to have issues with a bit of algae on my sandbed. Several other people who have switched over to the Sols have experienced the same problems.

how many units are you running and what are your tank dims?.....just trying to get a feel for coverage.....

[Madreefer]

Originally Posted by fishytime

how many units are you running and what are your tank dims?.....just trying to get a feel for coverage.....

4 units 12" above the water line

57"wide, half circle so bows out the front 29" at center and 27" deep

New program i run: No lunar or lightning storms used

Time w b rby ramp in mins
08:00 5 5 15 30
10:00 10 10 10 30
11:00 30 40 40 30
12:00 55 60 60 180
17:00 50 60 60 180
19:30 20 25 30 1
20:00 5 10 20 30
22:30 - - 10 30
23:15 - - 2 30