AI Hydra 32HD PPFD & PAR Data
Aqua Illumination · AI Hydra 32HD · Reef
The numbers below are compiled from public sources: Aqua Illumination’s own product page and an independent PAR test by the DaniReef LAB. They are not our own measurements. Each row says where the value came from.
What Aqua Illumination publishes
Aqua Illumination does not publish a numeric PAR grid for the Hydra 32HD. The product page states power and physical specs, and coverage is shown only through the interactive “Light Output Comparisons” heatmap tool — a colour map with no printed per-position numbers. We do not read colours off that heatmap as values, so the only manufacturer figures here are the ones AI states as text.
| Metric | Manufacturer stated | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Rated power draw | 95 W (from the wall) | aquaillumination.com |
| Numeric PAR grid | not published (heatmap comparison tool only) | aquaillumination.com/lightsciences/par |
| Dimensions | 7.28 × 5.375 × 1.42 in | aquaillumination.com |
The heatmap tool states its own method (24 in height, 0.5 in resolution, 36 × 36 in area) but prints no readable grid values, so there is no official numeric map to transcribe for this fixture.
Independent PAR test (DaniReef LAB)
The most rigorous public third-party test we could find is the DaniReef LAB bench test. It uses an Apogee Quantum Meter MQ-510 over a 70 × 70 cm base with 17 measurement points, at three heights (~17, 37, 57 cm), and reports the fixture’s own measured power draw. These are real metered PAR numbers, so they are the most useful data on this page.
The article is titled “AI Hydra 32,” but its measured draw (90.5 W) matches the Hydra 32HD spec (95 W) rather than the older non-HD unit, so we treat it as the HD-generation fixture. Read that as a caveat, not a certainty — the exact trim label on the test unit is not something we can fully verify.
| Condition (height) | Center PAR | Measured draw | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~17 cm above sensor | 1908 µmol/m²/s | 90.5 W | danireef.com |
| ~37 cm above sensor | 462 µmol/m²/s | 90.5 W | danireef.com |
| ~57 cm above sensor | 197 µmol/m²/s | 90.5 W | danireef.com |
DaniReef reports the full 17-point grid at each height only as heatmap charts, not as printed per-point numbers, so we transcribe the center-point values above and do not invent the edge cells. The peak efficiency they derive is 21.08 µmol/m²/s per watt, and their read on coverage is that the beam is tightly concentrated at 17 cm and evens out by 30–40 cm, suiting nano reefs and tanks up to about 60 cm wide.
A second, lower-grade datapoint comes from a hobbyist running BRS AB+ settings (not full power) with a diffuser on a 24 in cube, fixture 13 in above the water: roughly 200–250 PAR in the top 6 in, 130–180 in the mid 6 in, and 80–115 in the lower 6 in (reef2reef.com). Those are dialed-back real-tank numbers, not a max-output bench figure, and the intensity was reduced by preset, so we mark them as reduced-setting readings.
Manufacturer vs measured (comparable line)
| Metric | Manufacturer stated | Third-party measured | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power draw | 95 W | 90.5 W | DaniReef measured draw sits just under the 95 W rating |
| PAR grid | not published | Center 1908 / 462 / 197 µmol/m²/s at ~17 / 37 / 57 cm | No manufacturer grid exists to compare against; the DaniReef numbers stand alone |
Sources
- Manufacturer specs (Hydra 32HD): https://www.aquaillumination.com/products/hydra
- Manufacturer heatmap comparison tool (visual only, no numeric grid): https://www.aquaillumination.com/lightsciences/par
- Independent PAR test (DaniReef LAB): https://www.danireef.com/2020/04/20/led-ai-hydra-32-ceiling-light-performances-and-par-analyzed-in-the-danireef-lab/
- Hobbyist reduced-setting PAR readings: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-hydra32hd-par-results-and-brs-ab-spectrum-matching.680879/
Notes
The center reading falls off sharply with height — 1908 µmol/m²/s at 17 cm down to 197 at 57 cm — which is why the Hydra 32HD reads as a concentrated fixture best mounted close over a nano or small tank rather than spread thin over a large one. The one manufacturer number that matters, 95 W, is corroborated by the 90.5 W metered draw, so the wattage claim holds; the coverage claim is unverifiable against AI’s own data because AI never publishes a numeric map. The honest limit of this page is that the only real grid comes from a single 2020 lab test whose exact trim we cannot fully confirm, and the edge-cell values in that test are shown as heatmaps we decline to read as numbers.