$170 par meter - Vabira VBR200

[Ilya_Tihomirov]

still waiting,amazon shipment delay.

Did you manage to compare?

 

[Jcampise51]

I just Recenty Purchased the Vabira Aqua Par Meter (Black Controller) for my reef tank. I have a 112g Display Red Sea Reefer 525 XL with x2 Radion XR15 G6 over it. Both lights are at 50% overall intensity. All corals seem happy. When I tested out the PAR meter about 10 inches under the waterline I was getting 70 PAR and in the sand bed, 28 inches down, I was getting about 35-40 PAR. Not sure if I’m reading the meter wrong or what but it seems inaccurate. Maybe you have to double or triple the reading once read, not sure, but I would assume a Radion would put out atleast double those readings at 50% intensity, with all my corals open and happy. I’m going to go to my local fish store and try and get a reading in their tank if they let me. Just seems like it doesn’t read blue light PAR very well. Let me know if anyone has the same experiences.

 

[oreo54]

I just Recenty Purchased the Vabira Aqua Par Meter (Black Controller) for my reef tank. I have a 112g Display Red Sea Reefer 525 XL with x2 Radion XR15 G6 over it. Both lights are at 50% overall intensity. All corals seem happy. When I tested out the PAR meter about 10 inches under the waterline I was getting 70 PAR and in the sand bed, 28 inches down, I was getting about 35-40 PAR. Not sure if I’m reading the meter wrong or what but it seems inaccurate. Maybe you have to double or triple the reading once read, not sure, but I would assume a Radion would put out atleast double those readings at 50% intensity, with all my corals open and happy. I’m going to go to my local fish store and try and get a reading in their tank if they let me. Just seems like it doesn’t read blue light PAR very well. Let me know if anyone has the same experiences.

G6 is more " t5 like"...Par readings may not be that unusual.
Second place to look is mounting height.

 

[Jcampise51]

G6 is more " t5 like"...Par readings may not be that unusual.
Second place to look is mounting height.

Lights are currently 8.5” off the water line.

 

[oreo54]

Lights are currently 8.5” off the water line.

Yea you can go through this a bit for my "napkin" calculations.
Depending on your tank measurements I really don't see the BRS 9" or your 8.5" to be optimal.
But ????
One thing to note:

Radion G6 increases output from an impressive 110.5 degrees in the G5 to a staggering 126.3 degrees.

A single diode that 9" off the water and 126 degrees throws a cone of light that is 35" in diameter. You may see the issue here.

Depending on the light an 1" or 2 can be "helpful"

Par reading XR15G6 g6

Just shows the imortance of choosing the right version of the light - Running a pro at 100% intensity is never going to get you 100% of the par you thought because nobody will run white, red and green channels at 100% - AB+ does not run those channels at 100% - The blue was desinged to aid AB+...

www.reef2reef.com

Roughly 60x24 by 22 deep
2 XR15 g6's is probably stretching the coverage a bit.
But you have room to drop it..
Depends on goals.

How many LED modules? Selecting and spacing reef tank LED lighting options - Reef FAQs

LED manufacturers do not make clear recommendations for how many LED fixtures you need and how to space them over your tank. The reason is because when it comes to reef tank lighting, every tank is different and the recommendations they make are based on one very specific generic type of tank.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Brianbo]

I just Recenty Purchased the Vabira Aqua Par Meter (Black Controller) for my reef tank. I have a 112g Display Red Sea Reefer 525 XL with x2 Radion XR15 G6 over it. Both lights are at 50% overall intensity. All corals seem happy. When I tested out the PAR meter about 10 inches under the waterline I was getting 70 PAR and in the sand bed, 28 inches down, I was getting about 35-40 PAR. Not sure if I’m reading the meter wrong or what but it seems inaccurate. Maybe you have to double or triple the reading once read, not sure, but I would assume a Radion would put out atleast double those readings at 50% intensity, with all my corals open and happy. I’m going to go to my local fish store and try and get a reading in their tank if they let me. Just seems like it doesn’t read blue light PAR very well. Let me know if anyone has the same experiences.

Ya I just received the same par meter and I compared then with par readings I had done by my LFS, and the Vabira was off by almost 70-80. Where the Vabira is reading 190 200, the apogee was reading 270, so Idk which is right, Im not 100% sure the guy from the store new how to do it

 

[flatlander93]

Is there a known standard we can use like par output for a standard 100w light bulb at a standard distance so we can get some accuracy. I’m thinking about sending mine back. Not liking the discrepancies.

 

[Reef Puncher]

Is there a known standard we can use like par output for a standard 100w light bulb at a standard distance so we can get some accuracy. I’m thinking about sending mine back. Not liking the discrepancies.

try the photone app. i use it along side my par meter to get a better idea of if its accurate or not. the app is suprisingly accurate. you just download the free app, pay $7, for the blue/white LED spectrum analyzer, grab any piece of plain white printer paper, just regular paper, tape it over your front facing camera (the app requires this as a make shift diffuser) and bam good to go. if you dont want your phone in saltwater, you can just put it in a clear ziplock bag. i paid $8 and bought a waterproof iphone bag meant for people to take pics in swimming pools or whatever.
But for $7 for the app, thats hard to beat price wise for a accurate par reader.... There is a great article of comparing this reader to a MQ-510 and how its only like 2-3 par off from the expensive meter.