Lighting Upgrade With A Lux Meter SaltyFilmfolks

[saltyfilmfolks]

Its Pretty easy.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Measuring. Checking the spread and coverage. DRY!
The rug is 24x24. Tank is 20x20

Be a real sweet light for 20 or 30 long too.


Get the meters

$15 & $500 meter. Pretty close

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

New light. Maxspect 16k.

Meter it, found the average PEAK.

I'll start the acclimation at this level of intensity

So far so good.
At this height I can only get 3200k peak.
Hmm. I'll have to play with it.

Maybe my daughter can me help program it.

 

[JonPhillips]

Checking the spread and coverage

Get the meters

$15 & $500
Pretty close

Nice looking tank, man!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Def not as pretty as the MH. Spread is not a sweet either.

Ill just save it for next winter

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Def not as pretty as the MH. Spread is not a sweet either.

Ill just save it for next winter

Thanks! It here too.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-cherry-30-cube-saltyfilmfolks.248152/

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Update.
Nothing dead.

 

[Scott.h]

I wonder what the fall off would be at that distance at the sand

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I wonder what the fall off would be at that distance at the sand

If you meter it dry it's easy to find out.

And no water and glass cut light much.

 

[Scott.h]

It's definitely a strong light being that high up. Are you accounting for the spectrum giving you a lower reading then actual?

 

[salttanklife]

What are you running your settings on? I max my whites out on 50% and my blues on 75%. It still seems a little to bright for a jbj rimless 30 on those settings.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Are you accounting for the spectrum giving you a lower reading then actual?

it really doesn't have too. It's a bit of a myth or myth understanding. it measures visible light. period.

It's definitely a strong light being that high up

I should also mention I was pretty disappointed the Metal hlide had the average if 40,ooo lux over the entire tank. The LED I had two spots of 32000 lux the rest fell off to less than 5000lux...:mad::mad::mad:
fwiw the led is set at 75% to achieve 32k lux peak.

At 40k lux: 40 / 54(mh) = 727 par at the top
At 32k lux : 32 / 65(led) = 492 par

And this is also the point of using the meter. To reduce intensity(par) to safely acclimate corals to a new light source.
Even if the Conversion constant of the led is lower(ie better spectrum),32k lux @55 it is still only 581 Par.
In both cases par and intensity, there is a wide reduction for acclimation in a quantified number, and not a guess.

What are you running your settings on? I max my whites out on 50% and my blues on 75%. It still seems a little to bright for a jbj rimless 30 on those settings.

Im keeping the 16 kelvin rating on the light by running it 50/50. as I mentioned the at 75% on each Chanel. At the end of May I changed the metal halide from a radion 20k to a 14k Phoenix and several of my corals became much more vivid and on of my montis went from the rusty red brown it had been for a year to a bright seafoam green and doubled in size. you can see it in the pics. Its the big one, it was the same color as the giant Pavona on the right.
So increasing the blue ratio increases the color temp.

The light is 12in from the top, and the sand bed is 17in from the rim. By using the meter I dont have to rely on "seems like", I can make a calculation and test. I encourage you to try it. its a simply tested parameter.
I wouldnt use seems like on my alk.

 

[Scott.h]

I got tired of trying to convert and guess what's what. And this just showed up. And this is the brand new one for LEDs with a 3 month back order. I'm going to start another thread comparing since I have a waterproof lux meter. It will be interesting to see how far off I really was in guessing such things. I don't have much confidence in lux. Personally I think you'll find intensity higher then what you think when switching to LEDs.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I don't have much confidence in lux.

I do. Its the conversion constants with led that are lacking. Im fairly certain that led should be giving higher par then they are rated.esp in the radion price range.
I have observed that many of the chinese Boxes are using higher intensity(in lux graphs) to supplement poor spectrum to gain par(seen in par graphs).

The neat thing is if you read the comparisons of different par meters too, there is actually a very noticeable difference in their accuracy too.

My point to other reefers is to take the time to test this simple parameter, just like the others, just to know where you are.
Many of us know "perfect" water parameters(all zero's), will starve corals in many cases. so if Po is zero you know to add.
If you have 15k lux on a 20 in deep tank tank, then you(or when someone asks for advice here) will know to add intensity too.

Please tag me in your testing thread, Id be VERY interested in what you find out. I think you'll be totally mind blown when you start testing the B/W ratios too. As thats really why led is a trick when measuring lux and converting.
Even though I am not really Par lux and obsessive parameter seeking when it comes to reef health ,There is definitely an Apogee in my future.

 

[Scott.h]

Yeah I completely agree and understand what you are saying. And at least having a standard of measurement is the important thing. Looks like you going about it the right way. I'm interested to see the long term effect on the way the corals look on what you're doing. And I'll tag you when I get some good numbers with what I'm doing.

 

[salttanklife]

I downloaded a app for lux readings on my phone. I don't understand this lux readings very well and any help would be appreciated. This was right at the water surface 2 separate times. The lights was at 39 whites and 67 blues. I just read that for a successful reef, you'll want 90000 to 120000. Does this seem right to you? The light is 6" above the water surface and it's the Maxspect Razor r420r 27" 10k over a jbj 30.

 

[Scott.h]

You must have too many zeros. 10000 lux would be more correct and end up being a little more then 200 par. You're meaning 9000 to 12000. But it all depends and what corals you have. Some like 50 par and some want 300 plus

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I downloaded a app for lux readings on my phone. I don't understand this lux readings very well and any help would be appreciated. This was right at the water surface 2 separate times. The lights was at 39 whites and 67 blues. I just read that for a successful reef, you'll want 90000 to 120000. Does this seem right to you? The light is 6" above the water surface and it's the Maxspect Razor r420r 27" 10k over a jbj 30.

nope. on the intensity ,90 to 120 is the brightness of the sun standing on the beach. Also the apps are really not very good IME IMO (i tested 14), and you can get false readings very easily esp from LED. A cameras metering and ball or disk style meter work VERY differently. And its a phone.
you should really consider investing in the $15 one in the thread you be happier. on a tank that depth youd probably be happy around 25,000 lux to 40,000 depending on the coral types and height of the rock work.
We have the same light, and mine is 12in above the water. at both channels full I only get 40,000 in two small spots with both of the pictured meters..

 

[Scott.h]

If you want one salttanklife I'm selling an extra one..

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-lux-meter-with-waterproof-probe-milwaukee.248114/

 

[salttanklife]

this is where I read 100,000 to 120,000. I agree with not trusting a phones app but it was something to mess around with. I've got birdsnest, (it was brown when I got it from the lfs 2 weeks ago and looks to be coloring back up) hammer coral, dragon soul favia, green spongode monti, grinch montipora, Florida ricordea, hairy mushroom, and different types of zoas in the tank. My grinch is losing the brightness of the green. It's about midway of the tank but directly under one of the 3 pods that are on the light. This is my first led setup that I've had. My last 90 gallon had a current sunpod 250x2 mh with phoenix 14k.