Seneye Par accuracy

Beats001 · Feb 6, 2019

Hi, I got a Seneye reef, which has the PAR meter. I am interested in peoples experiences of this PAR meter and how it compares to other PAR meters.
Does it measure higher or lower?
Are there any gotchas when using the meter?
Thanks

Big G · Feb 6, 2019

@saltyfilmfolks

McFly · Feb 6, 2019

There is a BRS video where they compare it to other meters. It did well overall.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 6, 2019

Slightly lower higher up close to the light. It has a slightly narrower field of view so to speak.
But a good meter

jda · Feb 6, 2019

It all depends on you. If you can get it exactly 90 degrees from the light source on, it can do pretty well. If not, then it can be WAY off. IMO, I would probably enjoy it I had it for other reasons and just dabbled around with the PAR meter, but I would never buy it over an Apogee just specifically to measure PAR.

BRS did a good job of using it. You can browse the first 5-10 pages of posts on this board and find people who have struggled with it. The issue with it is that the sensor is not cosine corrected.

Beats001 · Feb 7, 2019

Yeah I seen the BRS video, and I don't expect it to be perfect. Good tips on measuring. I think the stick i am using to hold the meter isn't great its hard to get an angle with it. I have a cable tie holding it on too. Not sure if this could be affecting it. Any one have tips on a decent holder? Also do you guys turn your flow off? I don't, I figured you should measure based on you normal tank conditions, but keen to get feedback on that too.

BedrockIOMC · Mar 26, 2019

How are you liking the seneye? I have to get something to replace my junky apex and are looking into everything and not make the same waste of money and time like the apex.

User1 · Mar 26, 2019

It is a decent tool. It is affordable. It gives numbers and I've found it worked well. Based on all of the tests I've watched videos on or read various threads the general consensus is that it actually does a great job. That is why I purchased it. It gives me an idea of what my DIY lighting is doing and that is all I wanted.

gbroadbridge · May 23, 2021

I borrowed an apogee from my LFS and the seneye measured high, especially closer to the light source.

I think this may be because of the more focussed light closer up the typical LED.

The error was around 20% increasing a lot the closer you got to the illumination source.

If you are not doing this for a living the seneye is close enough, if your reputation depends on it, I'd spend the bucks on something designed for the job.

The seneye will do the job in a pinch, but your business model is designed around fish tanks, why penny pinch.

shred5 · May 23, 2021

gbroadbridge said:
I borrowed an apogee from my LFS and the seneye measured high, especially closer to the light source.

I think this may be because of the more focussed light closer up the typical LED.

The error was around 20% increasing a lot the closer you got to the illumination source.

If you are not doing this for a living the seneye is close enough, if your reputation depends on it, I'd spend the bucks on something designed for the job.

The seneye will do the job in a pinch, but your business model is designed around fish tanks, why penny pinch.

Which Apogee? there are some models that do not read led well and would read low and you need a correction factor.