PAR meter rental??
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Crabs McJones
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you could also check with your local reef clubs. Alot of clubs sometimes have a par meter that they lend out with minimal cost.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Get yourself a lux meter ($10-20+) AND rent the PAR meter.
You can use it to make a conversion factor for your lights and just keep and use the lux meter until it makes sense to get something bigger/better.
Until then, when you take a lux reading, and if you need to see it in PAR, you divide lux by your custom conversion.
In sunlight, 100,000 lux = 2,000 PAR....so that's a conversion factor of 50, for example.
You can use it to make a conversion factor for your lights and just keep and use the lux meter until it makes sense to get something bigger/better.
Until then, when you take a lux reading, and if you need to see it in PAR, you divide lux by your custom conversion.
In sunlight, 100,000 lux = 2,000 PAR....so that's a conversion factor of 50, for example.
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Jobet
Community Member
Well, keep in mind that I'm a newbie, but. ....to my understanding, some corals prefer more par, some less. Same with water flow, some prefer more, some less flow. Im just trying to plan for optimal coral placement and radion xr15 adjustment. Maybe i need to lower my lights % output. Im concerned that maybe my PAR readings near the top of the aquascape is too intense.....
mcarroll
10K Club member
Best to think about these things specifically rather than in general or you either end up worrying/doing nothing or doing the wrong thing. All negative.
Do you already have a tank and/or corals?
Corals are very adaptable in a healthy tank...that might be the best generality to keep in mind.
Light is one of the aspects of their environment where they are extremely adaptable, given an otherwise healthy system.
Do you already have a tank and/or corals?
Corals are very adaptable in a healthy tank...that might be the best generality to keep in mind.
Light is one of the aspects of their environment where they are extremely adaptable, given an otherwise healthy system.
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Jobet
Community Member
No corals yet, the only thing alive in my tank is the bacteria.....i assume that while they are adaptable, there is also probably a prefered amount of light to which i can expect the coral to look its bet. Maybe I'm trying too hard. :/
mcarroll
10K Club member
Easy at the beginning – no worries!
The folks that made your light pretty well set your useful limits, not counting misuse, so it will be pretty hard to go wrong under normal usage.
If you set a color you like and choose any normal power-setting, you're likely to have light that's around 20,000K and within the correct intensity range. I cant think of a coral that won't adapt to that and look great.
Corals imported from dramatically different lighting environments can either get an acclimation period (the easy way).
Or a simple light meter can be used to make some comparative light measurements of their home tank and new tank to find a similarly lit location for the coral.
Is their a local club in your area of NC is http://www.rasoc.org/us/ close by? With that xr 15 on such a small tank you will have to dial that light way down. Other wise you will be fring corals.
madweazl
2500 Club Member
I'd double check which meter they're actually sending; the one pictured uses Apogee's older sensor which isn't very affective in measuring blues under about 450nm (their "full spectrum" sensor is considerably better in this regard).
Reefltx
Valuable Member
Maybe true for some. I’ve used mines more than that since I bought one. If your tank is young and you’re adding corals from time to time specially sps, it’s a nice tool to have.
Seems like what you are saying is you dont need a pr meter just a lux meter and do the math? I can get the seneye I bough to work! Waste of 220 or something. Ijust bought new strip and I can get those to work but some reason I can get the par to work. Does anyone know how to get the par meter reading to show on your seneye dashboard? Its been well over a year and I think that was the problem but I do now we couldnt get it to function! I was just about ready to rent one from brs but hate to waste money when I have a seneye!
