PAR meter

[CrayolaViolence]

Is there a reef club or individual who has a PAR meter and would be willing to let me borrow it to get some light output readings on my Kessil lights? I have no success with Kessil's customer support and have give up on their willingness to actually let me communicate with someone directly who knows about the lights rather than having a secretary relay (and poorly) emails that she only partially reads or doesn't read at all and continues to send me canned responses.
I am trying to figure out the light readings set at different percentages so I know the best placement for some of my corals and might be able to figure out why some are not responding as well as others which (watching them) appears to be a light exposure issue. It's just I'm not sure where in the tank to position them for better results without knowing what the lights are putting out in those areas.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[toothybugs]

Is there a reef club or individual who has a PAR meter and would be willing to let me borrow it to get some light output readings on my Kessil lights? I have no success with Kessil's customer support and have give up on their willingness to actually let me communicate with someone directly who knows about the lights rather than having a secretary relay (and poorly) emails that she only partially reads or doesn't read at all and continues to send me canned responses.
I am trying to figure out the light readings set at different percentages so I know the best placement for some of my corals and might be able to figure out why some are not responding as well as others which (watching them) appears to be a light exposure issue. It's just I'm not sure where in the tank to position them for better results without knowing what the lights are putting out in those areas.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Where ya at? It might be a good idea to post this in a local forum. If you're within a couple hours of me, you can use mine, but things like this tend to disappear when shipped out. Local might be best.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

Darn it, sorry, I totally forgot to post the most important part there didn't I? I'm in Winston Salem NC

 

[CrayolaViolence]

And yeah, I wouldn't want to responsible for shipping etc. I would really like someone within reasonable driving distance who's either willing to let me borrow it and bring it back or even come with me to my house to use it.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I hope somebody local steps up to help you. Good luck.

I live in SW Florida and I loan mine out all the time. I simply charge a small frag if you borrow it or a 'quality' frag if I drive it to the user and do the reading. I'd rive mine up to you, but at that distance, you probably don't have enough corals to pay for the trip.:beer:

 

[bmackcw]

Google "rent PAR meter." There are places that send it to you and charge your card $300. They refund $275 if you return it within a week, less if you keep it longer.

 

[mfaso24]

Google "rent PAR meter." There are places that send it to you and charge your card $300. They refund $275 if you return it within a week, less if you keep it longer.

Yes, I did this exact same thing and rented for 25/week from I think the company name was reef LED lights? That being said, I use Kessil lights also (ap700) and would have wished to save my money. The numbers are so low it's not even helpful really. Everything I've heard is that Kessils read low on a par meter for whatever reason and based on my personal results I'd have to agree with this assessment.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

This is though, high par is not always better. There aren't many corals out there that need more than 200, most are happy in the 75-50 range.

 

[bmackcw]

I went to my lfs store today and they lent me one for five bucks/two days (!). I found out my SPS are sitting under 600+ par. And the very bottom is about 100. Less than I thought. Was a great five buck investment for decision making.

 

[Ron Reefman]

This is though, high par is not always better. There aren't many corals out there that need more than 200, most are happy in the 75-50 range.

Not sure I'd agree that MOST corals are "happy" with PAR of 50 to 75. Maybe most soft corals like zoas and leathers. Maybe some LPS are OK at that level, but I wouldn't say they are happy. And most SPS corals want 100 or more IMHO.