LED PAR Ratings and SPS

[BowieReefer84]

Hello,

I recently used a PAR meter on my DIY lighting. It is a 24 LED kit with 12 XR-E's (blue) and 12 XP-G's (white). I am wondering what PAR value I should be looking for with SPS corals. My tank is a 29gal biocube. Below is a picture with the numbers I have right now at full power. The look is a lot "whiter" than I would like. I am thinking of dimming the whites to achieve a better PAR number (think I need it lower? and color). I would appreciate any feedback you can provide. The 1900 PAR reading is right at the fixture. I have about 5" above the top of my rock before the water. This is cut off in the picture. The 200 is at the very front center on the bottom of the tank. Any clarification needed just ask.

My sps is brown and receding due to Alk/Salinity swing from not topping off or dosing for a couple days (out of town)... So ignore my ugly corals please.



Here is the hood now:

 

[BowieReefer84]

The 624 is higher because it is dead center in tank. The two columns are towards the back not directly under fixture. I have no optics, but the par decreases greatly outside the center.

 

[BowieReefer84]

62 views and not one response. This is why RC blows. Not one person can recommend a par value to aim for?

 

[kaserpick]

People may not feel confident to answer/critique anything because there's been debate about how much certain corals need. Here's a thread that I read through a bit to get some ideas:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1963431&highlight=sps+par

I hope this helps.

 

[moo0o]

I think it really depends on the individual tank. Its hard to suggest any particular number because from what I've seen and what I've experienced, its all over the place.

check out this guys thread, it might be of use to you.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18213573&postcount=91
Seems like he has SPS where it hits 1000+ PAR.

In my experience, if I even hit past 400+ PAR I'd start to get bleaching. There are a number of things that he may be doing differently than I am which enables him to keep his coral as such high PAR levels so I think you should ask him.

One common advice I've seen being thrown around is that whatever you do you should start slow. Your numbers look fine but without stability in your system, it'll be hard for you to judge whether you need more or less light.

Drop the attitude, you waited 4 hours for a response and then say RC blows? That alone made me think twice about responding zzz.

Also, I've been hearing that PAR #s for LEDs are way different than PAR #s for MH/T5 because of the way LEDs emit light or some stuff like that. I also heard that the PAR you're really getting to the corals is as much as 25% higher than what the meter is reading. If I could find the thread I'll post it here but its been awhile since I've seen that comment that I doubt I'd be able to.

 

[BowieReefer84]

I think it really depends on the individual tank. Its hard to suggest any particular number because from what I've seen and what I've experienced, its all over the place.

check out this guys thread, it might be of use to you.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18213573&postcount=91
Seems like he has SPS where it hits 1000+ PAR.

In my experience, if I even hit past 400+ PAR I'd start to get bleaching. There are a number of things that he may be doing differently than I am which enables him to keep his coral as such high PAR levels so I think you should ask him.

One common advice I've seen being thrown around is that whatever you do you should start slow. Your numbers look fine but without stability in your system, it'll be hard for you to judge whether you need more or less light.

Drop the attitude, you waited 4 hours for a response and then say RC blows? That alone made me think twice about responding zzz.

Thank you for the info. I do appreciate it. I guess posting on here is hard, b/c if noone responds quick the thread gets pushed down so far noone sees it. I just see these lounge posts people can't get enough of, and wonder why some posts get no action. Again, thank you and I understand your point.

 

[BowieReefer84]

People may not feel confident to answer/critique anything because there's been debate about how much certain corals need. Here's a thread that I read through a bit to get some ideas:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1963431&highlight=sps+par

I hope this helps.

Thanks! Did not mean to come off harsh.

 

[moo0o]

Thank you for the info. I do appreciate it. I guess posting on here is hard, b/c if noone responds quick the thread gets pushed down so far noone sees it. I just see these lounge posts people can't get enough of, and wonder why some posts get no action. Again, thank you and I understand your point.

Don't worry about the lounge posts, if anyone browses RC like I do, I would say that MOST of the "SPS keepers" just look at the SPS Keepers sub-forum which is MUCH slower in topics started/replied. Besides, we're who you want reponses/input from anyway right?

 

[BowieReefer84]

Don't worry about the lounge posts, if anyone browses RC like I do, I would say that MOST of the "SPS keepers" just look at the SPS Keepers sub-forum which is MUCH slower in topics started/replied. Besides, we're who you want reponses/input from anyway right?

Yea, I click "get new." Guess I need to go to specific forums.... Oops.

Thanks again.

 

[kaserpick]

Also, I've been hearing that PAR #s for LEDs are way different than PAR #s for MH/T5 because of the way LEDs emit light or some stuff like that. I also heard that the PAR you're really getting to the corals is as much as 25% higher than what the meter is reading. If I could find the thread I'll post it here but its been awhile since I've seen that comment that I doubt I'd be able to.

I haven't really done much research on this topic, myself, but this was news to me. Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup:

Thanks! Did not mean to come off harsh.

No worries! I understand; it's always a little annoying when you want answers and they're coming slowly.