Rincon_Reefer
Active Member
Hey Y'all,
I rented a par meter from BRS and did my par mapping today. I thought I would share my results. The entire process was very easy. It took about an hour to get a pretty detailed map and then 30 minutes to process my data.
Tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Lights: 2 Red Sea LED 90s
This is my tank. My aqua scaping consists of 2 main rocks with platforms about 1/2 and 2/3 of the way to the top of the water level respectively and bases below them. 3 rocks interspersed in the sand and then 4 rocks I used magnets to mount to the back. Here is a picture:
I printed this picture then created a washed out image and printed it so I could make an easy map. I took some calibration measurements at a spot I could easily repeat locating the sensor. In my case I chose the front right corner of the sump return. I took readings just below the top of the water level at 100% blue 100% white then 50% white 50% blue and a combo of blue and white at both intensities to verify that the par readings were scalable and additive. They checked out, red sea did well in their light calibration!
After that I made my map by measuring at my chosen locations with 100% blue then 100% white.
I recorded each reading in a spreadsheet then averaged them by zone. Once that was done I input my lighting schedule values so I could take a weighted average of the par levels for each period (I fudged it a little, I only did 3 periods...average under the curve blah blah close enough). After that I could divide by my total lighting period to get the average par for each zone for the day.
Schedule:
Calculations:
Turns out I didn't do half bad! I set it up to put acros on top and a variety of softies and LPS along the lower rocks and a zoa garden in the middle. My par levels support that plan reasonably well.
I had a few surprises. 1. light reflects off the tank walls way more than I thought. 2. shadow areas that are obvious to the naked eye have next to 0 par readings, can't count on reflection there. 3. Par meter jumps a lot so the measurements are not super accurate, but I don't think they need to be. That is why I averaged everything in the end. 4. White and blue don't correlate completely, this might be the inaccuracy or the effect of wavelength and the effects of reflection in the tank.
Hope this serves as a data point for anyone with a similar setup. As always, Happy reefing!
I rented a par meter from BRS and did my par mapping today. I thought I would share my results. The entire process was very easy. It took about an hour to get a pretty detailed map and then 30 minutes to process my data.
Tank: Red Sea Reefer 250
Lights: 2 Red Sea LED 90s
This is my tank. My aqua scaping consists of 2 main rocks with platforms about 1/2 and 2/3 of the way to the top of the water level respectively and bases below them. 3 rocks interspersed in the sand and then 4 rocks I used magnets to mount to the back. Here is a picture:
I printed this picture then created a washed out image and printed it so I could make an easy map. I took some calibration measurements at a spot I could easily repeat locating the sensor. In my case I chose the front right corner of the sump return. I took readings just below the top of the water level at 100% blue 100% white then 50% white 50% blue and a combo of blue and white at both intensities to verify that the par readings were scalable and additive. They checked out, red sea did well in their light calibration!
After that I made my map by measuring at my chosen locations with 100% blue then 100% white.
I recorded each reading in a spreadsheet then averaged them by zone. Once that was done I input my lighting schedule values so I could take a weighted average of the par levels for each period (I fudged it a little, I only did 3 periods...average under the curve blah blah close enough). After that I could divide by my total lighting period to get the average par for each zone for the day.
Schedule:
Calculations:
Turns out I didn't do half bad! I set it up to put acros on top and a variety of softies and LPS along the lower rocks and a zoa garden in the middle. My par levels support that plan reasonably well.
I had a few surprises. 1. light reflects off the tank walls way more than I thought. 2. shadow areas that are obvious to the naked eye have next to 0 par readings, can't count on reflection there. 3. Par meter jumps a lot so the measurements are not super accurate, but I don't think they need to be. That is why I averaged everything in the end. 4. White and blue don't correlate completely, this might be the inaccuracy or the effect of wavelength and the effects of reflection in the tank.
Hope this serves as a data point for anyone with a similar setup. As always, Happy reefing!
