Okay now Im in disbelief of my eyes...

[Sagecritter4life]

Saved up for months to by a MQ510 Par meter and scared myself bad bit ago when checked PAR in my QT tank....Any Guesses?

Set up in February on 20 gal long with Coralife affordable 30" T5 lighting (2 Actinic HO bulbs)

Corals....Zoas/Hammer/Duncan/Frogspawn/Acan/Mushroom/Candy Cane all look good

Okay now then for the suspense reads a whopping 35 on bottom where corals are 15" under light !

Was in disbelief then compared it to my display tank (Hydra AI26 lighting) where have been unsuccessfully trying to get corals happy and it reads 175-200 on sandbed....Is PAR really PAR...between LED and T5 and if so is this part of why having issues with transfering them to DT.

Tanks looked to the eye not much different in color spectrum so mind is blown.

 

[Mr. Bill]

OEM bulbs (i.e. Coralife) are cheaply made and have the lowest PAR on the market for T5HO. For high PAR, you need a 30" fixture that takes 24" bulbs so you can trade them out for ATI or Geismann.

Yes, PAR is PAR regardless of the light source, so that would definitely cause some acclimation issues.

BTW, are you sure the fixture is T5HO? Coralife does make a cheaper T5SO unit that takes 30" bulbs; their 30" T5HO bulbs will fit, but will only produce the same light and PAR as the SO lamps. I ask because 35 seems terribly low, even for cheap OEM T5HO bulbs.

 

[Sagecritter4life]

OEM bulbs (i.e. Coralife) are cheaply made and have the lowest PAR on the market for T5HO. For high PAR, you need a 30" fixture that takes 24" bulbs so you can trade them out for ATI or Geismann.

Yes, PAR is PAR regardless of the light source, so that would definitely cause some acclimation issues.

BTW, are you sure the fixture is T5HO? Coralife does make a cheaper T5SO unit that takes 30" bulbs; their 30" T5HO bulbs will fit, but will only produce the same light and PAR as the SO lamps. I ask because 35 seems terribly low, even for cheap OEM T5HO bulbs.

Well that's good question I bought the fixture but was a little too white with the supplied bulbs so bought HO actinic bulbs to put in it but not sure about the fixture itself....hmmm

 

[Mr. Bill]

Can you post a pic of the fixture?

 

[Sagecritter4life]

Can you post a pic of the fixture?

 

[Sagecritter4life]

Can you post a pic of the fixture?

 

[Mr. Bill]

That's definitely an HO unit. Shame it takes 30" bulbs; nobody makes performance reef bulbs in 30". Replace one of the actinic bulbs with an original white (probably 10,000k) and check the PAR again. AFAIK, whatever it is will be the best you can get from that unit, unfortunately...

 

[Deniss]

Transferring them from 35 par to 200 par is quite a difference, prob the reason why you re having difficulties to get them acclimated to the display tank.

 

[Water Dog]

What size bulbs go into your 30" fixture? I agree, get rid of the actinics for one of their higher par bulbs. Actinics are more for our eyes and don't produce much in terms of par. If it uses 24 watt bulbs, grab a couple of ATI Blue Plus bulbs. Also, don't discount the importance of individual parabolic reflectors on the higher end fixtures. My guess is your Coralife fixture does not have individual reflectors for each bulb.

 

[madweazl]

What size bulbs go into your 30" fixture? I agree, get rid of the actinics for one of their higher par bulbs. Actinics are more for our eyes and don't produce much in terms of par. If it uses 24 watt bulbs, grab a couple of ATI Blue Plus bulbs. Also, don't discount the importance of individual parabolic reflectors on the higher end fixtures. My guess is your Coralife fixture does not have individual reflectors for each bulb.

Actinics have a 420nm peak which is exactly where you want the light (has nothing to do with being for our eyes). The ATI Blue+ has peaks at 420nm and 460nm. Additionally, it produces the same PAR as any other light in the usable spectrum (e.g. vs a "white" light). As previously mentioned by a member, the limiting factor here is the 30" length.

 

[Water Dog]

Actinics have a 420nm peak which is exactly where you want the light (has nothing to do with being for our eyes). The ATI Blue+ has peaks at 420nm and 460nm. Additionally, it produces the same PAR as any other light in the usable spectrum (e.g. vs a "white" light). As previously mentioned by a member, the limiting factor here is the 30" length.

From my experience, running a 6 bulb TEK fixture over LPS tank many years ago, when I needed to cut down on par, I replaced a couple AB specials with a couple of actinics and voila! My par was reduced. I don't question the peak wavelengths that the actinics provide (which happen to provide a lot of pop for our eves), I just know that the actinic bulb is a lower par bulb than other alternatives available, which for the OP, matters... especially since he's running a 2 bulb fixture.

 

[DracoKat]

I am not certain of the PAR, but I have a Coralife fixutre- 48" 4 bulb. everything looks great in my tank, Nems and SPS too, especially the clam.

For someone on the budget or starting out, I'd say the fixture is perfect, given you use the ATI bulbs or higher quality bulbs.

The only downside I have is the legs keep breaking (I have to move it out of the way to get my hands in the tank and eventually broke the legs. At least we can buy replacements)

 

[madweazl]

From my experience, running a 6 bulb TEK fixture over LPS tank many years ago, when I needed to cut down on par, I replaced a couple AB specials with a couple of actinics and voila! My par was reduced. I don't question the peak wavelengths that the actinics provide (which happen to provide a lot of pop for our eves), I just know that the actinic bulb is a lower par bulb than other alternatives available, which for the OP, matters.

You may have noticed a reaction but your PAR values didn't go down (provided you used a sensor capable of measuring 420nm well).

 

[Water Dog]

You may have noticed a reaction but your PAR values didn't go down (provided you used a sensor capable of measuring 420nm well).

I'm a bit confused then. When BRS tested T5s vs other light sources like MH, they specifically used all AB special bulbs and noted that as far as bulbs go for their testing purposes, they provided the highest intensity and par...

 

[Mr. Bill]

I am not certain of the PAR, but I have a Coralife fixutre- 48" 4 bulb. everything looks great in my tank, Nems and SPS too, especially the clam.

For someone on the budget or starting out, I'd say the fixture is perfect, given you use the ATI bulbs or higher quality bulbs.

The only downside I have is the legs keep breaking (I have to move it out of the way to get my hands in the tank and eventually broke the legs. At least we can buy replacements)

That brings us back to original problem- nobody makes 30" high-end bulbs. Had the unit been designed to accept 24" bulbs, then that would be possible. And as another member mentioned, the cheaper Coralife fixtures lack individual reflectors, which also impacts PAR and intensity.

 

[madweazl]

I'm not familiar with that test (video?) but this is an article by Dana Riddle that has some good info.

 

[Sagecritter4life]

All the corals look great and just shocked me when the par reading came in so low and generally lower than anyone is recommending for the corals in there (hammer/frogspawns/zoas and acans are stunning and growing quickly) and definitely proof that my eyes are horrible at determining par value! My Hydra 26's turned down to 64% blue and 15% white for instance is 100-110 par on sand bed of e260.

 

[DracoKat]

That brings us back to original problem- nobody makes 30" high-end bulbs. Had the unit been designed to accept 24" bulbs, then that would be possible. And as another member mentioned, the cheaper Coralife fixtures lack individual reflectors, which also impacts PAR and intensity.

I don't understand? I use ATI Bulbs, and that's high-end? The Coralife fixture takes 48" bulbs, not 30"?

 

[madweazl]

I don't understand? I use ATI Bulbs, and that's high-end? The Coralife fixture takes 48" bulbs, not 30"?

The issue is that you cant find ATI or Giesemann bulbs in 30" lengths; 24", 36", and 48" are common.

 

[Mr. Bill]

I don't understand? I use ATI Bulbs, and that's high-end? The Coralife fixture takes 48" bulbs, not 30"?

Yes, the 48" fixture takes 48" bulbs. ATI bulbs come in 24", 36", 48", and 60", but no 30". Higher quality 30" fixtures take 24" bulbs.