Orphek Or3 really throwing out 200 par?

RMS18

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I'm a bit stumped. Here's my set up ATI 8 bulb with 4 blue plus, 2 coral plus and 2 actinic. At my current % setting my apogee mq-210 is reading 230-250. When I turn on the 2 Or3 blue strips my par goes to 400-425. I read that the apogee mq-210 is not great at reading blue LEDs. So I spoke with them and they said the par meter will UNDER read the par from blue LEDs by an avg of 10-30par.

So my question is, are the 2 Or3 bars really throwing out 170-175 par?

@Orphek

Last resort is renting the mq-510 from brs.
 

oreo54

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Don't see a reason to doubt your readings....at hat spot.
 

blasterman

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A PAR meter not weighting 450nm LEDs correctly is like saying the ABV of beer doesn't measure alcohol content correctly.
 

fluked

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I'm a bit stumped. Here's my set up ATI 8 bulb with 4 blue plus, 2 coral plus and 2 actinic. At my current % setting my apogee mq-210 is reading 230-250. When I turn on the 2 Or3 blue strips my par goes to 400-425. I read that the apogee mq-210 is not great at reading blue LEDs. So I spoke with them and they said the par meter will UNDER read the par from blue LEDs by an avg of 10-30par.

So my question is, are the 2 Or3 bars really throwing out 170-175 par?

@Orphek

Last resort is renting the mq-510 from brs.
Would you be able to do a test with just the or3s? also some details on how high the lights are mounted etc.
 
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RMS18

RMS18

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Would you be able to do a test with just the or3s? also some details on how high the lights are mounted etc.
I ended up renting the 510 from BRS, just got it yesterday. I'm going to compare the readings between the two with and without the manual corrections factors for the 210 model.
 

fluked

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I ended up renting the 510 from BRS, just got it yesterday. I'm going to compare the readings between the two with and without the manual corrections factors for the 210 model.
Awesome, would be very interested to see the results. I'm from Aus so par meter rental doesn't exist
 

dvgyfresh

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I’m running 3 orphek OR3 bars over a 40b and growing SPS , anemones, and lps/soft very interested in the par readings, the lights have not disappointed me yet
 

ScottR

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Here’s a good thread started by Orphek. I recall people posting PAR readings here.

 
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RMS18

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Awesome, would be very interested to see the results. I'm from Aus so par meter rental doesn't exist

So the 210 I have to say was not far off from the $500+ 510. 10-20 less from the 210 par difference was all that I saw from my t5/Or3 combo. 10 par on the higher and 20 on sand bed. End of the day 10-20 par means nothing with corals in my experience.

Now when using the 210 on my ai primes there was a larger gap but still not enough that would push me to spend $500 plus on the 510 model. My 210 was reading 250 avg and the 510 was avg 285.

End of the day, yes two or3 8 inches from water line and 10 inch from water to coral was giving me 140 par avg.
 

fluked

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So the 210 I have to say was not far off from the $500+ 510. 10-20 less from the 210 par difference was all that I saw from my t5/Or3 combo. 10 par on the higher and 20 on sand bed. End of the day 10-20 par means nothing with corals in my experience.

Now when using the 210 on my ai primes there was a larger gap but still not enough that would push me to spend $500 plus on the 510 model. My 210 was reading 250 avg and the 510 was avg 285.

End of the day, yes two or3 8 inches from water line and 10 inch from water to coral was giving me 140 par avg.
Those are pretty awesome numbers, 70 par per par for what should be pretty even coverage. That sounds solid.
 

Mickeyt1reef

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Here is my PAR map of my shallow 75, 16" deep with 2 OR3 Blue+ bars 8" off the surface, one front one rear angled back towards the middle. MQ-510 PAR meter.
 

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ScottR

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I have the blue plus OR3 and tested it with a seneye recently. Alone with all lights off, I got 170ish PAR at the surface with the 8” above the water. My tank is 24” tall and at the bottom I got 50 at the most. Some spots were far less. The bars seem to be more like spotlights. If I took the meter off to the side a few inches, PAR dropped off to almost nothing. I think you need every inch in the tank covered by these to make them work. IMO, they are better at adding blues for your eyes to see and perhaps adding PAR to a length where you have not much light, like in my case where it’s next to a V4. If anyone is truly interested, I will take readings again. However, I’m going to switch to T5s. I’ll keep my OR3 on if I have room once the T5 fixture is put up.
 

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