PAR discrepancy

nasdds · Jun 30, 2023

Hi everyone
So I rented a park meter for my tanks. I’ve noticed the par distribution gradient between the top of the tank and the sandbed isn’t as wide as I’d like. IE if I raise the intensity the top of the tank has good high par but the sandbed gets too high as well. Any tricks or tips to get this adjusted where I have high par on top and low on sandbed? I really don’t want to move rocks to create shaded areas as a lot of my rock already has coral on them. Thanks.

jda · Jun 30, 2023

Did you stay away from the glass? Glass can reflect and make sandbed measurements near it higher than once you move away. There is next to no issue having more PAR on the sandbed - what is your concern?

nasdds · Jun 30, 2023

I did stay away from the glass. I want to maintain a low par for the stuff I keep on the sandbed (welsos, gonis, etc)

jda · Jun 30, 2023

I have kept those in my frag tanks under 6-7 inches of water at 750+ PAR an they thrive and kept good colors and did not all go green. While they certainly don't need a ton of light and it is probably not worth it to add more for them, they also do quite well with lots of light too. We saw these in tide pools a foot under the water at low tide. Unless you are talking like 500+ PAR, they should keep their nice colors and contrast.

Give it a shot. You will get some shade eventually as your other corals grow.

((FORDTECH)) · Jun 30, 2023

nasdds said:
I did stay away from the glass. I want to maintain a low par for the stuff I keep on the sandbed (welsos, gonis, etc)

I have found that if you add powerheads close to the surface, causing more agitation, it definitely lowers the par

Ordovician_Reef · Jun 30, 2023

nasdds said:
Hi everyone
So I rented a park meter for my tanks. I’ve noticed the par distribution gradient between the top of the tank and the sandbed isn’t as wide as I’d like. IE if I raise the intensity the top of the tank has good high par but the sandbed gets too high as well. Any tricks or tips to get this adjusted where I have high par on top and low on sandbed? I really don’t want to move rocks to create shaded areas as a lot of my rock already has coral on them. Thanks.

Where did you rent the meter from? I am looking to rent one soon.

nasdds · Jun 30, 2023

Ordovician_Reef said:
Where did you rent the meter from? I am looking to rent one soon.

My local reef club has it as a perk for being a member. I’m in Atlanta. A lot of local stores also rent them out and even bulk reef supply does as well.

Ordovician_Reef · Jul 1, 2023

nasdds said:
My local reef club has it as a perk for being a member. I’m in Atlanta. A lot of local stores also rent them out and even bulk reef supply does as well.

I have not been able to find the rental on their site?