First Par Meter efforts

[mattgumaer]

Just bought an Apogee SQ-520 and took some measurements at a few corals, applying the Reef Builders 1.32 correction factor.

Well, my first numbers are lower than I expected. I have three first generation Radion Pros that I run at a max of 52% with the lights 100 UV/100 Royal Blue/100 Blue/25 cool white/25 green/25 hyper red. I have the wide angle lenses installed. I recently installed a 2 t-5 retrofit with a blue plus and a coral plus bulb. This is all over a standard 180 gallon tank, 6 feet x 2 feet x 2 feet.

Some of my sps are lit as follows:

1) pink birdsnest 204
2) poccilopora 171
3) green acro 135
4) orange monti cap 134
5) couple of highest lit acros including a small strawberry shortcake 264
6) standard green birdsnest 274
7) fuzzy green thick branched birdsnest 290
8) tri-color acro 178
9) ORA stuber 145.

This is with Radions at max and t5s on. Is it just me or do these numbers seem low? Most of the coral above is positioned in what I thought were the 'high light' areas of my tank. Is there a particular PAR range that most sps keepers are shooting for towards the top of their tanks? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

 

[jayball]

If you can post a picture of your tank with a couple labels identified that would help everyone help you. Also how high they are mounted above the surface.


With them being first gen there may have been some par drop by now but it is hard to tell with info given. Led does loose par over years


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mattgumaer]

Haven't figured out how to take non-windex looking pictures. I'll have to put that on my to do list.

Matt

 

[bif24701]

Haven't figured out how to take non-windex looking pictures. I'll have to put that on my to do list.

Matt

Use all whites for photos.


Aaron

 

[bif24701]

Just bought an Apogee SQ-520 and took some measurements at a few corals, applying the Reef Builders 1.32 correction factor.



Well, my first numbers are lower than I expected. I have three first generation Radion Pros that I run at a max of 52% with the lights 100 UV/100 Royal Blue/100 Blue/25 cool white/25 green/25 hyper red. I have the wide angle lenses installed. I recently installed a 2 t-5 retrofit with a blue plus and a coral plus bulb. This is all over a standard 180 gallon tank, 6 feet x 2 feet x 2 feet.



Some of my sps are lit as follows:



1) pink birdsnest 204

2) poccilopora 171

3) green acro 135

4) orange monti cap 134

5) couple of highest lit acros including a small strawberry shortcake 264

6) standard green birdsnest 274

7) fuzzy green thick branched birdsnest 290

8) tri-color acro 178

9) ORA stuber 145.



This is with Radions at max and t5s on. Is it just me or do these numbers seem low? Most of the coral above is positioned in what I thought were the 'high light' areas of my tank. Is there a particular PAR range that most sps keepers are shooting for towards the top of their tanks? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.



Matt

Seems low to me, start increasing your intensity slowly. I have my corals in at least 300+, I think closer to 400 or more.


Aaron

 

[Geeray]

Just bought an Apogee SQ-520 and took some measurements at a few corals, applying the Reef Builders 1.32 correction factor.

Well, my first numbers are lower than I expected. I have three first generation Radion Pros that I run at a max of 52% with the lights 100 UV/100 Royal Blue/100 Blue/25 cool white/25 green/25 hyper red. I have the wide angle lenses installed. I recently installed a 2 t-5 retrofit with a blue plus and a coral plus bulb. This is all over a standard 180 gallon tank, 6 feet x 2 feet x 2 feet.

Some of my sps are lit as follows:

1) pink birdsnest 204
2) poccilopora 171
3) green acro 135
4) orange monti cap 134
5) couple of highest lit acros including a small strawberry shortcake 264
6) standard green birdsnest 274
7) fuzzy green thick branched birdsnest 290
8) tri-color acro 178
9) ORA stuber 145.

This is with Radions at max and t5s on. Is it just me or do these numbers seem low? Most of the coral above is positioned in what I thought were the 'high light' areas of my tank. Is there a particular PAR range that most sps keepers are shooting for towards the top of their tanks? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Matt

These numbers aren't surprising at all if your overall intensity is only 52%. Like mentioned above a fts would help

 

[kevlow]

I also think that using the wide angle lenses really depletes the strength. I have Radions with the lenses and still must hang the lights high in order to get the coverage I need. I was shocked to find out how low my par was even when running at 100%. The blue channels are at 100% and the white, green, red are at 75%. I will be adding another light soon but it will probably not be a Radion.

 

[SPotter]

how do your corals look? are they growing? do they have good color?

 

[Rakie]

Watch the BRS videos on ALL lighting sources (T5, Halide, LED), then watch the videos about coral types LPS/SPS.

You will have a much better understanding of par, what corals need, and what range corals thrive in.

 

[mattgumaer]

how do your corals look? are they growing? do they have good color?

Most corals are generally looking pretty good but I lost most acros during/after a long trip to China this spring. Not entirely sure what happened. The last couple of months things seem to have stabilized.

In terms of growth, I think things are growing slowly, with some marginal improvement recently.

I will try to take a picture with the appropriate 'white balance' later today and it may give people a better sense of what I'm working with.

Matt

 

[mattgumaer]

Watch the BRS videos on ALL lighting sources (T5, Halide, LED), then watch the videos about coral types LPS/SPS.

You will have a much better understanding of par, what corals need, and what range corals thrive in.

I'm sure I watched those at the time they came out. I'll have to go back and give them another look. At the time, I didn't have a par meter so I probably wasn't too focused on the par numbers. Thanks.

Matt

 

[Rakie]

I'm sure I watched those at the time they came out. I'll have to go back and give them another look. At the time, I didn't have a par meter so I probably wasn't too focused on the par numbers. Thanks.

Matt

I understand Matt! The short story is this:

- SPS can thrive between 200-300 Par, and that seems to make most happy on average
- SPS can live in 400+ but usually isn't too necessary, and might be high for some

In a 24" cube, the BRS staff have a 250w Radium, 2 24" Coral+, and 2 24" Blue+ over a thriving SPS dominant Mixed Reef. The tank has around 400 Par in the top 6", and 200-300 par until 3-4" off the sand bed.

And that's again with 4x24" T5 and a 250w Radium

 

[mattgumaer]

If I did this right, picture of the tank attached. Not the best quality but I think a pretty close representation of the colors.

Matt