PAR Testing/Apogee SQ-520 Help

[Reefers4U]

Through the power of this great community I am in possession of an Apogee SQ-520; great piece of gear.

My goal is to get a reading of my tank's lighting cycle in PAR to prep for Acros and Clams but I don't know how to use the PAR meter or interpret the results.

My lights are RapidLED Neutral Whites and Royal Blues which are Cree I believe. Each color is on a separate channel. It was part of a DIY kit made for my tank size.

I have a sunrise/sunset effect set up right now which gradually increase the intensity starting and ending with the royal blues.

Right now I've calibrated the meter to take a reading every three minutes and I intend to gather the data from sunrise to sunset.

Am I doing this right guys and gals?

Please see the attached picture. Is this the correct app? Is the reading in "PARS"?

BIG THANK YOU in advance for your thoughts.

 

[oreo57]

Yes that is "PAR" a term used quite incorrectly.. but oh well..

Correct would be a PPFD of 52.8

PPFD is photosynthetic photon flux density. PPFD measures the amount of PAR that actually arrives at the plant, or as a scientist might say: “the number of photosynthetically active photons that fall on a given surface each second”. PPFD is a ‘spot’ measurement of a specific location on your plant canopy, and it is measured in micromoles per square meter per second (μmol/m2/s).

https://fluence.science/science/par-ppf-ppfd-dli/

 

[Reefers4U]

Yes that is "PAR" a term used quite incorrectly.. but oh well..

Correct would be a PPFD of 52.8


https://fluence.science/science/par-ppf-ppfd-dli/

Thanks for the info Oreo57. What would you suggest the right PPFD range is for clams, acros, and LPS or perhaps you know of a similar article related to corals?

Thanks again - elucidating and efficacious info!