PAR Readings for 6x54 Tek T-5 fixture vs Iwasaki 15k 175 MH Bulb

[raynist]

OK, I did some more testing with the Tek Light.

I added an ATI Sun Pro bulb in place of one of the Aquablues and here are the results taken from the same location as the previous test in the first post

Directly under lights at surface, above water

Original Test - 650; w/Sun Pro - 670; With Cleaned Sheild - 667

Directly under lights, just under water level

Original Test - 410; w/Sun Pro - 463; with cleaned sheild - 457

Halfway down tank on rocks

Original Test - 170; w/Sun Pro - 195; with cleaned sheild - 194

Bottom of tank - Barebottom

Original Test - 125; w/Sun Pro - 154; with cleaned sheild - 150

So from these results I would say a cleaned shield has little effect on the amount of light getting to the tank.

Also, the Sun Pro bulb really boosts the PAR.

I took several measurements under each bulb unshielded (1 inch under bulb) for each type of bulb in my fixture, here are the results:

UV Lighting Super Actinic - 424
D&D AquaBlue Plus - 672
D&D AquaBlue - 808
ATI Sun Pro - 885

The tank 'appears' much brighter after the addition of the Sun Pro bulb, but I also cleaned the shield.

---Ray

 

[old salty]

Raynist,

Thanks a whole bunch for redoing the test with the clean shield. I just cleaned mine today, and will go ahead and leave it on.

Could you clarify one thing in the statement above. D&D Aquablue Plus vs. D&D Aquablue. I'm pretty sure I use the AB+ bulbs. Do you mean Actinic Plus for the 672 par??

 

[raynist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8126089#post8126089 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by old salty
Raynist,

Thanks a whole bunch for redoing the test with the clean shield. I just cleaned mine today, and will go ahead and leave it on.

Could you clarify one thing in the statement above. D&D Aquablue Plus vs. D&D Aquablue. I'm pretty sure I use the AB+ bulbs. Do you mean Actinic Plus for the 672 par??

Sorry about that, I always name them wrong.
Here are the correct names and par values

UV Lighting Super Actinic - 424
D&D Actinic Plus - 672
D&D AquaBlue - 808
ATI Sun Pro - 885

The ATI bulb and the UV SA are basically new the other bulbs are about 6 months old.

---Ray

 

[raynist]

New test

New test

Here are the results of multiple spots around the tank for the MH and T-5. I noticed that all results are a bit higher than the other day. I think the way I was holding the sensor underwater may have been blocking some of the light.

The T-5's where unshielded.

The MH bulb was not mounted ideally. I used the stand I built for it on the 30g cube and it sits forward a couple of inches from dead center front to back. Side to side it is fine.

The T-5 lights as expected are very consistent in its par values whereas the MH is super intense in the middle and less so on the edges. Keep in mind that I only used one MH bulb and with a second, I would expect some of the values to the far right side to be increased since there would be spillage from the other bulb. The T-5 bulbs light the tank all the way across whereas only one side is lit with the MH.

--Ray

Here are the results: MH numbers on Top, T-5 on bottom

 

[Zoom]

raynist

raynist

Nice job, It was no doubt in my mine about the MH PAR number to be double of the T5 any way, but i never test it thank you for all the work you done.