**** R2R Par Database ****

rcpalmer1

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  • 20190626_172121.jpg
  • Tank 56 column 18x30x24
  • Apogee 210
  • Kessil AP700, Aquatic Life hybrid 24" 4 blue+
  • 100% Power as blue as it will go.
  • Lights are 7" off water
  • 24" tank depth
  • Return pumps and powerheads off; very little surface movement
 
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ph123uk

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IMG_20190630_123720.jpg


  • Tank Aquaone Minireef 120 60 x 45 x 45 (cm)
  • Seneye Reef
  • Viparspectra, controlled by Reefpi, lenses on
  • 42% Blue Channel / 7% White.
  • Lights are 8" off water
  • 24" from light to sandbed
  • Return pumps and powerheads On, standard running when measurement taken - WP10 / SOW-4 / 2200lph return.
 
Last edited:

reacclimating 2 the hobby

patience is... oh look an acro pack fs!
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Hey all... happy to add to this thread.

  • Type of meter you are using for measurements - apogee mq210
  • Type of lighting.. be specific as possible and include things like manufacturer, age, length and type of bulbs for those t5 users, wattage and reflectors for the MH users. - i'm using a Hamilton Cebu sun with 2x250w radiums, 2 ATI blue plus, and 2 Hamilton 10k t5 bulbs
  • LED users if possible include percentages used for different colors
  • Height of lighting over your water - light is about 12" off the water surface
  • Depth of water - around 20"
  • Pumps or power heads running? - my gyres were turned off
  • Any other factors that may contribute to readings such as room lighting, windows, tank in sunroom? etc.
  • A picture with measurements would be ideal but a list/description would be fine as well.
  • Provide as many collection points as possible such as bottom of tank left, right and center.. middle of tank left, right, center, front and back etc.

fts 7-26 par.jpg
 
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smiley28

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Zoas - 175-180, 220 behind
Pink acan, grandis - 150-160
Bower garden 150-160
Between Duncan & bowers 120
Scoly 120-130
Between walt, asd & fake og tort - 320-340
Back area behind big acro 340-350
Maleficent- 360-380
Shag priority- 340-340
Pikachu- 250
Pink lemonade- 230-240
Jack o lantern lepto-140

Will edit asap.

ECBC3C73-8791-4CBA-97D3-FB1E2FDE7EA0.jpeg
669A9772-F452-4E0A-BF9F-6B8C3972DF3C.jpeg
0044E87D-328D-4775-A118-8C79AF384E72.jpeg
 

bmbpka

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Rented BRS M-510 par meter today and got some real readings.

75 Gallon Tank
3 AI Primes HD and a 24” AquaticLife T5 setup running 2 purple plus and 2 actinic bulbs running

Primes are running the pirates preset. These readings are at the peak with the preset adjusted so violet is at 101%.

B14540F5-464D-4F9B-B55E-89681910C41C.jpeg
 

mygsris2slo4u

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  • Type of meter you are using for measurements - Apogee SQ-420
  • Type of lighting.. (4) Kessil A360 we in Aquatic life 61" t5 with ATI blue plus, coral plus, blue plus, coral plus (front to back)
  • LED users if possible include percentages used for different colors - Intensity and Color percentages in photo
  • Height of lighting over your water - about 11" above water line
  • Depth of water - 24" Redsea 750XXL
  • Pumps or power heads running? Off during par readings

5DE153FB-B172-482F-A0BD-C30A04407C5E.jpeg
 

Coral Keeper

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Just thought I'd share my PAR map of my 120 gallon reef tank, 48"x24"x24" :) I'm running 2 x 250 watt MH with Radium bulbs in Sunlight Supply Lumen Max Elite reflectors with m82 Ballasts (MH bulbs are 9-10 months old running at 6 hours a day) and 2 x 48" Orphek Blue Plus LED bars :)
PAR is 1200 at water surface.
PAR METER READINGS REEF TANK.jpg
 

Marco S

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I finally had some time today to get my PAR readings done! Following the format suggested by @Retro Reefer my info is as follows...

Tank - Red Sea Reefer 750XXL (Approx 160 gallons)
Length - 71"
Height - 23.6"
Width - 25.6"

Meter Used - Apogee SQ-520 Full Spectrum Smart Quantum LED PAR Sensor

Type of Lighting - AI Hydra 26 HD x4

LED Settings:
UV - 80%
Violet - 80%
Royal - 90%
Blue - 90%
Green - 6%
Deep Red - 6%
Cool White - 30%

Height From Water - 13" (The lights are not 100% straight as you can tell from the pic)

Depth of water - About 22" give or take

Pump - Reef Octopus Varios-8 (2700 GPH) - Running

Power-heads - Maxspect Gyre XF250 x2 (5300 GPH each) - Both running

Room Light - Dark out shades down and no light on

750 XXL PAR.jpg


This picture is not current, but was the best one to add numbers to without fish swimming all around and getting in the way. Also, the numbers are an average since the PAR was fluctuating within about 10 either way.

Hope that helps...I may be changing things around and modifying the lighting and if I do I will post those readings as well.
 
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Ento-Reefer

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  • Type of meter: Seneye
  • Tank Size: 29g 30" x 12" x 18"
  • Type of lighting: Reef Breeder's Photon V2+ 24"
  • LED percentages: All Blue & UV 45%, White 15%, Green 10%, red 5%
  • Height of lighting over your water: 9"
  • Depth of water: 18"
  • Pumps or power heads running: AI Nero and Power filter

29g_reef_par.jpg
 

Wiskey

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I love this thread!!!!

I used 3 different PAR readings here. The T5's were about in the middle of their life, maybe about 5 months old. They used wrap around reflectors, and it was an old Tek T5 retro inside a hood painted white that has the bulbs about 5 inches off the water line in a 75G tank.

I used an apogee sensor but cheaped out on the full meter setup. I use a meter calibrated against a Fluke Calobrated meter I borrow from work. The calibration is done yearly. I also spot check against full sun measurements.

The LED's I reference were two sets of 14, 3W LED's between the bulbs. As I recall they did not have lenses during these measurements. The LED and 4 bulb were both with 4 T5's. The 6 bulb measurements removed the LED's.
PAR-READINGSLEDT56T5 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Here is a picture of the LED light setup.
LightHoodUp by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

6 bulb:
IMG_8391 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Whiskey
 
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s_tempest

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I had the chance to rent a PAR meter today (Thanks, Donny and crew at Wet Pets in Vernon, CT). This message is a bit long, but with lots of photos documenting the various settings and lighting heights I examined. Enjoy!
  • Type of meter you are using for measurements: Biotek Marine BTM3000 (manufactured by Apogee, looks to be the same as the Apogee SQ-420)
  • Type of lighting: 2 AI Hydra HD, new in June 2019
  • LED users if possible include percentages used for different colors: see below. I measured PAR for several different spectra
  • Height of lighting over your water: see below. I measured PAR at 3 heights.
  • Depth of water: 21" max. Tank is a Waterbox 130.4, 48L x 24"W x 22H
  • Pumps or power heads running? no
  • Any other factors that may contribute to readings such as room lighting, windows, tank in sunroom? etc.
First picture is of the tank (on whites & blues for photo) with water depths (in ") at which measurements were taken.
PAR depths.jpeg


Next, I measured PAR with all channels at 100% (UV, violet, royal blue, blue, green, deep red, & white). Three heights of lights above water level: 12", 8" & 6". ABL on figures is above water level.

all on 100 12in.jpeg


all on 100 8in.jpeg

all on 100 6in.jpeg


Next I adjusted the lighting to what I think is the highest-intensity setting during my daily program:
100 115 100 60 6 20 20.jpg

With PAR measurements for this setting at 12", 8" and 6":

uv100 v115 r100 b60 w20 12in.jpeg


uv100 v115 r100 b60 w20 8in.jpeg


uv100 v115 r100 b60 w20 6in.jpeg


Next I adjusted the lighting to heavily-blues setting I run as part of my program:
110 115 100 60 5 35 1.jpg

And measured PAR again at 12", 8" and 6":

uv110 v115 r100 b60 12in.jpeg


uv110 v115 r100 b60 8in.jpeg


uv110 v118 r140 b80 6in.jpeg


Lastly I tested one final lighting setting, maxxing out the blues as much as I could:
110 118 140 80 5 50 10.jpg

And measured PAR, but only at 6" depth:
uv110 v118 r140 b80 6in.jpeg


I'm still digesting what this all means. At first cut, the PAR across the board was not as high as I was expecting. I don't like to run with much whites, so these data might make me rethink that.
 
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NY_Caveman

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I had the chance to rent a PAR meter today (Thanks, Donny and crew at Wet Pets in Vernon, CT). This message is a bit long, but with lots of photos documenting the various settings and lighting heights I examined. Enjoy!
  • Type of meter you are using for measurements: Biotek Marine BTM3000 (manufactured by Apogee, looks to be the same as the Apogee SQ-420)
  • Type of lighting: 2 AI Hydra HD, new in June 2019
  • LED users if possible include percentages used for different colors: see below. I measured PAR for several different spectra
  • Height of lighting over your water: see below. I measured PAR at 3 heights.
  • Depth of water: 21" max. Tank is a Waterbox 130.4, 48L x 24"W x 22H
  • Pumps or power heads running? no
  • Any other factors that may contribute to readings such as room lighting, windows, tank in sunroom? etc.
First picture is of the tank (on whites & blues for photo) with water depths (in ") at which measurements were taken.
PAR depths.jpeg


Next, I measured PAR with all channels at 100% (UV, violet, royal blue, blue, green, deep red, & white). Three heights of lights above water level: 12", 8" & 6". ABL on figures is above water level.

all on 100 12in.jpeg


all on 100 8in.jpeg

all on 100 6in.jpeg


Next I adjusted the lighting to what I think is the highest-intensity setting during my daily program:
100 115 100 60 6 20 20.jpg

With PAR measurements for this setting at 12", 8" and 6":

uv100 v115 r100 b60 w20 12in.jpeg


uv100 v115 r100 b60 w20 8in.jpeg


uv100 v115 r100 b60 w20 6in.jpeg


Next I adjusted the lighting to heavily-blues setting I run as part of my program:
110 115 100 60 5 35 1.jpg

And measured PAR again at 12", 8" and 6":

uv110 v115 r100 b60 12in.jpeg


uv110 v115 r100 b60 8in.jpeg


uv110 v118 r140 b80 6in.jpeg


Lastly I tested one final lighting setting, maxxing out the blues as much as I could:
110 118 140 80 5 50 10.jpg

And measured PAR, but only at 6" depth:
uv110 v118 r140 b80 6in.jpeg


I'm still digesting what this all means. At first cut, the PAR across the board was not as high as I was expecting. I don't like to run with much whites, so these data might make me rethink that.
Nice! Great detail @s_tempest !
 

Bpb

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FWIW, with now 10 months use at 6 hours a day on my Hamilton 14k bulbs with M58
Ballasts, my par has actually increased with age by as much as 20% in some spots. I’ve read this can happen when using Probe start magnetic ballasts. Something about current through the bulb increasing as they age due to less resistance?
 

AquaRaider44

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I finally got the par meter for R2R Supporters and got to take some par measurements of my tank!

Light setup is 2 MarsAqua 165W lights with all lenses removed and modded to be controlled by ReefPi.

My current lighting schedule is 12 hours of 100% blue with 5 hours of 50% white with ramp-ups and ramp-downs.

Average par in the tank is 145 in the blue and 221 in the white & blue.

Picture below is with par values in white for blue and in red for white & blue.

1571000966503.png
 

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