Which PAR levels are correct?

ajtomase

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Hello everyone! I'm starting my research on par levels and coral placement, and I've noticed a lot of discrepancies. WWC has Low: Under 150, Medium: 150-250, and High: 250+ while Tidal Gardens PAR levels are Low: 30-50, Medium: 50-150, and High: 150+

Curious to know everyone's thoughts on either of these companies choices in levels. Do your par levels follow close to these, or do you have different criteria? My goal is to have a mixed reef tank so I want to have enough light for SPS while not burning LPS.

Thanks!
 

jda

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You just don't know. None of them are correct and none of them are wrong. PAR is just a swag in the visible light range and the sensors round out spikes and stuff. There is more to light than this.

High quality light will not burn any corals, even at high intensity. Remember that nearly everything that we keep was collected on one breath in less than 5m of water... so 2000 PAR, or so. Most burning comes from low quality light sources and each type has some that are low quality. Burning can also come from quick changes.

I have high quality Metal Halide, so I don't worry about PAR and give LPS and Softies over 500 sometimes. They don't need it, but they thrive with it. 500 PAR from LEDs would probably burn most these.

Even though I just trashed using a mono number for PAR, 250 in most of the tank with up to 300 in some high areas and 100-125 in the bottom corners is a good mix for most mixed reefs. If you have T5 or MH, you can go 100+ more than this.
 

jda

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Tullio Del Aquilla's MACNA presentation from a few years back called the Facts of Light can be dry and seem slow, but the info in there is really good if you are indeed wanting to learn about light. It is worth an hour, but pay attention and don't get distracted... it can be dense at times (in a good way).
 

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