Jimbo662 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 After looking at Ty's tank this week I started thinking again that my tank doesn't seem to be as brightly lit as others I've seen. I'm still trying to master the whole lighting thing and adjusting to make all the corals happy. I've got SPS's that are either turning brown or bleaching so I move them and / or adjust the lights. Wondering if someone with a Par meter would be interested in coming out and checking things out to see where I need to make adjustments. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 James, typically you will need to turn down your LEDs. Have a friend who experienced the same thing on his tank and after turning down his LEDs he is noticing his colors coming back. -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I was supposed to meet dshel1217 today to get my PAR meter back, but I can't make it. You can ask him if he'll meet with you, and I can get it from you after I get back from vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 Thanks George i'll definitely ask him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 You're welcome. If you use it with your LEDs, the scaling and correction factors are here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 Thanks George! I'm picking it up from him this weekend. Let me know when you're available so I can return it. I'm on vacation this coming week so I'll be around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 OK, so here's what I came up with. Lights are 14" above water and water depth is appx 18". Lights are currently set at: white - 45% red, green, blue, dark blue & royal blue - 65% Readings were taking 2", 8" and bottom. I've got 3 islands so in the center the only readings you see are the top. The numbers were calculated taking the meter reading multiplying by 5 then multiplying by 1.2. All suggestions welcomed. par read.bmp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Members recently listed their PAR readings here, if you want to compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 I forgot to mention. I sectioned it off into 3rd since there are 3 lights. you'll notice that between each group the number is lower..I'm assuming it's from the two braces across the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 You're welcome. If you use it with your LEDs, the scaling and correction factors are here. I know it is a sort of stale thread, but thanks for this George. it's funny, I was playing with a PAR meter last night and noticed that in if i measured each color independently and added them together i was getting the same as the combined levels. i also noticed that my blues were coming in lower (10-20%) than the white and royal. so, i guess this explains it. fyi, i also checked that running the lights at 50% gives you 50% of the PAR readings. intuitive, yes, but to know is good. that way i can just measure at 100% and scale down as desired. you probably know this, but if someone else happens upon this thread they may want to know. i just had a thought, if i may run this by someone. for my AI SOL super blues, since all three seem to be in equal proportion, i can get PAR readings with 100% white. Running all three at 100% should then give me 3 * white as the approximate total PAR. The i can play with the percentages of the colors so that 100% white, 75% blue, and 50% royal would give a total PAR of 1 * white + 0.75 * white + 0.5 * white. i'm looking for "good enough" not a research paper precision. just trying to get a good idea of values with as few data points as possible. keep in mind my tank is only 18" deep, so unless the spectral dropoff is quite rapid for the difference color ranges at different depths, this would seem to be a close approximation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Bottom line with AIs is, you'd probably get almost sufficient PAR from JUST the RBs. The aesthetic "rule of thumb" was 50% CW, 100% RB, but I'm beginning to feel like that's too washed out. I'm in the process of incorporating more spectrum currently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Bottom line with AIs is, you'd probably get almost sufficient PAR from JUST the RBs. The aesthetic "rule of thumb" was 50% CW, 100% RB, but I'm beginning to feel like that's too washed out. I'm in the process of incorporating more spectrum currently. thanks. i think i'm going to do my playing around with the percentages after i start getting corals in there. i think they are the ones that vary the most. but, with my single sol hung so far above the tank, my PARs were coming out with a max (100% all colors) of around 200. to get higher values i'd have to lower my light and get a second one as the light drops quickly at the edges. but, 100 - 200 will probably be fine for what i am starting out with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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