buruskeee
Well-Known Member
Hey guys, I finally got my hands on a PAR meter. I wanted to share my data with everyone. I was playing it by ear with my lighting setup, I had zero idea these things were cranking out the amount of PAR they were. When I get my additional XR30 setup on Tuesday, I will update this post. These are all Gen 5. It's Pros for the XR15s and the XR30s are Blues, so when I run "full blues" the XR15s are cranked to 100% (before overall point intensity is set), but XR30 I have at 80% as "full" to get a better spectrum blend and close to flawless match on color across the tank.
I didn't feel like playing with schedules and having everything at peak spectrum and intensity, so this is based on my schedule that I originally setup (that I will now dial back since it's way too much).
Schedule setting tested - my peak custom schedule I created which had the middle XR30 running at about 70% overall intensity and the XR15s on the outside at 80% overall intensity. My schedule ramps up with "full blues" and whites about 50%, and then a 3 hour peak exposure of full spectrum "full blues" with whites and other colors at 100% too. So maybe add another 10-15% to these numbers at everything completely maxed out.
My internal tank dimensions are 58"L x 24"W x 23"H and water line sits an inch below the rim, which at 21" above sand which is about 1" deep.
From edge to the 2 outside XR15s' fixture edge is 9", and spacing between the edge of 2 of either fixtures is 8". So left internal edge - 9" gap - XR15 - 8" gap - XR30 - 8" gap - XR15 - 9" gap - right internal edge. The lights sit on RMS mounts and are 8.5" above the surface of the water.
All measurements are taken with powerheads on and return pump on with an Apogee PAR meter.
At just a hair below the surface between the 2 fixtures, my PAR is 700
Overall view to give an idea of how the lights are spaced:
Overall PAR grid (some numbers I couldn't get because of the rockwork):
And an idea of what placement of corals would get:
Once I get the the other XR30, I'll redo the test with the same schedule. For now, I've dialed back my schedule already to get the top of the rocks to about 350 PAR max and the middle between 200-250 and the sand no more than 100-150.
Hope this helps someone considering mixing XR15s and XR30s.
I didn't feel like playing with schedules and having everything at peak spectrum and intensity, so this is based on my schedule that I originally setup (that I will now dial back since it's way too much).
Schedule setting tested - my peak custom schedule I created which had the middle XR30 running at about 70% overall intensity and the XR15s on the outside at 80% overall intensity. My schedule ramps up with "full blues" and whites about 50%, and then a 3 hour peak exposure of full spectrum "full blues" with whites and other colors at 100% too. So maybe add another 10-15% to these numbers at everything completely maxed out.
My internal tank dimensions are 58"L x 24"W x 23"H and water line sits an inch below the rim, which at 21" above sand which is about 1" deep.
From edge to the 2 outside XR15s' fixture edge is 9", and spacing between the edge of 2 of either fixtures is 8". So left internal edge - 9" gap - XR15 - 8" gap - XR30 - 8" gap - XR15 - 9" gap - right internal edge. The lights sit on RMS mounts and are 8.5" above the surface of the water.
All measurements are taken with powerheads on and return pump on with an Apogee PAR meter.
At just a hair below the surface between the 2 fixtures, my PAR is 700
Overall view to give an idea of how the lights are spaced:
Overall PAR grid (some numbers I couldn't get because of the rockwork):
And an idea of what placement of corals would get:
Once I get the the other XR30, I'll redo the test with the same schedule. For now, I've dialed back my schedule already to get the top of the rocks to about 350 PAR max and the middle between 200-250 and the sand no more than 100-150.
Hope this helps someone considering mixing XR15s and XR30s.
