Par reading XR15G6 g6

[Tamberav]

Very interesting! I thought the G6 was supposed to be an improvement over the G5?

the spectrum was moved back closer to g4 and spread increased. Otherwise is it pretty much identical g5. In fact if you don’t need the spread then it may just be a waste.

It is more of a side-grade than an upgrade.

If I didn’t have a wider tank, I would have went with g4s.

 

[Tamberav]

I have radion x15 and they are small fixtures with small leds and wide spread so it seems obvious to me that they would not be par monsters. Just hold them in your hands and go hmmm…

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Very interesting! I thought the G6 was supposed to be an improvement over the G5?

Yeah…..me too

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

On full you should get close to this. At 6" there isn't much in the way usually.

Note another thing, don't paint your back glass.

Anyway there are a lot of reasons that could cause such a wide "discrepancy". Most would be hard to pinpoint, from out of calibration par sensor to "cherry picked" light at brs.

Issue needs more data if you ask me.
I definitely would question it if my 100% par was 1/2 of published specs..

I may have missed it, what par meter are you using?

I’m using an apogee 510

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I’d like to add that my acros (95% tenuis and speciosa’s) are growing faster than they did with my higher par from my old hydra 52s. Color is not as good but it’s only been 3 months with the g6’s

 

[14 foot reef]

I very surprised to hear all the negative about G6 on this thread. Just when I made up my mind to go G6 from Kessil & t5.
Dang, am I really going back to the drawing board or is this just an odd negative G6 thread?

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I very surprised to hear all the negative about G6 on this thread. Just when I made up my mind to go G6 from Kessil & t5.
Dang, am I really going back to the drawing board or is this just an odd negative G6 thread?

I really like these g6 pros now that I have 3 running at 65%-70% intensity but I probably should of went with the blues. I didn’t think about all of the wasted unused power with the extra white LEDs. I don’t like the windex blue color but the blues would of been easier to tweak. I also don’t like the 9” mounting height. My old hydras had to be mounted at 15” and I really miss all the extra head room for working on the tank or taking pictures.

 

[dschuffert]

Do you guys think having a mesh screen top does anything to affect par in the water?

It can. The type of mesh and spacing makes a difference too. I was using glass lids until I bought a PAR meter (Apogee MQ-510). I then went to a mesh screen top. The difference between glass and mesh PAR values is meaningful. The difference between mesh and open water was small.

 

[Tamberav]

I very surprised to hear all the negative about G6 on this thread. Just when I made up my mind to go G6 from Kessil & t5.
Dang, am I really going back to the drawing board or is this just an odd negative G6 thread?

What is wrong with kessil and t5? Sounds like a good set up.

 

[oreo54]

. The difference between mesh and open water was small.

Unless it is black mesh.

 

[dschuffert]

Unless it is black mesh.

Good point, I was using clear mesh, I didn't even think about a colored mesh.

 

[14 foot reef]

What is wrong with kessil and t5? Sounds like a good set up.

Looking to delete t5 for long term reasons, availability, cleaning of the fixtures and just the once a year bulb changing.
Its more of a maintenance and future availability reason than it is a light disappointment in my current set up reason.
Plus the Kessils are older A360we and some are pushing 6 years old.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

On full you should get close to this. At 6" there isn't much in the way usually.

Note another thing, don't paint your back glass.

Anyway there are a lot of reasons that could cause such a wide "discrepancy". Most would be hard to pinpoint, from out of calibration par sensor to "cherry picked" light at brs.

Issue needs more data if you ask me.
I definitely would question it if my 100% par was 1/2 of published specs..

I may have missed it, what par meter are you using?

Are these par numbers the xr 15 or xr 30

 

[Hydrored]

I have 6 XR30 G6 Blues going over my 300 hopefully this weekend if I get time, I own an MQ-650 and will do a PAR map. Y'all have me concerned that 6 is not enough for an SPS tank

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I have 6 XR30 G6 Blues going over my 300 hopefully this weekend if I get time, I own an MQ-650 and will do a PAR map. Y'all have me concerned that 6 is not enough for an SPS tank

I’m sure you’ll be fine with blue xr 30s

now I want an apogee 650
Thanks for that @Hydrored

 

[Hydrored]

I’m sure you’ll be fine with blue xr 30s

now I want an apogee 650
Thanks for that @Hydrored

Your welcome! I had a 20 PAR higher average when testing Icons vs the 510. 510 is sold now so I won’t be able to compare on the Radions

 

[ReefinIt]

Yeah. I bought it from brs and just to cut it to fit. I actually made another one out of corrugated black plastic board from Amazon.

Just a heads up, but Home Depot sells these way cheaper.

 

[ReefinIt]

I very surprised to hear all the negative about G6 on this thread. Just when I made up my mind to go G6 from Kessil & t5.
Dang, am I really going back to the drawing board or is this just an odd negative G6 thread?

Same here. I was planning on an aquatic life t5 hybrid with 2 G6 xr15s on my 120 gallon 4x2x2, now I'm questioning if it's worth it. I may just go all T5s.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Just a heads up, but Home Depot sells these way cheaper.

Cool. But Home Depot….. is like 6 blocks away….and I’m really lazy

 

[noopsyche]

People need to understand that moving to LEDS that are more "panel type" than "puck" is going to lead to lower peak par numbers - but that the numbers are a bit deceptive. PAR meters have a relatively wide field of view - but they're less accurate when light is further off-axis.

Right. The panel-type lens affects the optical efficiency, and it is easy to cause the loss of par. If people install an additional diffuser, the output PAR will be lost by 25% to 30% or even more.