- Well, what do we have here?
It appears to be a reef light of sorts,
and one of my favorite companies.
What's up coral people? My name is Remy.
And today we're going to be talking about a light
that in my opinion will give you
the most bang for your buck,
offers full control and will be able to grow
just about anything in your reef tank.
The Aqua Illumination Hydra 32 HD
is all about performance and value.
Those things usually don't happen together,
but in this light they do.
I've said it before and I will say it again.
Lighting is one of the most important investments
when it comes to your reef tank.
It doesn't matter if you're a newbie or if you're an expert,
proper lighting is a must.
When it comes to reputation in the business,
well, Aqua Illumination has it.
They've been here almost as long as LEDs
have been an option in the hobby.
Their lights are proven to grow anything,
from softies, all the way up
to the toughest SPS and everything in between.
And they've developed quite a tribe of fans,
including some of the most respected names in the hobby.
I'm a fan boy myself.
But you know this already.
Let's get into the box.
Inside, you'll find the AI Hydra 32 HD
in black or white, whichever you ordered,
the power adapter and the quick start guide.
What you'll notice is that
there is no mounting or hanging hardware
included in this box.
And there's a lot of reasons for that.
The main reason is that it gives you
the ability to choose the right mounting solution for you.
And it'll save you a little bit of money up front
when it comes to purchasing the light.
We've got a bunch of different mounting options
on the BRS website from hanging kits
to multi light mounting kits,
to the standard single light mount kit
like I've got right here.
Now the option that works for you
is going to depend on your setup.
For something small, now, for illustrative purposes,
you probably wouldn't put a Hydra 32 on a 10 gallon tank,
but for a smaller tank like this,
the single arm setup is probably going to be your best bet.
If you've got a larger tank,
you'd probably want to look into
the multi-light mounting kit.
So what's new on the hydra 32s?
Well, for starters, 6 more LED lights
from the previous generation, which was the Hydra 26.
With that, it also has higher performance,
a wider spread, higher par and also a wider spectrum.
There's also a dedicated moonlight channel
that simulates natural lunar color and intensity.
The largest recommended tank size
for this spread is 24 by 24.
Now you'll also notice that the body has shrunk
just a little bit from the previous generation.
The AI Hydra 32 HD body is 7.28 inches long,
5.375 inches wide, and 1.42 inches high.
Another unique feature of this light is
it is water resistant.
Water is a major benefit for aquarium lighting.
Who has ever gotten water splashed on a light?
Hi, me, I've dumped some lights in water.
Now, while this isn't waterproof,
design improvements make them more capable
of facing the moisture rich adventures of reef keeping.
Now, there are a lot of features that AI
decided to keep with this generation,
including the form factor
and the puck style LED clusters
paired with a large heat sync and a central fan.
It runs on the my AI app, which I love.
I'm an AI fan boy, and I have raved about
the controllability of these lights and pumps for years.
I have five or six lights and wave makers on my dashboard.
So it's nice to have access to all of them
with one reliable app.
It allows you to choose the spectrum.
And of course the HD feature
allows you to overdrive some of those channels
without harming the LEDs.
The Hydra 32, as well as the 64 and the Prime
also come with an acclimation mode
so that your corals can get used to the new light.
There are some unique characteristics
when it comes to the Hydra 32 and the Hydra 64.
The spread is a bit tighter than the G5 Radions.
This will likely work better for deeper aquariums
to get that light all the way to the bottom.
Now BRS recommends that this is about 12 inches
off the water surface.
That's the most ideal setting for this fixture,
especially when you've got a tank that's 24 inches deep.
The 32s are actually great if you've got a longer tank,
because you can actually mount each one of those
on a light rail to give you
a nice even blanket of light over your tank.
Maybe it takes two, maybe it takes three,
maybe it takes five, depending on how long your tank is.
But the more you have,
the more even that light spread is going to be.
I get asked all the time, Remy,
what is your schedule when it comes to
the Aqua illumination products that you have?
And what's nice is that AI makes it super easy
to download lighting schedules
from some of your favorite reefers in the hobby.
Head on over to the Aqua Illumination website
and click on signature.
From there, you'll have a bunch of options,
or you can just design your own.
Just take into consideration the size, the shape,
and obviously the spectrum that you desire
when it comes to just copying and pasting
somebody else's schedule into your program.
If you're running a 30 to 50 gallon tank,
I'm sure your schedule is going to look
a little bit different than David Saxby's.
If you want to see the BRS recommended settings,
Randy did a great in-depth video talking about par,
talking about spread, all the science behind these lights.
You can check that video out in the description below.
And if you're ready to pull the trigger
on one of these high-performance lights for a great price,
make sure to click the link right here.
And I'll see you in the next one.
(light music)