Par reading for T5

[hafer12]

my lfs came and used a par meter they us. Idk brand or anything about it. That was the readings he gave me. I watched him do it.

If it is an ATI fixture than it definitely has higher par than that meter you used showed. Something has to be wrong with the par meter.

Yeah, something seems off...

Pretty sure its a nice Apogee

 

[marvelousone]

I don't have that on mine.

 

[hafer12]

I believe epics par meter is a Apogee, Which is a nice one!

 

[iLLwiLL]

what kind of fixture are you using? I was getting 550 par in the middle of my tank with an ati 8 bulb using all ATI bulbs. It was over 600 with a reefbrite XHO going.

 

[bubbaque]

I don't have that on mine.

If you have the dimmable model you have to go in the settings on the display. The sunpower has it on the power supply.

 

[marvelousone]

what kind of fixture are you using? I was getting 550 par in the middle of my tank with an ati 8 bulb using all ATI bulbs. It was over 600 with a reefbrite XHO going.

It is a 72" 8 bulb ati. I am using ati bulbs. It is not dimmable.

 

[bubbaque]

It is a 72" 8 bulb ati. I am using ati bulbs. It is not dimmable.

I don't believe ATI makes a 72" fixture.

 

[marvelousone]

I don't believe ATI makes a 72" fixture.

my bad 60" my tank is 72" sorry.

 

[bubbaque]

my bad 60" my tank is 72" sorry.

As long as your fixture is working great than you have plenty of par. I use that exact same light and size on my tank and it is hung 11" off the water and I grow sps 20" down from the top of the water.

 

[jda]

Don't sweat PAR of T5. Depending on the bulbs, some of them might have massive amounts of output that a PAR meter cannot read, but they are still very important and do a great job. Unless your LFS has the newest Apogee 510, then it will not really capture much output under 420nm, and it starts to tail off before this. Something like a True Actinic will show half of the PAR of something like a BluePlus, but when measured with a better (non-hobby-grade) meter, it will have just a tad more output from 350nm, on up.

I would not sweat this at all.

If you want more growth, get some GE 6500K bulbs in there - this will create some fantastic color as well. Offset each of them with a True Actinic for great illumination.

 

[Mr.Fishtank]

Why a GE 6500k. Isn't the ati aquablue special the same spectrum?

 

[Mr.Fishtank]

So how do you change the fan speed.

If you have an ATI sunpower. It should have came with this.

 

[rockskimmerflow]

Why a GE 6500k. Isn't the ati aquablue special the same spectrum?

Not really. I love throwing a 6500k into 8 bulb combos, way different look than if it was substituted with an AB special. The AB special is a very crisp white look with a lot of blue spectral peak still. The 6500k is a much warmer, almost orange looking lamp in comparison. Worth trying to see of you like it. I find it a bit overpowering in 6 bulb fixtures, but with 8 its excellent. 4 BP, 3 TA, 1 6500k is one of my fave 8 bulb combos.

 

[jda]

It is only like $5 a bulb, too. They get kinda yellow, so you need to offset with an Actinic, but if I was using an 8 bulb, I would probably use 3 6500K, 3 True Actinics and then use the last two to find the color that I wanted for viewing

The PAR from a GE 6500K is about 3x that of a Blue Plus. This was on AquaMedic at my house with a Apogee 510 meter. That is the only fixture that I have that will run just one T5 at a time. About 220 for the 6500K to about 80 for the B+. You might be able to do better on ATI - this was not a T5 fixture, rather supplemental T5s on a Halide fixture so the reflectors were terrible. I just wanted to see if the T5 6500K were output monsters like they are in the MH world... and they appear to be.

 

[jda]

Also, to be fair, the GE 6500k does put out more spectrum in the range that a cheap PAR meter can read. I do not personally think that they have almost 3x the output of a B+, but I would not be shocked if it was near double. I lack $20,000 equipment to test them better and they will not fit into an integrating sphere that I have used before.

 

[BoomCorals]

Also, to be fair, the GE 6500k does put out more spectrum in the range that a cheap PAR meter can read. I do not personally think that they have almost 3x the output of a B+, but I would not be shocked if it was near double. I lack $20,000 equipment to test them better and they will not fit into an integrating sphere that I have used before.

Maybe @Dana Riddle could test someday!

 

[marvelousone]

If you have an ATI sunpower. It should have came with this.

I don't have that. The fixture is like 3 years old.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Maybe @Dana Riddle could test someday!

I'm visiting Fluence Bioengineering in a few weeks and they told me to bring some lamps for testing in their integrating sphere. Not sure of the diameter - I'll discuss with them.

 

[BoomCorals]

I'm visiting Fluence Bioengineering in a few weeks and they told me to bring some lamps for testing in their integrating sphere. Not sure of the diameter - I'll discuss with them.

You’re the man.

 

[madweazl]

Don't sweat PAR of T5. Depending on the bulbs, some of them might have massive amounts of output that a PAR meter cannot read, but they are still very important and do a great job. Unless your LFS has the newest Apogee 510, then it will not really capture much output under 420nm, and it starts to tail off before this. Something like a True Actinic will show half of the PAR of something like a BluePlus, but when measured with a better (non-hobby-grade) meter, it will have just a tad more output from 350nm, on up.

I would not sweat this at all.

If you want more growth, get some GE 6500K bulbs in there - this will create some fantastic color as well. Offset each of them with a True Actinic for great illumination.

Their full spectrum sensor can be used with a number of their meters; some require calculating the immersion correction and some have it built into the software/firmware of the unit (like the 510 you mentioned).