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Reefer525XL delux Par measurments


takoattack

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Shout out to Aquadome, for having a loaner program for PAR meters.

Equipment: Red Sea Reefer 525XL with 3 AI Hydra26HDs placed equal distant on red sea's brackets. Sun System PAR meter with Apogee sensor.

Experiment 1: Using BRS's recommended AB+ program (based on coral lab studies from Ecotech based on their radion schedule AB+) Measure different locations in tank:

PAR measurments 20190224 AB+ draw.jpg

par testing AB+ 6hr peak 12h dim.png

Experiment 2: test intensity changes of different common program spectrums, and affect of modifying cool white (cw) channel intensity on AB+.

Fixed location:

Par measurements loc 1.JPG

 PAR measurments 20190224.jpg

 

Data: 

    Hydra 26 HD
Program Name PAR UV V RY B G DR CW
AB+ (BRS calc) 211 118 101 82 65 6 5 19
AB+ whites 30 224 118 101 82 65 6 5 30
AB+ whites 40 234 118 101 82 65 6 5 40
AB+ whites 50 246 118 101 82 65 6 5 50
AB+ whites 60 254 118 101 82 65 6 5 60
AB+ whites 70 263 118 101 82 65 6 5 70
AB+ whites 80 272 118 101 82 65 6 5 80
AB+ whites 90 280 118 101 82 65 6 5 90
AB+ whites 100 294 118 101 82 65 6 5 100
AB+ whites 110 297 118 101 82 65 6 5 110
AB+ whites 120 305 118 101 82 65 6 5 120
AB+ whites 130 312 118 101 82 65 6 5 130
AB+ whites 137 322 118 101 82 65 6 5 137
Saxby (first peak) 294 40 64 114 105 8 11 66
Sexby Lo (first peak) 261 40 64 101 99 8 11 44

 

Key takeaways:

Ripple in surface water can cause +/- 30 PAR excursions, based on bending light. Testing was performed with pumps off. 

Hydra26 spread was mostly even in the middle of the tank, however the front and back of the tank lost a lot of light. I think I will eventually build a floating hood fixture and add supplemental T5s in the front and back. Those Hybrid fixtures with LED pucks in the middle would be ideal. 

I was running Saxby for a while, which was a little too much PAR in my opinion. AB+ program at 100% seems to be a good balance for mixed reef. 

My left island is mostly low in the middle and tall in the back. The low middle spots get more PAR than the back top. I did not expect that, and may add some more height to this island.

If I add diffusers to my hydras (I may) I will increase CW channel from 19% to something more like 50-70% to offset a loss of 15-20% PAR.  

 

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