Par meter results

[bshumake]

First off, the details:
90G tank (24" deep) lit by an Icecap T5 4 bulb 48" fixture powered by a 660 ballast. 54W per bulb is 216W total.
I took measurements at roughly every 2" and averaged the readings. They are as follows: 2"=87, 4"=98, 6"=93, 8"=93, 10"=98, 12"=101, 14"=113, 16"=126, 18"=138. I then took spme point measurements at or near some of the corals I have and got a rough average for their positions in the tank. Bottom = 81, 1st tier of rock (about 2" off bottom)= 92, mid tank (2nd tier of rock)= 87, top tank (3rd tier of rock)= 86.
I'm guessing I did this right. I turned on the par meter and moved it from place to place and let it stabilize for a moment before reading.
I have some stony coral (monti spongoides) at the 1st tier of rock and the 3rd tier of rock that is alive and growing, so i'm a bit confused on the readings. Other corals that are alive are neon green candycane, some zoanthids (although not fully opening) and another stony I can't identify. Correct me if i'm wrong here but isn't my par far to low to keep coral alive? I thought it was supposed to be inbetween 200 and 400. Any ideas? Should I try taking my measurements differently? Positioning the probe, then turning it on?
Thanks,
B

 

[OneReef]

Sounds like you measured right. PAR seems pretty low depending on what you want to keep. Zoas and some LPS may do okay at those levels, but I wouldn't expect SPS to thrive. Are your bulbs and reflectors clean of salt creep/splash? How old are your bulbs? That could be a factor

 

[bshumake]

Bulbs and reflectors are clean. Bulbs are less than 6 months old. Some of my zoas are open. Some aren't.

 

[Rudolph]

Barrett: This table did not paste very well, but I think you can figure it out (number x 100). The chart on the bottom is the legend for the 1-10 scale. IF I recall, since your tank is so tall most of your corals are in the middle to lower part of the tank so they are getting 100 par of less.

Table 1: Sprung's Lighting Charts Coral Lighting Range Coral Lighting Range
Stylophora 4-10 Briareum 3-10
Pocillopora 4-10 Pachyclavularia 3-9
Acropora 4-10 Alcyonium 2-9
Montipora 3-8 Sarcophyton 3-10
Fungia 3-10 Nephthea 4-10
Euphyllia 3-8

Table 3: Blundell's Lighting Scale
1-10 scale
Low Light 0-4 0-400
Medium Light 5-6 500-600
High Light 7-8 700-800
Very High Light 9-10 900-1000

Most corals just have a low to high lighting requirements, so the above chart provides a general guide.

 

[bshumake]

My light bulbs are a mix of spectrums. I wonder if changing all my bulbs to daylight bulbs would change that?

 

[Rudolph]

each bulb has a different par so it can definately help....there is a guy on RC that is the T5 "expert"...grimreaper or something like that...he posts the bulbs with the best PAR ratings. I will find it and put in a link.

Even so, I am guessing that you would need more than 4 bulbs in that tall tank if you want to have SPS. Additionally, I don't think you don't have enough rock work that will get you close enough to the top of your tank to put them high enough. Is my memory correct in that your rocks stop around midway, or am I off? That puts you 12" away plus the height of the lights off the top in your canapy.

 

[Rudolph]

T5 bulbs and PAR ratings:

These measurements were made by The Grim Reefer using his Tek fixture and 54 Watt bulbs.
Aquascience
Special 15K 320*
DUO 15K 334*
22000K Blue 302*

AquaZ
Sun Pro 285
Ocean Pro 323
Blue Pro 266

ATI
Sun Pro 357
Aquablue 336
Blue Plus 311
Actinic 137
(Old Style)
Pro Color 215 vs 300 for a UVL Aquasun in a later test

Current Sun Paq
Daylight 10K 272
Blue 252

D&D/Giesemann
Midday 325
Aquablue 324
Actinic Plus 264
Pure Actinic 157

General Electric
GE Daylight 340
GE3000 319*

Helios
Daylight 309
Super Blue 225

KZ
Coral Light 342*
Fiji Purple 330*

UVL
Aqua sun 345
Actinic White 293
Super Actinic 210

 

[OneReef]

Ballast, reflectors, and bulb brand can have an impact on your PAR

 

[OneReef]

Sounds like you need more bulbs, maybe a 6 or 8 bulb fixture. 4 does seem low for a 90 g.

 

[bshumake]

I'm wondering what an LED system would run me at this point. I got enough miscellaneous stuff I could sell that it may be affordable.

 

[Blindside]

went from 4 bulb t-5 to 2 kessil 150 leds on my 48"frag tank. My results so far....I hate I wasted the money on the t-5 fixtures the leds are blowing them away! I paid $238 per unit for the led. $186 each for the t-5 fixtures and then bulbs, I am really digging the no heat and less energy of the led.

 

[Rudolph]

...seems there are also a lot of reefers that are unhappy with their LED's. Not sure why some love it and others hate them and go back to T5 or MH. I hear many locals and see others on the main board that have not had success with them. Probably need more time to determine why so many feel like they hit a home run like Blindside above and others that are have no color and are burning their corals.


Link below was on those with LED's over 12 months....almost half were unhappy.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=9128

 

[OneReef]

Rudolph is right. There are a lot of people spilt on the LED debate. I personally think a lot of people that are unhappy with them changed over from T5 or MH that had a stable tank, and added LEDs and got light shock. It's hard to figure out what setting to put them on, if it's too much, or too little. I personally love them, but I started with them and all my coral have been under them from the start. But I have frags that came out of tanks with MH or T5 and they are doing fine. all my SPS are colorful and growing. But there are threads of folks who can't get good color or growth. It seems to be a mixed bag and there are probably a myriad of factors in success or not. I'd try it, you can beat the heat savings in your water temp. Less evap too. I'd give it a go, you can always go back To your T5 if it doesn't work out. I've never bleached anything in my tank, and I'm up to 80-85% intensity at the peak of the day.

 

[nam2212]

I am one that has not been completely happy with my LEDs. I had them retrofitted into my Red Sea Max hood and they were great for a while. I bought a bunch of frags online and set them all in the sand to adjust to the light. They did fantastic for a month and then I moved them all over and glued them to the rocks. A week later and every chalice was dead. 5 out of 7 acans were dead. 3 favias were gone. All just bleached and melted away in a week or 2. I tried moving them but it made no difference. I thought for sure it was the LEDs burning them but when I got the PAR meter and checked the results I have no idea what to think. The PAR values ranged from about 580 at the highest point of my rockwork to 83 at the sandbed. I bet the average was close to 200 taking into account where the corals are located. THe healthiest corals are all located on the sandbed. I have read that 83 is pathetically low and I should only be able to keep mushrooms at that low level but lots of LPS are doing great there. I am not sure what to say about them. Things seemed to have settled down a lot and I haven't lost anymore coral. I won't say that I am totally happy with them. Especially for what they cost me.

 

[Blindside]

I think brands and the such make a difference. Mine are plug and play I cannot adjust their color spectrum, nor do I even begin to think I know what color spectrum corals need besides blue and white. I did make some adjustments to the height from the water. I will also say that these are on my frag system only. My display ligjhts are MH I have too many corals/time involved in that one to experiment just yet. Still a rather new Aquarium innovation time will tell?

 

[bshumake]

Well, I won't be able to get LED's until I sell off some of my spare equipment laying around the garage. It wont pay for them outright, but it will help for a nice downpayment on some LED's. I briefly talked to Richard about my PAR readings and how i don't understand how I can have a colony of M. sponoides growing at the bottom of my tank and another growing at the middle of my tank, especially when my PAR is so low. He said there are a lot of things to consider and that he's seen stuff thriving in places it shouldn't. Well, until the meeting i'm going to keep my lights as they are. I did stop in and change out my RODI filter cartridges and get some more DI resin. I didn't bring in my DI cartridge to be refilled (my bad) but they filled a small specimen bag with resin and when I got home an filled my canister it was the perfect amount. Good call guys.
My TDS before filter change was 25. Now its back to 0. I'm going to do a major water change and watch things for a while. Hopefully things will start opening up again.
Jay, i'm done with the PAR meter. Please come get it or let me know where to trade it off with you. Otherwise I'm going to pass it off to the next club member in line.

Walking Dead is back tonight! Yeah! Gonna get my Zombie on! RIP Sophia.