Ai prime or Sol blue plus?

stonedage · 01/22/2018, 10:14 AM

I have a 25 gal cube 18/18/18 which light would be best if I had to pick one or the other ONLY ....Ai prime or Sol blue plus. Any why? Thank you.
Oh ya mixed reef but mainly lps

DesertReefT4r · 01/22/2018, 03:36 PM

Prime HD is on sale right now at BRS. The Sol Blue has been discontinued for a while now so unless you find it used getting one will be hard. Personally I would not buy a used LED that old. Tech moves fast and support for old tech disappears fast. I never liked the look of the sol lighting anyways, way to blue imo and corals under this light never really got great color from what I saw years back. If your budbet is $200 for a light then the Prime HD would be my pic.

Cheapreef · 01/22/2018, 03:47 PM

Personally I would not buy either as one is no longer available and the other is not a great spread or high par light. If you have a small budget for a light I would pick up a standard black box or one with built in Wifi etc it will have a better spread and much higher par rating if you decide to try some SPS. I ran one of these over a 18" cube SPS and a few LPS for about a year and half with great success.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/165W-WIFI-Di...kAAOSwGwlZ8qpb

jayball · 01/22/2018, 04:26 PM

Sticking to the original question, If I had to pick I would probably go with the prime even though the power from that will be limiting. The SOL with it's 1:1:1 RB:CB:CW layout does not look very good to me(I am a big fan of violet and near UV LED's in an array) and the SOL has to be fairly old at this point. An AI 26 or higher quality black box would do a better job lighting the tank.

rjjr1963 · 01/22/2018, 07:42 PM

I have 2 AI primes on my 40 breeder and they are more than adequate. You could always jump up to the Hydra 26 if you felt like you needed more power.

Randyz · 01/22/2018, 07:51 PM

I would go with an AI Hydra 26 or I have always had good luck with the Chinese lights

01/22/2018, 10:14 AM	#1
stonedage Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: ontario canada Posts: 137	Ai prime or Sol blue plus? I have a 25 gal cube 18/18/18 which light would be best if I had to pick one or the other ONLY ....Ai prime or Sol blue plus. Any why? Thank you. Oh ya mixed reef but mainly lps

01/22/2018, 03:36 PM	#2
DesertReefT4r Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Mesa Az Posts: 771	Prime HD is on sale right now at BRS. The Sol Blue has been discontinued for a while now so unless you find it used getting one will be hard. Personally I would not buy a used LED that old. Tech moves fast and support for old tech disappears fast. I never liked the look of the sol lighting anyways, way to blue imo and corals under this light never really got great color from what I saw years back. If your budbet is $200 for a light then the Prime HD would be my pic. __________________ Tank history 29g tropical ,55g cichlid tank, 20H softy reef, 29g mixed reef, 20H brackish goby & puffer tank, 55g mixed reef, 6g Nanocube softy lps reef, 40B sps reef, 75g sps reef, 75g sps reef in bu Current Tank Info: 75g sps reef build in the works.

01/22/2018, 07:42 PM	#5
rjjr1963 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Nebraska/Missouri Posts: 770	I have 2 AI primes on my 40 breeder and they are more than adequate. You could always jump up to the Hydra 26 if you felt like you needed more power. __________________ 72x24x16 115 gallon under construction Current Tank Info: 40 gallon reef

01/22/2018, 03:47 PM	#3
Cheapreef Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 1,076	Personally I would not buy either as one is no longer available and the other is not a great spread or high par light. If you have a small budget for a light I would pick up a standard black box or one with built in Wifi etc it will have a better spread and much higher par rating if you decide to try some SPS. I ran one of these over a 18" cube SPS and a few LPS for about a year and half with great success. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/165W-WIFI-Di...kAAOSwGwlZ8qpb

01/22/2018, 04:26 PM	#4
jayball Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 1,671	Sticking to the original question, If I had to pick I would probably go with the prime even though the power from that will be limiting. The SOL with it's 1:1:1 RB:CB:CW layout does not look very good to me(I am a big fan of violet and near UV LED's in an array) and the SOL has to be fairly old at this point. An AI 26 or higher quality black box would do a better job lighting the tank.

01/22/2018, 07:51 PM	#6
Randyz Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 53	I would go with an AI Hydra 26 or I have always had good luck with the Chinese lights