TopLid and PAR

[ggNoRe]

Has anyone tested there difference in PAR with and without their Toplid. Renting a PAR meter from BRS right now. But plan on adding a Toplid in the future. Hoping to not have to rent the PAR meter again.

Thanks

 

[vetteguy53081]

I had very little PAR drop with lid but fairly significant drop with glass tops

 

[LDog74]

I just rented a par meter from BRS and performed this test. I have a DD Jumpguard Pro on my 225 gallon. The netting is black. Not sure if clear would make a difference... When shopping for a guard I read clear causes more reflection vs black however I don’t know the accuracy of those comments.
I took readings with all pumps on peak day flow settings. Dual COR 20 returns, 3 Red Sea Reefwave 45s & 2 MP 40’s. With the lid on I saw about a 50 par drop average vs without the lid across the tank.
What’s really interesting is to see the constant change in par because of water movement. It really jumps around, I was getting 25 to 75 difference in par within 30-40 seconds.
I ended up taking readings for 30 seconds plus in each location to get an average of the par.
Hope this helps!

 

[Frogspon]

I had very little PAR drop with lid but fairly significant drop with glass tops

Significant as in 10% ? Or more?

 

[ggNoRe]

Thanks a lot for all the input it definitely helps.

This was the reply from Toplids themselves:
About PAR,
Knowing how important it is as a source of energy for coral and their zooxanthellae, we use a polycarbonate material that is 97% translucent. It means only 3% of the light absorbed by the material, and you can easily adjust your light based on this :)

Just wanted to verify from other sources.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Significant as in 10% ? Or more?

14%

 

[LDog74]

14%

This is close to what I was seeing. In percentages I saw 17%.