AI Prime 16HD PPFD & PAR Data
Aqua Illumination · AI Prime 16HD · Reef
The numbers below are compiled from public sources: Aqua Illumination’s own product page and independent PAR readings shared by reef aquarists. 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 Prime 16HD. The official figures are limited to a single peak-PAR point plus an interactive “Light Output Comparisons” heatmap tool, which renders coverage as a colour map without printed per-position numbers. We do not read colours off that heatmap as values — the only manufacturer numbers here are the ones AI states as text.
| Metric | Manufacturer stated | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Rated power draw | 59 W (full power) | aquaillumination.com |
| Peak PAR | 100 µmol/m²/s at 24 in depth | aquaillumination.com |
| Coverage / spread | 24 × 24 in | aquaillumination.com |
| LED count | 16 (4 cool white, 4 blue, 4 royal blue, 1 photo red, 1 green, 1 violet, 1 UV, 1 moonlight) | aquaillumination.com |
The heatmap comparison tool AI hosts states its own method — 24 in height, 0.5 in resolution, over a 36 × 36 in area (lightsciences/par) — but prints no readable grid values, so there is no official numeric map to transcribe for this fixture.
Independent PAR readings (hobbyist)
No lab-grade full-grid test of the Prime 16HD is published that we could verify, so the third-party data here is single-sensor hobbyist measurement, not a controlled bench grid. The most useful public reading gives a vertical PAR profile straight down the center of a tank with the fixture 10 in above the water and flow off; the intensity setting was not stated, so we mark it unverified.
| Reading (center column, top → bottom) | PAR | Conditions | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top of water column | 167 µmol/m²/s | Fixture 10 in above water, flow off, intensity unverified | reef2reef.com |
| Mid column | 88 µmol/m²/s | same | reef2reef.com |
| Bottom | 31 µmol/m²/s | same | reef2reef.com |
A repeated observation across those community tests is that the Prime’s footprint is not a bright spot directly under the fixture. The TIR lenses spread the beam, so PAR ramps up slightly off-center before falling off toward the edges, rather than peaking dead center. Bulk Reef Supply’s own test video on the Prime 16HD walks through mounting height and footprint on tanks from nano to ~120 gal and reaches the same conclusion (reef2reef.com).
Manufacturer vs measured (comparable line)
| Metric | Manufacturer stated | Third-party reading | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak PAR | 100 µmol/m²/s at 24 in | 167 µmol/m²/s at ~10 in above water (top of column) | Different depths and unknown intensity; not a like-for-like comparison. The manufacturer number is deeper (24 in), the hobbyist reading is shallower (10 in), so the higher value at shallower depth is consistent, not contradictory. |
The single manufacturer point (100 µmol/m²/s at 24 in) is the only official PAR figure, and it is a center-of-footprint depth reading rather than a coverage map. Treat it as a mounting-height guide, not proof of even coverage across the 24 × 24 in spread.
Sources
- Manufacturer specs and single peak-PAR figure: https://www.aquaillumination.com/products/prime
- Manufacturer heatmap comparison tool (visual only, no numeric grid): https://www.aquaillumination.com/lightsciences/par
- Hobbyist center-column PAR readings: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ai-prime-16hd-par-levels.931209/
- Bulk Reef Supply footprint test (thread): https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/we-finally-test-the-ai-prime-16hd-and-you-wont-believe-the-results-from-nano-tanks-to-120gal-plus-this-light-has-you-covered.727243/
Notes
The honest gap on this fixture is that AI gives one PAR number and a colour heatmap, and there is no verified full-grid bench test to lay a proper map next to it. The reef community reads the Prime 16HD as a nano-to-small light — the manufacturer’s own 100 µmol/m²/s at 24 in tells you that at a 24 in water depth you are near the low end for SPS, which is why most keepers mount it lower or run it on shallower tanks. Anyone quoting a per-position PAR map for this light is almost certainly reading colours off the heatmap; we do not, and neither should a buyer relying on this page.