par reading with flow on, or off?

[salt creap]

bought an apogee 420 fullspectrum usb par meter and have taken readings with the pumps on so i could see what it reads in normal circumstances (kessils350w &360w tuna blues, so with the surface flow they have quite a shimmer and i suppose i would take the average par. could i avoid math by simply turning off flow and take a straight non shimmer reading, or would that be less accurate? i appreciate the help !

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I do it with returns and powerheads running. You should want your par numbers to be in the same conditions that your tank sees typically.

 

[salt creap]

I do it with returns and powerheads running. You should want your par numbers to be in the same conditions that your tank sees typically.

makes sense, thanks for answering. with the shimmer she’s jumping all over the place like a skitish wrasse lol the meter jumps 30 par at times so you think i should figure the average for each spot ? maybe il take another look at the app find a median of 30 seconds setting…

 

[spsick]

Yeah just take the average with flow on. Also make sure to check the immersion factor is on in the settings. Had mine for 2 years and didn’t know you had to do that. It isn’t a huge difference but it’s something.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

makes sense, thanks for answering. with the shimmer she’s jumping all over the place like a skitish wrasse lol the meter jumps 30 par at times so you think i should figure the average for each spot ? maybe il take another look at the app find a median of 30 seconds setting…

Yup, I'd check 3 times in the same spot and average it out. I use the apogee sq420 so the readings are a bit slower to get to my laptop so I try to hold it in the same spot for 10 seconds then take a reading.

 

[salt creap]

Yup, I'd check 3 times in the same spot and average it out. I use the apogee sq420 so the readings are a bit slower to get to my laptop so I try to hold it in the same spot for 10 seconds then take a reading.

thanks for all the feedback guys ! glad i asked!