Free PAR meter? Photone App.

[fulltang]

I just downloaded the app. Then this appeared.

Hi, any updates on your comparison?

 

[tbrown]

Really interesting!
Would like to ask are there who would like to get a free Noopsyche K7 V3 for use te test this app for measuring par value?
If you would like to do, please reply me here with a picture and info of your tank.
The only requirement is Post the measurement process and result here, with pictures or videos of the measurement process. Cordially invited!
Thank you!

I'd be interested! Im curious how a plastic bag would affect the readings on the app.

You know my current tank. Hopefully the 125 is coming soon!

 

[burban94]

I'd be interested! Im curious how a plastic bag would affect the readings on the app.

You know my current tank. Hopefully the 125 is coming soon!

If I'm thinking about this right, you would take two initial par readings. One without the bag and one with. Your differences, converted to percentages, would be applied to all of your readings. Ex: 300 par (1st reading) and 227 par (2nd reading) equals a 76% drop due to the bag. Someone help me out if I'm thinking about this wrong.

 

[tbrown]

If I'm thinking about this right, you would take two initial par readings. One without the bag and one with. Your differences, converted to percentages, would be applied to all of your readings. Ex: 300 par (1st reading) and 227 par (2nd reading) equals a 76% drop due to the bag. Someone help me out if I'm thinking about this wrong.

You have to do it at different levels under water in order to find out if it's an exponential drop or a linear drop. Also, I'm curious if the fact that my sandwich bags are green and pink tinted would help with the par readings.

 

[OscarHaglund]

If I'm thinking about this right, you would take two initial par readings. One without the bag and one with. Your differences, converted to percentages, would be applied to all of your readings. Ex: 300 par (1st reading) and 227 par (2nd reading) equals a 76% drop due to the bag. Someone help me out if I'm thinking about this wrong.

When I tested it with a bag for putting your phone when snorkling (pretty thick and rugges) the difference was minimal. Just a few percent.

 

[Koh23]

I tried without any calibration, and difference was huge....

Basicaly, anywhere in water, it reads around 60par, few mm below surface, or at 60cm depth, reads the same.....

So, calibration is needed, no point to guess when all it takes is few minutes to calibrate...

 

[billyocean]

If I'm thinking about this right, you would take two initial par readings. One without the bag and one with. Your differences, converted to percentages, would be applied to all of your readings. Ex: 300 par (1st reading) and 227 par (2nd reading) equals a 76% drop due to the bag. Someone help me out if I'm thinking about this wrong.

That would be a 24-25% drop

 

[burban94]

That would be a 24-25% drop

I see I skipped a step, gotta love the graveyard shift.

 

[OscarHaglund]

I tried without any calibration, and difference was huge....

Basicaly, anywhere in water, it reads around 60par, few mm below surface, or at 60cm depth, reads the same.....

So, calibration is needed, no point to guess when all it takes is few minutes to calibrate...

Strange this was not my experience.

 

[Koh23]

Probably has to do something with bag type, not all materials are same.....

 

[tbrown]

When I tested it with a bag for putting your phone when snorkling (pretty thick and rugges) the difference was minimal. Just a few percent.

I have some kayaking for cell phones. I bet that would work. Didn't even think about those.

 

[Danroo]

I’ve acquired a par meter for a day can someone tell me if the app can be calibrated for it.

 

[Reefer Dan]

Bump. Anyone validate the app vs apogee? I noticed on the apps website they only tested it down to 0.25m or 9.8 inches to plot deviation from the apogee.

 

[Koh23]

I had serious intention to test everyrhing, beside comparing to real par meter which i dont have, but.....

Kinda give up, i crank my lights up all the way, corals exploded in matter of days..... Majority of them are far above recommended sugestion of par, but they love it...

After abandoning "50-150" par "rule" for soft and lps and gave them 2-3 times more par, everyrhing went crazy with growth, finger leather coral sits few cm below water line, at highest point in tank, getting above 300 par, and newer looked better.....

Side effect is glass cleaning....

 

[Reefer Dan]

Ok I found a par meter to rent for a reasonable price and figured I would help people out by sharing my comparison. Not too far off at all. Tank is a Red Sea reefer 350, three 360x kessils. These readings were not taken with the T5 on.
Things to note:

• I didn’t turn pumps off so I was averaging the moving numbers (in my head)
• Some places were harder to reach (G) thus no phone reading
• It is much harder to keep the phone level than the apogee on a stick, so that may account for some error

�

	Apogee mq-510	Photone app (blue led setting on iPhone 11)
A	105	105
B	130	125
C	130	145
D	130	150
E	125	90
F	130	150
G	130
H	170	200
I	185	200
J	170	200
K	130	125
L	140	120
M	150	130
N	155	135
O	100	85
P	155	170
Q	120	145
R	145	180
S	165	200
T	160	200
U	150	150
V	130	130
W	105	130
X	130	160
Y	130	100
Z	55	70

 

[Koh23]

Thanx, these differences can be due to fact that holding phone underneath water and read numbers are much complicated than real par meter sensor,or simply not hitting the same exact spot and angle with both, so, i guess we can safely assume that this app is very very accurate in readings.

 

[tbrown]

Thanx, these differences can be due to fact that holding phone underneath water and read numbers are much complicated than real par meter sensor,or simply not hitting the same exact spot and angle with both, so, i guess we can safely assume that this app is very very accurate in readings.

There are a couple of significant differences in some of the spots he mentioned - some reading significantly higher on the app, some significantly lower. The fluctuations are quite extreme if the apogee was properly calibrated.

 

[Koh23]

Agree, could be many reasons, first that comes to my mind is simply angle and location....

Measuring with phone, every measure reads different in my case, few mm left or right, angle, even water flow from pump can result in different reading on same spot.

Personally, i would rather trust real par meter, but 20-30 par is not enormous difference, and for something that's free and can be used by anyone with phone, estimating is probably good enough for most users...

 

[ukgeoff]

I’ve been using the Photone app for about a month now and found it useful to see the different lighting intensity in my tank. To my eyes there doesn’t seem much of a difference in the lighting between different areas of my tank but the app clearly shows the brighter/darker spots. Quite often the readings are completely different to what I assumed was a bright/dark spot and it’s very interesting to see.

Also, as the app is so portable, it’s enabled me to check the light levels at my LFS (who use a proper light meter) and I then set up my light to match their PAR readings. This means even if the app isn’t accurate, I can easily set my tank to the same PAR settings as the LFS.

 

[miltonkl]

Really interesting!
Would like to ask are there who would like to get a free Noopsyche K7 V3 for use te test this app for measuring par value?
If you would like to do, please reply me here with a picture and info of your tank.
The only requirement is Post the measurement process and result here, with pictures or videos of the measurement process. Cordially invited!
Thank you!

I don't see any follow up, so I don't know if you ever gave this out or are still looking to but just found this thread while looking up this app. I don't have a PAR meter to compare with but would be happy to measure with the app and post results for my tank. I've got a 40 cube tank, approximately 21x21x21, less whatever portion the return chambers take out of the display (3.5 inches or so).