Par from egg crate

[fancy_fish101]

How much par is blocked when using egg crate? I’m using egg crate now instead of Red Sea kit as it seems a pain to use. But worried my par levels are going to be low. Any advice?

 

[KrisReef]

Too many variables to hazard a guess, imo. The kind of light source (Single point source vs a T-5 tub or LED array) the distance between the light and the egg crate, the distance between the egg crate and the coral, angles of incidence, refaction, reflection, and may as well throw in the Redfield Ratio (as that might impact the clarity of the water.

The other issue is that with the egg crate in place it would be difficult to measure with a probe & light meter, but I think a par meter is going to be your best tool for investigating the impact.

If you are running LEDs, not at full power, you might be able to measure before and after and then adjust the output to compensate.

Enough of my messy guesses, lets see what the Board knows. (Bump)

 

[fancy_fish101]

Too many variables to hazard a guess, imo. The kind of light source (Single point source vs a T-5 tub or LED array) the distance between the light and the egg crate, the distance between the egg crate and the coral, angles of incidence, refaction, reflection, and may as well throw in the Redfield Ratio (as that might impact the clarity of the water.

The other issue is that with the egg crate in place it would be difficult to measure with a probe & light meter, but I think a par meter is going to be your best tool for investigating the impact.

If you are running LEDs, not at full power, you might be able to measure before and after and then adjust the output to compensate.

Enough of my messy guesses, lets see what the Board knows. (Bump)

I see. Thank you. I’ve seen some say it doesn’t decrease much and other a lot. I’m using radions and orphek bars.

 

[KrisReef]

I see. Thank you. I’ve seen some say it doesn’t decrease much and other a lot. I’m using radions and orphek bars.

I think those provide more points of light that could reduce the impacts of direct shading compared to perhaps a single Metal Halide light source? The other thought is that it shouldn't be as impactful as a closed top with condensation, but I still would be curious to see an actual measurement of parr under egg crate before I leaned toward either end of possibilities. Clearly there is some shading impact, but how much????

 

[exnisstech]

I've never measured par using it but I have used egg crate to shade new coral additions. Lights are out now or I'd do a quick test.
On a side note if you want it to prevent fish from jumping egg crate isn't very good unless you have large fish. Many of the smaller jumpers can find their way through egg crate

EDIT : Pricey but nice are some of the acrylic mesh lids on the market.