Fixture · Aqua Illumination · LED bar
AI Blade (Coral)
Bar fixture for shallow / wide tanks and frag racks. Won't grow SPS in deep displays but unbeatable for 12″-deep grow-outs.
At a glance
- Max draw
- 110 W
- Coverage
- 48″ × 12″ at 6″
- Mounting height
- 6″
- Street price
- $360
PAR at depth (μmol/m²/s)
| Depth | Center | Edge | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6″ | 320 | 220 | Bar-style — wide even |
| 12″ | 200 | 140 | |
| 18″ | 125 | 85 | |
| 24″ | 80 | 55 |
All readings corrected for underwater use. Center = directly under fixture; edge = at the 48″ × 12″ footprint edge. PAR varies by individual fixture setup, mount type, and tank glass — use these as a sizing baseline, then measure with your own meter.
Spectrum channels
- uv
- royal blue
- blue
- cool white
Best for
- Frag tanks
- Refugiums
- Supplemental over T5
Pros
- + Cheap entry to AI control
- + Excellent wide spread for frag tanks
Cons
- − Not enough for deep displays
- − Spectrum less rich than Hydra
PAR data source
BRS Blade Coral video + Reef2Reef.
Next steps
- Correct your PAR meter reading using the PAR underwater calculator — uncorrected, the Apogee MQ-500 reads about 24 % low underwater (×1.32) and the older MQ-200 about 7 % low (×1.08); the MQ-510 corrects itself.
- Convert peak PAR to DLI with the DLI calculator — that's the metric corals actually care about.
- Reference the lighting guide for PAR targets by coral type.
Last reviewed