Hygger HG-957 Light settings

[AndreaW]

@Guppysnail or anyone else that uses the Hygger HG-957 aquarium light: 

What would be a good setting to begin with? I just got one to go on my 46G Bowfront that I will be adding these plants to:

• Vallisneria (background, low-med light, EG, RT)
• Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus (background, low-med light, EG, RT & Iron)
• Scarlet Temple (background, med light, EG)
• Java Fern (midground/background, low light, EG)
• "Windelov" Java Fern (midground/background, low light, EG)
• Red Melon Sword (midground, low light, EG, RT)
• Anubias Barteri (midground, low light, EG)
• Cryptocoryne Tropica (mid-foreground, low-med light, EG, RT, Iron)
• Anubias nana "Petite (foreground, low, EG)
• Cryptocoryne Lucens (carpeting, low light, EG, RT, Iron)

I'm considering starting out with their standard mode, but I can do the custom mode as well. I also have heard the moonlight (blue) will cause algae growth so I was going to forgo that, right? 

Right now I have the standard full spectrum flourescent light that came with the tank and have it on a timer for 10 hours. I'm assuming 10 hours with this light might be too much light? I really have no idea.

Thank you everyone, for your input! 

[Guppysnail]

On 3/15/2022 at 3:00 PM, AndreaW said:

@Guppysnail or anyone else that uses the Hygger HG-957 aquarium light: 

What would be a good setting to begin with? I just got one to go on my 46G Bowfront that I will be adding these plants to:

• Vallisneria (background, low-med light, EG, RT)
• Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus (background, low-med light, EG, RT & Iron)
• Scarlet Temple (background, med light, EG)
• Java Fern (midground/background, low light, EG)
• "Windelov" Java Fern (midground/background, low light, EG)
• Red Melon Sword (midground, low light, EG, RT)
• Anubias Barteri (midground, low light, EG)
• Cryptocoryne Tropica (mid-foreground, low-med light, EG, RT, Iron)
• Anubias nana "Petite (foreground, low, EG)
• Cryptocoryne Lucens (carpeting, low light, EG, RT, Iron)

I'm considering starting out with their standard mode, but I can do the custom mode as well. I also have heard the moonlight (blue) will cause algae growth so I was going to forgo that, right? 

Right now I have the standard full spectrum flourescent light that came with the tank and have it on a timer for 10 hours. I'm assuming 10 hours with this light might be too much light? I really have no idea.

Thank you everyone, for your input! 

I’m sorry I don’t use that model. I use the low end from Amazon model and I use 8 hours of white only broken in half with a siesta. I’m super low tech. 

[AndreaW]

@Guppysnail ~ Ah, thank you! (I thought I read somewhere that you used this light, sorry!)

How many hours siesta do you do? 

 

[Guppysnail]

On 3/15/2022 at 5:35 PM, AndreaW said:

@Guppysnail ~ Ah, thank you! (I thought I read somewhere that you used this light, sorry!)

How many hours siesta do you do? 

 

I use hygger but not the fancy one. I do 4 on 3 off 4 on roughly it changes a bit based on what I’m doing in the tanks. I only do manual. 

[Kurt Brutting]

The HG-957 should grow those plants nicely. 10 hours might be a bit much it is a powerful light. I grow Val’s, Anubias, and Crypt’s under it and I have it on for 7 hours at 70% to 90% intensity. I only have it on 90% for 2 hours. You’ll find what works for you and your setup. 

[AndreaW]

@Kurt Brutting ~ Thanks. That will give me a starting point. I figured 10 hours would be too much since these are much brighter. I think I'll set them up with a sunrise/sunset and not do full intensity to start.

[Widgets]

I have one on my 37g (same footprint as a 20 long but almost twice as tall). I got it in Dec and have just been using it on the default automatic mode, both daylight and moonlight mode. I have some algae but not too much for my taste.

I purchased two more, for a 20 long and a 10g. These new lights are not operating the same in automatic mode. They are skipping the sunset phase of daylight and just ramp to off mode. I am working with customer support. I am trying to setup something in DIY mode that is close to auto mode. All three tanks are in the same room and I would like them to have the same schedule (just varying the intensity)

Added a quick picture of the 37g

I have:

Vallisneria (left terrace), 

Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus (right terrace)

Java Fern (left midground)

Bacopa Caroliniana (center midground)

Moneywort (center midground) 

Various Cryptocoryne (left and right midground)

Micro Sword (left foreground)

Dwarf Hairgrass (right foreground)

Edited March 16, 2022 by Widgets
Add photo and details

[Kurt Brutting]

@Widgetsamazing aquarium, I love it! 
I had to work with customer service too. As for the light the LEDS are awesome and I love the width of it, but the programming aspect is very finicky. 

[AndreaW]

@Widgets ~ Beautiful! Thanks for the pic and the list of plants. That helps me look at my own selection and see what things should look like in time. (I may swap my Scarlet Temple and Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus)

It's good to hear they have customer support. That makes all the difference. I hope you get a setup that works for you. I haven't been able to try out a full light cycle so hopefully I can get it right.

[Widgets]

>@Kurt Brutting @AndreaW Thanks for the compliments on the tank.

Looking at my records, I corrected my statement of having Dwarf Sagittaria to Micro Sword. I was debating between the two and forgot which one I decided on.

Some more details so you can better gauge the plant growth. This tank has been running for 3 1/2 months now. The Java Fern and Dwarf Hairgrass was new from a local chain pet store. Some of the Vallisneria and the Cryptocoryne came from the previous setup of this tank. About 2 1/2 months ago I added more Vallisneria, Bacopa Caroliniana, Moneywort, and Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus from ACO. About a month ago I added Micro Sword also from ACO.

I have only been using Easy Green once a week. No root tabs due to the UGF with power heads  

The Dwarf Hairgrass and Micro Sword have not done as well as I would like, maybe due to the tank depth. The Vallisneria is also growing slow. I have trimmed (and planted) a few stalks of the Bacopa Caroliniana once. The Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus has required weekly trimming. After last weekend's trimming I now have a few stems in my 20 long shrimp tank. The next trimming will probably fill out the shrimp tank and float the rest in my QT.

[AndreaW]

@Widgets ~ Thanks for the added info! I was wondering if I should do some Root Tabs but I also have an UGF (with a lot of flow) so maybe save the root tabs for my 10G if I need them for the Crypts there.

I'm excited about my Pogostemon and hope it grows like yours! I also got Scarlet Temple but I hear many people are having a hard time with it without high light and CO2 so I'll enjoy it for now but expect it to not last long. Of course all my plants could be destroyed by my Pleco, so...who knows?

[Widgets]

On 3/16/2022 at 1:26 PM, AndreaW said:

I was wondering if I should do some Root Tabs but I also have an UGF (with a lot of flow) so maybe save the root tabs for my 10G if I need them for the Crypts there.

The root tabs are in a gel capsule that dissolves fairly quickly. If you take too much time inserting a tab, or it keeps popping up out if the gravel, it will disintegrate and dump the fertilizer into the water column. It is designed to dissolve into the substrate and mostly stay there for the roots of the plants. A slow flow UGF might work, but the high flow UGF will just suck it all out into the water column.

I had this tank running for a year and a half with wild caught fish and plants. Then added some purchased plants when I didn't like how the wild plants were doing. I was using airstones for a low flow UGF and could not keep the algae under control. It was probably the root tabs. The tank crashed and I redid the whole thing in December. 

[Widgets]

@AndreaW I am not sure how I missed your other thread on the 46G bowfront makeover. You asked questions on filtration. Since I have several details on my setup in this thread, I thought I would give some more details. Sorry for the hijack...

I bought this tank as a kit, getting back in the hobby. It came with a barely adequate HOB and lighted hood. I added the airstone driven UGF for my attempt of a native wild caught tank. When it crashed I decided to upgrade. I now have 2x AquaClear 20 power heads driving the UGF, and an AquaClear 110 HOB (full of only ACO 15ppi sponges). Fir a grand total of 754 GPH rating. I also added a glass lid with the Hygger HG-957 light.

I guess I should break down and start a journal thread instead of using yours.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Widgets
More details

[SJ fishing]

I have 4 of those lights, they will grow plants fine but the programming sucks on them…only 1 of the 4 will the diy mode work properly on mine.  One of the lights just turns off at 9pm no matter what time it’s programmed to run til.  I have sent 3 back and the replacements have all come with issues, so I just use the preprogrammed mode for around 10 hours.  Also have found raising them about 6” above the tank cuts down on algae.  
The Coop lights can’t come out soon enough for me 

[AndreaW]

On 3/16/2022 at 2:29 PM, Widgets said:

I guess I should break down and start a journal thread instead of using yours.

Hijack away! I'm grateful for the info!

@SJ fishing ~ I have it on the auto program, but modified the start and end times and so far I think it came on at the right time this morning. I played around with the current time on mine last night and set it to 1 minute until a change to watch and I think I might be okay on this one. *fingers crossed*

Edited March 16, 2022 by AndreaW

[Widgets]

On 3/16/2022 at 7:17 PM, AndreaW said:

I have it on the auto program, but modified the start and end times and so far I think it came on at the right time this morning. I played around with the current time on mine last night and set it to 1 minute until a change to watch and I think I might be okay on this one. *fingers crossed*

Mine two new ones, when operating in automatic mode, come on at the correct time and ramp up to the sunrise segment and then ramp to the daylight segment. At the end of the daylight segment they will ramp to off instead of ramping to the sunset segment. When the should be in the sunset segment, entering any setup mode (current time, daylight, or moonlight) will reset the light back to proper operation. We have not found anything that fixes the operation. So far I am happy with my DIY mode settings, but I need to watch closer. I have all three tanks in the same room and hope to have them all on a similar schedule. 

If yours acts up, I can help you with a DIY setup that is close to what automatic mode should do.

[Kurt Brutting]

The 1st HG-957 I purchased arrived bent in half. I am counting the seconds for Cory’s light and the thing is the Hygger light could be amazing if it worked right. 

[Widgets]

On 3/16/2022 at 7:17 PM, AndreaW said:

I have it on the auto program, but modified the start and end times and so far I think it came on at the right time this morning. I played around with the current time on mine last night and set it to 1 minute until a change to watch and I think I might be okay on this one. *fingers crossed*

How is the programming of your light working? Is it doing what you want? 

In auto mode I like that you can have the moonlight phase already ramped up to its peak before the end of sunset phase. This overlap avoids a dark period between sunset and moonrise. Unfortunately, DIY mode forces everything to be sequential without the overlap. When it sequences from L6 (the last daylight segment) to L7 (the first moonlight segment) there is an abrupt change where the white light goes off and the blue light starts up from zero. I don't like that dark period. I kind of like how the blue light looks in the tank even if it promotes algae, but I dislike the dark period more. I think I will just use a low level of white light for my evening viewing.

[AndreaW]

On 3/18/2022 at 12:55 AM, Widgets said:

How is the programming of your light working? Is it doing what you want? 

In auto mode I like that you can have the moonlight phase already ramped up to its peak before the end of sunset phase. This overlap avoids a dark period between sunset and moonrise.

So far the adjusted times in Auto are doing what I programmed. My son loves how it turns on and ramps up in the morning (at the same time as his alarm). He also loves the moonlight. I haven't ben there to see the transition between the day and night setting but I'll have to schedule them to overlap so there's not an abrupt change. 

Down the road I may need to make adjustments for plants/algae, but for now I'm just letting it do its thing. I did try to play around with the DIY but didn't like that you can't have it fade from one to the next and the last two are moonlight modes.

Since the Auto mode is working for me, I was thinking maybe of trying the light on a plug-timer and having it turn off for a siesta in the middle of the day. What I'm wondering is, if it cuts off power, will it reset the time? I'll have to take some time and play around with it more.

[Widgets]

On 3/18/2022 at 1:49 PM, AndreaW said:

So far the adjusted times in Auto are doing what I programmed. My son loves how it turns on and ramps up in the morning (at the same time as his alarm). He also loves the moonlight. I haven't ben there to see the transition between the day and night setting but I'll have to schedule them to overlap so there's not an abrupt change. 

This is what I know about Auto mode. You can specify the start time and the end time for the daylight period. The startup of the daylight period will begin at the specified start time with a 15 minute ramp up from off to 50%, then a 1 hour sunrise segment at 50%, and a 15 minute ramp up from 50% to 100%. The shutdown of the daylight period begins with a 15 minute ramp down from 100% to 50%, then a 1 hour sunset segment, and a 15 minute ramp down from 50% to off, ending at the specified off time.

If the daylight start time is specified as 6:00am and the stop time is specified as 6:00pm then the times will be as follows:

• 6:00am - 6:15am = ramp up from off to 50%
• 6:15am - 7:15am = sunrise at 50%
• 7:15am - 7:30am = ramp up from 50% to 100%
• 7:30am - 4:30pm = daylight at 100%
• 4:30pm - 4:45pm = ramp down from 100% to 50%
• 4:45pm - 5:45pm = sunset at 50%
• 5:45pm - 6:00pm = ramp down from 50% to off

This is where my two new lights are not operating properly. At 4:30pm they will ramp all the way down to off, skipping sunset.

You can also specify the start time and end time of the moonlight period. Moonlight has a 15 minute ramp up from off to 100% at the start and a 15 minute ramp down from 100% to off.

If the moonlight start time is specified as 8:00pm and the stop time is specified as 11:00pm then the times will be as follows:

• 8:00pm - 8:15pm = ramp up from off to 100%
• 8:15pm - 10:45pm = moonshine at 100%
• 10:45pm - 11:00pm = ramp down from 100% to off

The daylight and moonlight periods are independent, and can be discrete or overlap depending upon your preference. You can even turn either period off if desired. In the example above, I would set the moonlight start time to be 5:30pm. This will have the moonlight at 100% at the start of the daylight ramp down from 50%, avoiding a dark period after sunset before moonrise.

On 3/18/2022 at 1:49 PM, AndreaW said:

Down the road I may need to make adjustments for plants/algae, but for now I'm just letting it do its thing. I did try to play around with the DIY but didn't like that you can't have it fade from one to the next and the last two are moonlight modes.

In DIY mode, each of the time periods have a built in 15 minute ramp at the start, and the last time period (L8) is only a 15 minute ramp to off with an end time that is preset to just before the L1 start time.

• L1 - 6:00am to 8:00am at 20% = 6:00am to 6:15am ramp from off to 20%, 6:15am to 8:00am 20%
• L2 - 8:00am to 10:00am at 50% = 8:00am to 8:15am ramp from 20% to 50%, 8:15am to 10:00am 50%
• ...

The abrupt change I was taking about only happens between L6 (white light) and L7 (moonlight). I can only guess that since there is the color change it turns off the white light and starts ramping up the moonlight. The abrupt change could be avoided by having the L6 be 0% letting the white light ramp down to off, then the moonlight would ramp up from off, but that has the dark period that I was wanting to avoid.

I still need to experiment some more with DIY mode on the old light that is working properly. There is a chance that the malfunction on my new lights is also impacting the DIY mode. So far, I have run through several tests for Hygger customer service, but they have not been able to duplicate my issue or correct my light. They had some reports of similar issues being corrected after certain exercises, but they have not impacted my lights.

On 3/18/2022 at 1:49 PM, AndreaW said:

Since the Auto mode is working for me, I was thinking maybe of trying the light on a plug-timer and having it turn off for a siesta in the middle of the day. What I'm wondering is, if it cuts off power, will it reset the time? I'll have to take some time and play around with it more.

If power is removed, the operating mode and settings will be preserved, but the time will not be maintained. The light will wait for you to set the time before it does anything, much as it did from the initial power up. Unfortunately this precludes us from using an external timer.

[AndreaW]

@Widgets ~ Thank you! I appreciate the time you have taken to research and record your results. Do you mind if I copy it into a document for future programming? I do plan to test out the DIY mode later down the road.

For now, I'm going to overlap my day/night modes like you recommend. 

 

[Widgets]

On 3/18/2022 at 5:14 PM, AndreaW said:

@Widgets ~ Thank you! I appreciate the time you have taken to research and record your results. Do you mind if I copy it into a document for future programming? I do plan to test out the DIY mode later down the road.

For now, I'm going to overlap my day/night modes like you recommend.

No problem. If I didn't want you (or others) to benefit from and use the information, I would not have posted it.

Some additional insight on DIY mode that I forgot to mention.

You can implement a longer ramp between periods by piecing together 15 minute periods. If you wanted to start the day with a 30 minute ramp from off to 50%, you could configure L1 at 20% with a 15 minute duration, and L2 at 50% with whatever desired duration. The light with come on and spend 15 minutes ramping from off to 20%, then immediately spend another 15 minutes ramping from 20% to 50%.

If you do not need all 6 daylight periods, you can combine them. you have a 6 hour period at 100%, it could be split into two 3 hour periods to consume an extra period.

Also, after making a change to the settings (changing the time or changing any of the program settings) the light will abruptly reset to the current lighting level. If that current level is a ramp, the abrupt change can be totally unexpected and seem as a malfunction. If the light should be in a ramp from 50% to 100%, it will know the ramp to 100%, but it will not know the starting point of 50%, It will abruptly shut off and ramp from off to 100%. Likewise, if it is ramping down, it will abruptly go to 100% and ramp to the desired level, This abrupt change is only after a reset of the programming, subsequent operation will be as expected.

I remember reading a post on another forum with some pointers on programming the light. I will try to locate that original post and provide a link.

[Widgets]

From an Amazon review by Robin

DIY mode instructions are lacking, here is what you need to know

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2021

Size: 72W - 48in~55in

We wanted to have multiple on / off periods throughout the day, so DIY mode is the obvious choice for us. Getting this set up was rather frustrating.

But first, the summary:
This light will always be fully off when first plugged in or power is restored. After power on, you must set the time before doing anything useful, but program settings are retained. So you can't use this on an external timer.
24 hour mode is not too complicated to set up and use. DIY mode is a bit more trouble to set up if done right, but very troublesome if you make the mistakes documented below.
Manually turning on and off the light takes a lot of button mashing. After using manual mode and restoring to automatic mode, the light setting appears to be reversed from what it should be; just wait 15 minutes for it to "fade-in" to the correct on/off state.

Here is what the instructions don't say:
1. Standard mode will override DIY mode, turn standard mode off (both Day-L and Moon to off) before enabling DIY mode. If DIY mode is already on, you must turn DIY mode off first before you can turn off standard mode, then you can turn DIY mode back on.
2. If you manually turn the light on, or off, or on then off, many times the light will not turn on automatically (or off as the case may be) when the next DIY phase starts. If you adjust the time (you can even set it back to the same time), when the time setting is saved it will reset the light setting to the current DIY phase (after a 15 minute fade-in, see below). Changing the DIY settings has the same effect as changing the clock settings.
3. When lights turn on and off in DIY mode, it does so gradually over a 15 minute period. Nothing wrong with this, just not mentioned in the manual.
4. Manually turning the lights on and off takes several button presses, even though I only ever want 100% full on or full off.

Here are my DIY mode instructions. The individual mode instructions are no different from what is in the manual; they are just in the right sequence here to set things up for DIY mode.
Buttons: Set, Up, Down, Bulb
Turn off standard mode first. You only have to do this once, or after a factory reset.
First turn off DIY mode if it is already enabled: long press Set and Bulb until "ON" or "OFF" appears. If "ON", press "Up" and it will change to "OFF". You can then button mash "Set" through all the DIY settings, or just wait for it to time out. Now the display will show "Day-L ON Moon ON". This is the standard mode setting. If both say "OFF", standard mode is already off, you can turn DIY mode back on and ignore this section.
To turn off standard mode: press "Set", Day-L will flash. Long press "Set", then use "Up" to change "ON" to "OFF". Long press "Set" again, and "Up" to change the Moon setting to "OFF". If the display says "Day-L OFF Moon OFF", standard mode is turned off.

Set up DIY mode: long press "Set" and "Bulb" simultaneously until "OFF" (or ON) appears. Use "Up" to change to "ON" (unless it was already ON). Sometimes I have to repeat this sequence in order to get ON/OFF to appear, or it would disappear as soon as I press "Up". Just try again. Once set to ON, use "Set" to cycle through the settings for each phase (L1, L2, ...). First setting for each phase is the light intensity, then start time for phase (for L1 only, as for the other phases the start time is the previous phase end time), and then end time. If intensity is set to 0, then the lights will be off for that phase. L7 and L8 are blue light, all the others are white.

To manually turn the light on, press "Bulb", then press "Up" several times (it always starts at 10% for me, and I can't even tell what color it is), then press "Bulb" a zillion times to get the color you want. I want white, and it comes on as red. To re-enable DIY mode, set the time (long press "Set" until hour blinks, then press "Set" 3 more times). If the light should currently be on for DIY mode, it will appear to turn off (actually it is on the lowest light brightness) and then gradually turn to the programmed brightness over the next 15 minutes. Or if the light should be off, it will immediately go to full brightness, then dim to off over the next 15 minutes. So you think it is doing opposite what it should, but 15 minutes later you see it actually did the right thing.

I am happy with the amount of light this delivers, about 70% of the brightness of the well know best in class light at one third the cost. But the DIY mode and manual programming are a pain. Personally I would prefer a simpler light used with an external timer, but you may like the automatic settings this light offers.

Edited to update instructions for resuming DIY mode.

[Brandon p]

I have the same set up. The default mode is good use the the root tabs I have the same setup . The fertilizer is in specially. Coat material to dissolve at a slow rate even if you were pump water quickly move down through it it would be ok. 

[Widgets]

I had an ACO root tab pop up from my gravel a few times when trying to place it. The shell of the capsule dissolved and a fine powder was released into the water column. It took several partial water changes to get parameters back in order, and I still had a major algae bloom.

Now, the disturbance of several placement attempts and the planting tweezers squeezing on it surely hastened the demise of the shell of the root tab capsule. My thought is that once the shell of the capsule is breached, the water currents can disperse the fertilizer more rapidly than designed for; and higher water flow will make it even faster. This happened when I was using airstones for the UGF, now I have power heads. I may be overcautious on this, but I don't want to fight another major algae bloom if I can avoid it.