franx
Community Member
I took PAR readings in my standard 125 gallon display tank (72 inches long, 21 inches tall) and thought I'd share in case anyone else is looking at a similar setup. I used the Apogee SQ-420 meter.
I have 3 lights on this tank: one in the center, and one centered on each overflow box. They are positioned 10 inches above the water. I took readings with the all lights except red+green at 50%, (red+green at 10% each), then another with lights at 100% (red+green still at 10%).
*Readings marked with an asterisk are directly beneath the horizontal brace, adding a good bit of shadow.
Here's one final set of readings with lights at 50% again, but I lowered the lights to 7 inches above the water. Most numbers don't go up substantially, but there are several more shaded spots where the readings actually go down. Looks like 10 inches above the water produces much more consistent results.
This obviously won't be the same for everyone, and there are lots of shady spots under the rocks, etc. But hopefully this gives you some idea of what 3 of these lights can output over a 6 ft tank. Big thanks to @Zach B!
I have 3 lights on this tank: one in the center, and one centered on each overflow box. They are positioned 10 inches above the water. I took readings with the all lights except red+green at 50%, (red+green at 10% each), then another with lights at 100% (red+green still at 10%).
*Readings marked with an asterisk are directly beneath the horizontal brace, adding a good bit of shadow.
Here's one final set of readings with lights at 50% again, but I lowered the lights to 7 inches above the water. Most numbers don't go up substantially, but there are several more shaded spots where the readings actually go down. Looks like 10 inches above the water produces much more consistent results.
This obviously won't be the same for everyone, and there are lots of shady spots under the rocks, etc. But hopefully this gives you some idea of what 3 of these lights can output over a 6 ft tank. Big thanks to @Zach B!
