PAR and corals

[Steve Maxwell]

So I borrowed one of my club's PAR meters and did some readings on my tanks. I also looked up the corals that I still have on frag plugs to see what their "recommended" PAR levels were. So my question is...If the "recommended" level is 150-250, does this mean that the max should be 150-250 at any one time...or several hours out of the day it should be 150-250...or most of the day it should be between 150-250? I know this is all subjective and varies widely between corals, but I'd like to use this as a starting point.

Thanks!

 

[Cory]

Id say most of the day. Higher par shouldnt be a problem up to 500.

 

[Reeferfourlife]

Your high most of the day should be between that. Could be a lil higher but not by a lot.

 

[Russ265]

most white papers ive read usually use 200 or 300 par as the baseline for sps.

that being said. 6-8 hours of "peak" lighting would be a good starting point.

since all of our lighting is different you may tweak it in a direction uncommon to others.

for example. my peak lighting is 6 hours and most of my sps are hit between 5-600 par. my sandbed pushes 300 par. Because there isnt a lack of nutrient in my system, i can push a higher number. if you run cleaner (0 nitrates and phosphates) you will have to run lower par.