So far par seems to be a voodo approach for me as to what I have seen. Is there a way to check par on an android phone?
Also I am wondering if glass coverings on the tank filter certain light out.
No you would need a special tool to check par. There are also probably readings posted on Google for your specific light already. A glass lid will have a little overall reflection.
Check with locals clubs and even LFS. Surprisingly, some do rent them. Even check with BRS which has rental equipment.
PAR meter is only accurate way to pinpoint numbers at different tank levels
So far par seems to be a voodo approach for me as to what I have seen. Is there a way to check par on an android phone?
Also I am wondering if glass coverings on the tank filter certain light out.
Yes and no.. You can probably use the Lux program on your phone to sort of estimate PAR.
First more than likely the light is outside the tank in free air. Errors occur because of glass reflections and water refraction as well as hardscape water quality interference.
At this point you are looking at a probably slightly low theoretical max at what ever height you took your measurement(s)
Second most lux meters programs use the camera sensor and in all liklihood just record the green channel.
Real Lux meters sometimes use a green filter but some photodiodes are already predisposed to the Lux curve natively.
Notice green sensitivity bleeds into the blue and red range.
Also pretty close to the Lux curve.
Third one needs to estimate PAR from LUX using a correction factor based on your blue /red proportions in the light (the under-recorded photons)
since red is usually low in typical reef lighting one needs to just deal w/ under-measuring blue..
Sounds complicated but not too bad for a better guess than your eyeballs..
Example of LUX to "PAR" (PPFD) conversion calculator.
