Seneye vs PMK

[attiland]

I'm using cheap viparspectra lights so manufacturer data isn't really available. I was given a par chart from another user on here so I do have something to go by. I agree a small difference is insignificant, but I was reading about the seneye being double which is unacceptable IMO.

Double would be unexceptionable. You also would know it is false reading straight away.

 

[Gtinnel]

Double would be unexceptionable. You also would know it is false reading straight away.

Very true it would make it much easier to spot discrepancies.

 

[Gtinnel]

Well I just bought the PMK used from the sale forum. I decided to go with the PMK because I realized that I need to be able to get a measurement with my screen tops on so whatever I use needed to be able to set in the tank and leave for a few minutes and I figured the fake rock would be perfect for this.
I'm kinda excited to see if my corals are getting even close to the par that I hope they are.

 

[lubeck]

Are you happy with the purchase

 

[flyfisher2]

I did see a known Reefer with a Youtube channel who's said he had the issue you're describing with it reading twice as high as it should on more than one unit. I guess that's the person you're referring to?
I own a Seneye and I've not compared it to anything else but I find it has kept me from frying my corals. I used it recently to transfer coral frags from one tank to another and match the PAR in existing tank under Ecotech XR15's to Kessil AP9X's in the new tank. Being that all I'm doing is matching the PAR reading it's kinda irrelevant if the readings don't match an Apogee. In the Op's case I can understand the concern being that her she has no reference point.

 

[Gtinnel]

Are you happy with the purchase

Overall I am happy that I bought the pmk. I do not leave the sensor in the tank all of the time, so I only use it when I adjust my lights. I paid $200 for it used, since renting a par meter would likely cost me close to $100 if I only use it a few times it has paid for itself. Plus I am also using the IO port on the module (which does stay hooked up all of the time) so that is an added benefit over any other par meter.

However, if I didn't have sps corals in my tank I likely wouldn't have bothered. Since it's so easy to see when lps and soft corals are unhappy I would've just slowly turned my lights up until it they were as bright as I wanted as long as they weren't aggrevating any corals. With acropora IME they can survive at a very broad range of par, but it will vastly change their coloration, and usually higher par means more vibrant colors.

 

[Gtinnel]

I did see a known Reefer with a Youtube channel who's said he had the issue you're describing with it reading twice as high as it should on more than one unit. I guess that's the person you're referring to?
I own a Seneye and I've not compared it to anything else but I find it has kept me from frying my corals. I used it recently to transfer coral frags from one tank to another and match the PAR in existing tank under Ecotech XR15's to Kessil AP9X's in the new tank. Being that all I'm doing is matching the PAR reading it's kinda irrelevant if the readings don't match an Apogee. In the Op's case I can understand the concern being that her she has no reference point.

The reading double thing was apparently a fairly well known issue for a while with the seneyes. Actually very shortly after I made this thread they supposedly released a software update that fixed the issue.
I do agree with you that if you are only trying to match par from one tank to another then it doesn't make a difference if the par reading is off. In my case, and I would assume most people, I was trying to get my tank up to a certain par. So looking back at it having a sensor that would read that inaccurately was not a good option for me.