Apogee Mq200

[Umair]

Hello friends,

A local reefer is selling his 4 years old apogee mq200 for USD 160 which seems in a good condition apparently.

Considering i don't have option to rent par meter, you all think it's a good deal? My only concern being its old plus have read mq200 have issues measuring led lights par value.

I have maxspect ethereal lights and a mixed reef with decent growths overall presently.

TIA

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have a MUCH older Apogee QMSS-E meter and at about 8 years old and loaned out to dozens of local club members, it still looks like new and works as good as it did when I bought it. There is very little to them so they are hard to screw up.

As for not reading leds... the older ones read blue spectrum a bit low, about 10% or a bit more. So I add in a bit. Besides, is 100% accuracy what you really need? Or just a close approximation of a PAR value at a particular spot. So I take a reading and the meter says the PAR is 250. Do I really care if it actually 225 or 275? Even more importantly, will your coral care?

If you feel you have a real use for a PAR meter and it doesn't make a serious dent in the family budget, I'd go for it.

 

[Umair]

I have a MUCH older Apogee QMSS-E meter and at about 8 years old and loaned out to dozens of local club members, it still looks like new and works as good as it did when I bought it. There is very little to them so they are hard to screw up.

As for not reading leds... the older ones read blue spectrum a bit low, about 10% or a bit more. So I add in a bit. Besides, is 100% accuracy what you really need? Or just a close approximation of a PAR value at a particular spot. So I take a reading and the meter says the PAR is 250. Do I really care if it actually 225 or 275? Even more importantly, will your coral care?

If you feel you have a real use for a PAR meter and it doesn't make a serious dent in the family budget, I'd go for it.

thank you so much for your detailed response. agree 100% accuracy definitely doesn't matter much.

 

[Ron Reefman]

You are welcome. If you buy it, I hope it all works well for you!

 

[Huff747]

I bought the same model and while it doesn't do the underwater compensation automatically it is nice to have some numbers to relatively compare readings.

 

[Umair]

so i went ahead and bought the meter today. was surprised to see my new sps frags were only receiving 80-90 PAR

thank you @Ron Reefman and @Huff747 for your valuable suggestions, this equipment is definitely worth having.