Par levels in my sps tank..

[UABsleeper]

So I I currently running a primary spa tank with a few lps.. tank is a 4 foot Red Sea reefer 350 with two radions xr30 g4 pro’s been running them for a couple months and so far have been pleased with the growth I’m seeing however until recently haven’t been able to check par levels on the tank..

Let me know what y’all think..?? I’m currently running ab+ at 40% max intensity.. I ordered the diffusers to see if their is any noticeable difference in spread

Have been contemplating upping the intensity to ~45-47% over a couple month period.. would you up it or leave it where it’s at.. only thing Thad been holding me back is I have a couple sps still adjusting to current intensity mainly pc rainbow.. and jf terra nova that paled out a little bit and are slowly regaining color

 

[Crabs McJones]

I would leave the levels where you have them :) The best thing for your corals is stability, and at the par numbers you have now they should be getting more than enough. Corals have the ability to adapt to different lighting levels if left alone. If you start tweeking it and making little adjustments it could actually be worse for your corals than leaving it where you have it now :) Just my thought

 

[UABsleeper]

I would leave the levels where you have them :) The best thing for your corals is stability, and at the par numbers you have now they should be getting more than enough. Corals have the ability to adapt to different lighting levels if left alone. If you start tweeking it and making little adjustments it could actually be worse for your corals than leaving it where you have it now :) Just my thought

I have kinda been thinking the same thing.. the only reason I was thinking about upping it a little is I have a jf solar flare milli that is at that ~280 par mark .. and have a Walt Disney and tsa fruity pebbles on the frag rack acclimating to my lights currently and from what I’ve read to get the best colors out of those you want to be closer to that 400 range.. were I was planning on putting Walt Disney and fruity pebbles par is between 300-350

 

[jda]

Diffusers do not really help with spread since the point source does not change (get wider), but it can help with evenness and most people like them. They will also cut the output, so keep that PAR meter handy so that you can turn up the unit to make up the difference.

I keep most of the SPS that you mentioned at 350 to 500 PAR, but it is under Metal Halide and there is no risk of burning the coral. When comparing PAR, be sure and pay attention to the light source - it matters. 500 from a LED will burn and kill most things, whereas 500 from T5 or MH will not. 300-35o for those A. Tenius is probably a good place to start once you get the diffusers.

 

[UABsleeper]

Diffusers do not really help with spread since the point source does not change (get wider), but it can help with evenness and most people like them. They will also cut the output, so keep that PAR meter handy so that you can turn up the unit to make up the difference.

I keep most of the SPS that you mentioned at 350 to 500 PAR, but it is under Metal Halide and there is no risk of burning the coral. When comparing PAR, be sure and pay attention to the light source - it matters. 500 from a LED will burn and kill most things, whereas 500 from T5 or MH will not. 300-35o for those A. Tenius is probably a good place to start once you get the diffusers.

Good info thanks for sharing! Yes I was planning on holding onto the par meter until after I get the diffusers on the tank..

I didn’t realize that about the differance in par sps will take from metal halide vs led.. Good info thanks for sharing!

 

[Velcro]

Diffusers do not really help with spread since the point source does not change (get wider), but it can help with evenness and most people like them. They will also cut the output, so keep that PAR meter handy so that you can turn up the unit to make up the difference.

I keep most of the SPS that you mentioned at 350 to 500 PAR, but it is under Metal Halide and there is no risk of burning the coral. When comparing PAR, be sure and pay attention to the light source - it matters. 500 from a LED will burn and kill most things, whereas 500 from T5 or MH will not. 300-35o for those A. Tenius is probably a good place to start once you get the diffusers.

The acrylic diffusion material that I use has tiny beads inside the panel that absolutely change the spread from the diode. In fact, my tank looks like it is t5 only. There is zero shimmer at all.

 

[BoomCorals]

The acrylic diffusion material that I use has tiny beads inside the panel that absolutely change the spread from the diode. In fact, my tank looks like it is t5 only. There is zero shimmer at all.

It blends the color to your eyes. It doesn’t change the spread.

 

[Velcro]

It blends the color to your eyes. It doesn’t change the spread.

How is changing the trajectory of photons not changing spread?

 

[BoomCorals]

How is changing the trajectory of photons not changing spread?

Don’t know how to answer that, other than testing diffusers with an apogee resulted in no additional spread for me. :/

To me spread means increased PAR at edges with less shadowing. Diffusers can change the angle of the “cone” from say 120 to 150 degrees, but the source is still single point. It’s not creating more sources to provide spread coverage the farther you move from the source.

 

[Velcro]

Don’t know how to answer that, other than testing diffusers with an apogee resulted in no additional spread for me. :/

To me spread means increased PAR at edges with less shadowing. Diffusers can change the angle of the “cone” from say 120 to 150 degrees, but the source is still single point. It’s not creating more sources to provide spread coverage the farther you move from the source.

We are talking about different types of spread then. I'm talking about the kind that you can't measure with a par meter. I misinterpreted the argument.

 

[BoomCorals]

We are talking about different types of spread then. I'm talking about the kind that you can't measure with a par meter. I misinterpreted the argument.

Fair enough!

 

[jda]

It can make it go wider, but cannot widen the source. A 3 inch puck emitter, is still going to be a three inch puck emitter... it isn't like a diffuser can make it like a 20" reflector and have it bounce waves all directions from a 20" source. You still need reflectors or more emitters/bulbs farther away to do this.

 

[Rakie]

With the diffuser you will lose 20% par -- So you will need to raise your intensity to keep it where it is. Overall, it's easier on the corals. When I first got my radion going from a T5 6 bulb my corals were burning up at 35% -- After adding the diffuser I'm now at about 75% which is probably around 55% if I had not used the diffuser.

 

[Rakie]

It blends the color to your eyes. It doesn’t change the spread.

BRS par testing shows the spread has increased par farther out from the light source and decreased directly under the light source -- spreading out the light distribution.

 

[Luno]

I'm more curious as to the ab+ setting. For me lps and softies do better on much bluer settings, it seems a little blue for my liking but if it's working for you keep at it

 

[UABsleeper]

With the diffuser you will lose 20% par -- So you will need to raise your intensity to keep it where it is. Overall, it's easier on the corals. When I first got my radion going from a T5 6 bulb my corals were burning up at 35% -- After adding the diffuser I'm now at about 75% which is probably around 55% if I had not used the diffuser.

My Par meter did show about a 20% drop in par however for me that 20% drop in par did not translate to having to up the intensity of the light 20% to achieve the same par I previously had without the lights I upped my max intensity from 41% to 52% max intensity and that gave me actually a little bit higher par than I previously had.. probably about 5-10 par higher

 

[Anthony_MC67]

Diffusers do not really help with spread since the point source does not change (get wider), but it can help with evenness and most people like them. They will also cut the output, so keep that PAR meter handy so that you can turn up the unit to make up the difference.

I keep most of the SPS that you mentioned at 350 to 500 PAR, but it is under Metal Halide and there is no risk of burning the coral. When comparing PAR, be sure and pay attention to the light source - it matters. 500 from a LED will burn and kill most things, whereas 500 from T5 or MH will not. 300-35o for those A. Tenius is probably a good place to start once you get the diffusers.

I learned the hard way that 500 PAR on LED is not the same as 500 Par on T5s. Lost many drags that way.

 

[GlassMunky]

I learned the hard way that 500 PAR on LED is not the same as 500 Par on T5s. Lost many drags that way.

Not true at all. Many many people on this forum run SPS tanks with LEDS and have par levels of 600-650 with great colors.

 

[Rick5]

Not true at all. Many many people on this forum run SPS tanks with LEDS and have par levels of 600-650 with great colors.

I don’t know about “Many many” but there certainly are some. However, it isn’t the norm and the folks that do pull it off are generally advanced SPS keepers or, more precisely, it’s the exception and not the norm. The problem with your comment is that it has been made on a public forum that’s read by beginner aquarists, some of whom are looking for validation or otherwise will think that because it’s done my some or “Many many” that it’s easily doable or can be easily achieved by them.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

All I know is I love the led tanks I have seen where they have the lights are near 100% and or have a lot of fixtures. And the corals look amazing and strong. The tanks I have seen with the fixtures low and the % low around 30-40% have never blown me away, but I guess can look nice, just never made me say wow. Sure some good photographs can make them seem nice but I have never been blown away in person.