Set Up for Success! Demystify Setting up Your Saltwater Aquarium LEDs! Ep: 28

[@mdowney14]

100% with you on your pet peeve about manufacturers ignoring directions for beginners. I even find a ton of “beginner tutorials” that leave out really critical, specific steps. That’s why I love your videos - you demonstrate empathy for beginners. If I ran a business that catered to hobbyists my number one focus would be growth of the hobby through new users. That’s the only way to grow your business because the total addressable market is so small - especially when the barriers to entry are SO HIGH and expensive. You can’t dabble in saltwater aquariums. There’s no equivalent of picking up a $200 Squier Strat and doing some guitar tutorials on KZbin to “see if you’re into it”.

[@jamesgreen9372]

A presentation that makes sense and can be replicated ! Many thanks from this novice, Jim

[@MrJarzy2001]

This vid is so amazing!! All the info I needed! You're my no.1 Reef info source, Mat!!

[@JimMcPherson1]

Still a noob at 15 months in the hobby. Your pet peeve is my pet peeve! I have the AI Prime 16HDs and I just set the height and spectrum to Randy's recommendations. I adjusted the photoperiod a bit but everything, including some SPS, is doing fine with respect to lighting. And totally agree: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Corals aren't bleaching or browning, so the lights are staying at current settings. In this hobby, any variable that you can turn into a constant is a good thing.

[@CasildaChenier]

THIS! OMG i certainly didnt get into saltwater to replicate the complexity of my job. Thank you!

[@BabyMosquito777]

Finally an explanation that make sense thank you so much love your videos

[@dusk1947]

To specifically answer one of your questions: red's and green's do not significantly increase the amount of algae growth for most common algae's. That is Hobbiests' conjecture. With the exception of red algae's, and cyanobacteria (not an algae) which can favor green or orange light. I'm saying this as a professional Conservationists with degree feild focused on plant biology, sediments, and nutrients. Though, I am not a marine biologist. (So you can guage my credibility) To understand the underlying theory, look at the photo-pigments in each common strain of algae. These include: Chlorophyll a, Chlorophyll b, carotenoids, phytocerythrin (red algae), and phycocyanin (cyanobacteria). Most common algae's (green and browns) grow just as well in blue light as they do red, several actually prefer blue light. When you get into macro algae like ogo or flame algae, those grow better with green light. And as mentioned, cyano like extra orange light. This is also the reason for blue light being the prominent choice in marine tanks and why AB+ works well as a methodology: Zooxanthellae is an algae and contains Chlorophyll a, Chlorophyll c, peridinin, and diadinoxanthin. All of these pigments primarily absorb between 400 and 520-ish nm. Meaning that common zooxanthellae are most receptive to blue's and purples. As a general rule, the deeper water the organisms evolved in, the more it will favor blue and purple. As those two are higher energy and penetrate deeper than other spectrums. This post, which I hope is helpful; also illustrates why lighting is such a complex and difficult topic not only for beginners, but for professionals. This was a great series of videos on lighting, but I did want to address that reefing myth. Your fine to have red and green light in a tank, however, in most marine set up's: it's more an esthetic choice than one driving photosynthesis

[@mikebutler6961]

Heck yeah, let them know!! 2 years later, I just got my first AI Blade Glow (beginner tank, 40B) and I felt like the instructions were an “Amazon choice”

[@harlanmichael7088]

Thanks for the advice!

[@fishpony1211]

Thanks for the info dude!!

[@MexHIg2000]

This helped a lot thanks

[@MrAfrobeast]

I asked my local fish store how long my photoperiod should be and they said 8 hours would be better than 12. There is a possibility I didn't mention what light I have but I have the AI prime on a 32 gallon biocube. I don't have corals yet but plan on purchasing some soon. I have my lights set to 50% currently and once I get the corals in I'll slowly ramp up to 100%. I think I'm going to give 12 hour photo period a try though! I work from home and currently had my lights coming on from 12 to 8 but 9 to 9 sounds so much better! Thanks for the vid!

[@aaronpateman6227]

What a great explanation. Thanks so much!!!

[@elchappo1320]

The only lighting video i needed. Thanks!

[@yearight1800]

Thanks for this I did not know I will give this a try.

[@dereksmigelski]

Thank you! This is great!

[@karennation3580]

When yo say dont tinker does that mean if you are seting up a new tank and moving everything over plus adding new ones. Should you set an acclimation period first? Not sure how to do that since some are moving from other tanks and some new ones that are being shipped are going in.

[@Gobrian44]

Nice job!

[@Theaquaplex]

Love this episode...didn't know BRS rented PAR meters...definitely will use these on my Amazon SMATlight fixtures...no real instructions, but really NICE light, similar to the Ai 32

[@BulkReefSupply]

You can buy a par meter at the link below. Feel free to use it and return it within 60 days for a refund, minus a $100 restocking fee (essentially a rental fee if you want to look at it that way). www.bulkreefsupply.com/mq-510-full-spectrum-underwater-led-par-meter-apogee.html

[@tekkersreefer8055]

Wicked vid reefer thanks 🙏

[@Kpoole35]

as someone who dove into this hobby 4 years ago not knowing exactly anything about lighting, I have found that out that UV does not give you much in terms of PAR. I keep it at 60% and violet at 95% simply because those channels generate a ton of heat and melt lenses. Blue and royal as high as they go. Red and Green under 10% pretty useless channels since they alone dont influence much except Algae growth. White until i like what I see. White covers every spectrum which is why we dont bother with red and green.

[@malinoisnation9392]

Mh definitely come in different spectrums.

[@kyleburke7285]

Love this information

[@ljcorner7393]

How do you have the light start time and off on the ai prime app

[@RetroStopMotionCommotion]

If I close my eyes it's Spence from King of Queens giving the presentation.

[@brianaparicio3733]

So have the lights completely off from 7pm - 7am?

[@veroduran3988]

I have a Al primer 16 hd , but it fell in the tank and did not run right. I need help

[@kylerallemang6141]

Could you possibly help figure out the best schedule for a 36 bowfront I have two of the prime 16 rose bubble tip ones doing great and other now so Much

[@locksmith9580]

I have a kessil A80. The only question I have is should I ramp the colors as well as intensity? Like blue in the morning? White mid day blue in the evening. Or all white all day or all blue all day or white half day or blue half day? This the only thing I’m confused about

[@reefarrangements]

What’s your preset on the big tank behind you? Beautiful color

[@Trickbill6969]

What % do you think for a 20gallon cube?

[@PiotrGulczi]

Hello thank you for this informative video. I have a question about light in the evening. Can I leave it for for example 4 hours at 3% UV, Violet and Blue just to keep the tank barerly lit to have some evening relax or not?

[@jacklawer6389]

I have a prime 16 hd reef Red sea peninsula tank 25 gal 8 inches from top of tank Can someone please give me a schedule for mostly soft corals Thanks alot

[@StunningSnailz]

New hobbies here I have GSPuffer tank saltwater the light I have fluval I’m so shocked I haven’t heard their brand what spectrum and height ? In interested in adding coral ? 😅😅😅

[@Confused_Hippie]

Missed the sci-fi send off! 🖖

[@dominicthomas1455]

what kelvin should we use? the hydra 32 has a kelvin option, just wondering where it should be

[@whitefang8329]

Hello,Adjust PAR. I have Radion XR 15 Blue G5 and Red Sea 200xl Tank (43 gal). How much intensity should I use? I don’t have underwater quantum flux to check Light Par. Thank you.

[@YTZack408]

It's interesting that in the freshwater world there is an urban legend that blue spectrum grows nuisance algae and in the saltwater world that red and green grow nuisance algae.

[@NinjaSushi2]

As far as freshwater is concerned blues cause plants to grow thick and bushy while reds cause plants to grow tall and stretch out. Both are important to vegetation and flowering of the plant. Reds are more important to photosynthesis than blues are. I'd say 100/30 ration. Maybe even 100% red/pink vs 20% blues max.

[@lara66able]

Are you using any filters for recording saltwater aquariums?

[@kingtobse1]

Guten Tag! :D

[@jules2545]

Buy a Kessil is my answer.

[@josephposada1830]

Matthew, Where can I buy a pet peeves? I understand that they are neat pets 🤣

[@BulkReefSupply]

🤣

[@NinjaSushi2]

I'm guessing black box lights don't look great but grow coral like weeds during summer.

[@BulkReefSupply]

Black box LED can certainly grow corals when used correctly, but there are some challenges. Of course, every fixture is a little different, but what we see most often with the common black boxes available is that there are some pretty significant hot spots, which require the light to be mounted quite a bit above the water surface vs most of the "name-brand" options. Some of the black box brands also have some questionable internal components, so stay frosty.

[@timothybearden2621]

I could be wrong, but if you place your blues and purples at max percent on a AI prime, you will burn the lenses. Pretty sure AI has responded to this as well.

[@BulkReefSupply]

There should be a recent firmware update that limits how much you can overdrive each channel

[@npg4339]

Hi Matthew I'm looking at lamp options for my small reef aquarium of size 90 Lx70Wx40H cm, with soft and stony corals. I'm considering placing 2 red sea 90 lamps, what do you think? do you think it's a good decision? Do you recommend any other brand in this range? Congratulations for your videos, thank you

[@BulkReefSupply]

Two ReefLED 90's should do the trick for that tank size. You could also consider a pair of the Hydra 32's for that tank size and type.

[@npg4339]

@@BulkReefSupply thank you very much for replying, I will consider your suggestion about hydra, l guess if it was your choice, you would prefer hydra over red sea, is that correct?

[@adamlongjohns4388]

Anyone have a good light schedule for a 24 gallon tank with an AI prime 16hd with mainly soft corals in my tank

[@BulkReefSupply]

Check out this AI Prime setup guide video. We cover softie/LPS settings for a number of tank sizes from a small 12" cube, to a larger 120 gallon aquarium 🙂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3mVn6adp92iiKs

[@brandonmms]

I had a customer service rep from AI hang up on me because i made a comment about how expensive their lights are and how little info came with them...literally no instructions in box at all

[@BulkReefSupply]

So sorry to hear that! If you need any help, our customer service team is always available to help too. We also have many videos on the AI lights on our BRStv Investigates KZbin channel with spectrum setting recommendations. BRS Customer Service Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Live Chat: BRS website

[@brandonmms]

@@BulkReefSupply after that I went straight to your youtube channel..BRS ROCKS and i add that to the order notes every time I order something from you guys!! Your support team is always helpful and willing to chat

[@KoiBoy6]

And what if you are running a FOWLR?

[@BulkReefSupply]

Since you aren't keeping any photosynthetic animals like corals, you only need enough light to illuminate the tank 🙂

[@Mixedbychamp]

Is there anyway I can get your ai prime presets sent to me for download? Please 🙏

[@BulkReefSupply]

We don't have the settings saved anywhere to be able to share, but please feel free to pause the video and take the settings that way. I'd definitely suggest checking out this AI Prime setup guide video too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3mVn6adp92iiKs

[@rishovbhattacharya3370]

Hi,I use a maxspect ethereal LED fixture and is presently set at 16k light intensity on an 8 hour photo period having 4 hours of white and rest 4 as blue phase on the soft/LPS setting but as stated in the video about ramping lights ,my LEDs are capable of m,so should I change my lighting schedule to this 12 hours photo period having around 5 hours of max intensity period cause this directly contradicts to my present preset but also makes sense regarding the algae out break issues on running the lights at max for the entire photo period as I’m facing the same issue and always had a hunch that it was the lights not the tank perimeters as they were all sound to tests ,also maxing out the Royal blues and the UV/actinic blue to 100% leaving greens at 18% ,warms at 4% as I do not have the specific channels of red spectrum in my fixture and cool whites at 40% as it looks good to eye and total light intensity at 20k ,please share you thoughts regarding my case at it would conceptualise the idea about lights big time as honestly stating this video is by far the most details video in terms of lighting info I’ve come across the internet.😃

[@BulkReefSupply]

Generally speaking, we suggest 30 minutes of ramp up, steady intensity, then 30 minutes of ramp down. That steady intensity should match the par that Matthew outlines for softies/LPS and/or SPS corals of 75-150 par and 200-350 par respectively.

[@rishovbhattacharya3370]

@@BulkReefSupply yeah, that’s the kind of setting I previously had but I just implemented Matthew’s said 12 hours schedule that only runs max intensity for 4 hours out of the 12s, so that’s like 4 hours of ramp ups and 4hours of ramp down leaving the max intercity phase aside,so how is this in comparison to general lighting schedule of 30mins ramps ups and down with white and blue phases ,cause I just watched the video and straight off changed my lighting settings.😂

[@ranjbapir4483]

thanks for greate vds .. i haved 12 yers freshwater . .ben 1 yers in salt water i deserv to kill to waesting my time in fresh water ... thanks agen from iraq😂

[@Brad-k]

And watch your lens melt

[@houseofsharpeis9366]

But they do. They have presets, the manuals have the mounting height recommended and do state to adjust intensity accordingly. But no one watches videos of someone saying open the instructions lol

[@BulkReefSupply]

Some lighting manufacturers are better than others in that regard

[@aquatichighs]

I still feel lost lol.

[@brianredban9393]

Don't even try and call Aquaillumination or Ecotec for help they are so rude and just want to get you off the phone and email you instructions. Absolutely horrible customer service.

[@jacquelinecracchiolo925]

I purchased two AI prime 16hd about three years ago not happy with these lights after two years one of the lenses started to melt the instructions like this guy says totally suck just programming this light I cannot get it on the proper time setting which should be completely simple the app that you download it's not the same app that I've been seeing on KZbin what is wrong with AI they charged you all this money and they can't even give you good instructions or a good app to work the goddamn light I will never purchased the AI prime light again or any of their products

[@pedroambra4558]

Or maybe you just don’t know what you doing

[@rja9784]

These settings are actually garbage for these lights 🤣🤣