Because I can't link to the forum... here is Sanjay's explanation from manhattanreefs.
"What is PPFD?
PPFD stands for Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density, and is the technically correct term when PAR (Photosynthetically Available Radiation) is measured as the number of photons of light falling on a given area in a given amount of time.. The units are micromoles per meter square per second. 1 micro mole is = 6.023X1017. So for example, when you see a value for PPFD=200 it means that there are 200X6.023X1017 photons falling on a 1 meter square area in one second.
What is difference between PAR and PPFD?
PAR is the Photsynthetically Available Radiation which is all radiation between 400-700 nm wavelength range. It can be measured in several units. Just like distance can be measured in feet, meters, etc. PAR can be measured in different units used to measure radiation. When PAR is measured by the number of photons falling on a given area in a given amount of time, this is called PPFD and the units used are micromoles per meter square per second."