ROUND 2! PAR Shootout! Seneye Reef Monitor v2 VS. Apex PMK vs. Apogee MQ-510 Full

[air2mag]

Thanks so much for all your work on this. I just got the Apex PMK yesterday. All my PAR numbers seemed really low. My tank is two years old and I have what I think is pretty good growth. At least nothing is dying. I was getting a reading of 80 PAR 18" under two Kessil A360s at 70% intensity and 50% color. That just didn't seem right. If I add your correct factor of 30 PAR that seems much closer to what Ryan got in his testing. If I had read your post before buying the PMK, I probably would have waited.

 

[reefkeef]

Hello,

Thanks for the info in this thread. I'm interested in the Seneye Reef, but for the indoor horticulture hobby (grow lighting, mainly LED's, but probably HID as well for friends etc). Does this meter take accurate measurements out of water? I think I understand that this (and Apogee's 'underwater' models) have some type of conversion/correction factor applied to them? Can this be disabled/enabled via firmware, for the Seneye?
For me to get the Apogee MQ500 it would cost around $700-800 CAD; laughable. For the Seneye Reef, I see it for $200 CAD on a few sites ($240 on amazon.ca, which fluctuates it's prices pretty often).

The PAR sensitivity range, the underwater correction factor, and the lack of a cosine correction are the main things that I need to figure out more about, and that may make it not well suited to our uses.
That said, I'd also be curious to know if even with these "features" that might hinder its usefullness for me - would this Seneye *still* be better than a cheap ol' hydrofarm PAR meter (you know the one).

Thanks for any input. I plan to call and ask Seneye, but figured I'd ask you guys as well.
Thanks again.

 

[reefkeef]

So I think I've got my questions answered

The other thing I was wondering is what people are using for a window device for use with the Seneye? I want small and portable, a tablet/small tablet is preferable. I'm kinda wanting the form factor of your typical PAR meter (apogee, hydrofarm, sun system, etc).
I would never buy a windows device other than for the fact I have to... for this use... apparently. So I'm not looking to spend any significant amount of money on something that's only going to be used as a screen for an app/PAR sensor.

Thanks.

 

[neoGeorge]

The Readings:
So, here's the readings I took tonight comparing the Seneye Reef v2 firmware update and the Apogee MQ-510. (Sorry for the flash on the laptop as I had to use the flash to be able to read the Apogee's display too.)

Photon v2 6pm settings and T5's on. Near the middle of the tank and mid way down in the water. No rocks to shade.
6pm settings photon v2 + t5s by Jason, on Flickr

6pm settings photon v2 + t5e by Jason, on Flickr



Photon v2 6pm settings. No T5s. Near the middle of the tank and mid way down in the water. No rocks to shade.
6pm settings photon v2 only by Jason, on Flickr

6pm settings photon v2 only by Jason, on Flickr


Photon v2 6pm settings. No T5s. Off to the side with a cross brace over top. (I was very happy to see no difference statistically between no shading and cross brace shading showing me I've got some great spread going on)
6pm settings photon v2 only brace overhead by Jason, on Flickr

6pm settings photon v2 only brace overhead by Jason, on Flickr


Photon v2 6pm settings + T5's on. Middle of the tank about 6" from surface.
6pm settings photon v2 + t5 6" from surface by Jason, on Flickr

6pm settings photon v2 + t5 6" from surface by Jason, on Flickr

Thanks for posting this comparison @jason2459 ! I just purchased the Seneye for its PAR feature and plan to use it to measure lighting in my build thread.

 

[chet31]

This might be an old article but thanks... really helpful in figuring out coral placement based on light requirements.

 

[tapeworm123]

wouldnt u want to set this up by kelvin and then par to get both spectrum and par right ?

 

[tapeworm123]

wouldnt u want to set this up by kelvin and then par to get both spectrum and par right ?