Results after you purchased a PAR meter?

[Tuffloud1]

I am looking into purchasing a PAR meter. I know they are a great tool to get an idea of whether your coral are receiving too little or too much light.

My question is: Were you able to save a coral or maximize growth/color after purchasing a PAR meter?

Many of us love our gadgets but I’m curious to see pictures of corals before and after tuning lights or moving in your tanks once you knew what the PAR reading was.

 

[EuphylliaAddict]

Honestly I'd just get a seneye reef, then you have a par meter and a monitor all in one. You probably won't use a par meter daily like you would a seneye. Hope that helps.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Honestly I'd just get a seneye reef, then you have a par meter and a monitor all in one. You probably won't use a par meter daily like you would a seneye. Hope that helps.

I already have an extensive Neptune Apex system so I really don’t need a Seneye.

 

[minus9]

Take a look here, may be a cheaper option than the apogee 510?
Seneye PC Tablet

 

[DC Reefer]

My PAR meters have cost me a lot of $$$ in new lights. A few years back I was having a lot of trouble having success with SPS in two of my tanks. I had these giant and expensive LED lights (Vertex Illuminaras) on my two tanks. Broke down and purchased the Neptune PAR module and determined the lights were crap - I could only get about 160 PAR at the top of the tanks with the lights on 100%. So 4 Radion pros later I had adequate PAR for my tanks. More recently I was having similar issues in my frag tank, tested PAR and found my 7 year old Kessil had a few burned out LEDs and was time to replace that light also (The Kessil folks were great, spent a lot of time trouble shooting the light with me and ultimately gave me a discount on a replacement light).

I have since upgraded my PAR meter with the Apogee SQ520 as it is much easier to use on multiple tanks and the readings are real-time (no delay). I find I use the PAR meter every few months. Once I have my display lights dialed in I generally don't mess with them, but I use the PAR meter to check the PAR prior to placing corals in my tank, acclimating new corals in my Coral QT and in the frag tank. You will be surprised by how much PAR can move a few inches one way or the other in a tank. My two main tanks are not normal shaped (1/4 cylinder and 1/2 cylinder) which makes lighting a bit more tricky than on a rectangular tank.

 

[mike550]

@Tuffloud1 why don’t you rent a PAR meter instead of buying one. The money you save will go towards the new lights you’ll want to buy. @DC Reefer. I did the same thing. Pulled two AI Primes off my tank And now running a Reefbreeder 48.

 

[Tuffloud1]

My PAR meters have cost me a lot of $$$ in new lights. A few years back I was having a lot of trouble having success with SPS in two of my tanks. I had these giant and expensive LED lights (Vertex Illuminaras) on my two tanks. Broke down and purchased the Neptune PAR module and determined the lights were crap - I could only get about 160 PAR at the top of the tanks with the lights on 100%. So 4 Radion pros later I had adequate PAR for my tanks. More recently I was having similar issues in my frag tank, tested PAR and found my 7 year old Kessil had a few burned out LEDs and was time to replace that light also (The Kessil folks were great, spent a lot of time trouble shooting the light with me and ultimately gave me a discount on a replacement light).

I have since upgraded my PAR meter with the Apogee SQ520 as it is much easier to use on multiple tanks and the readings are real-time (no delay). I find I use the PAR meter every few months. Once I have my display lights dialed in I generally don't mess with them, but I use the PAR meter to check the PAR prior to placing corals in my tank, acclimating new corals in my Coral QT and in the frag tank. You will be surprised by how much PAR can move a few inches one way or the other in a tank. My two main tanks are not normal shaped (1/4 cylinder and 1/2 cylinder) which makes lighting a bit more tricky than on a rectangular tank.

Thank you. This is what I want to hear about. Real world results after you used a PAR meter and took action to correct problems.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Thanks for the replies. I’m not really looking for recommendations on what to buy or whether to rent. I’m looking for examples of what corrective actions you took after making discoveries with a PAR meter and how it affected your coral growth/color.

 

[Sharebear]

Thanks for the replies. I’m not really looking for recommendations on what to buy or whether to rent. I’m looking for examples of what corrective actions you took after making discoveries with a PAR meter and how it affected your coral growth/color.

I just bought the MQ510. I have 8 Kessil A360N and was running them at 40-45% intensity through apex in my 350G tank.

I also have AI 16 HD prime on my Nuvo 10 tank..

boy.... I was soooooo wrong about my PAR assumption. I thought at least the top area would be 350-400 but it was 150... haha. No wonder my anemones are all spread out trying to get light....

Currently adjusting slowly and increasing the intensity but I could also be measuring it wrong... we shall see...

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I had a guy come over with a par meter when i 1st started prob 2009 or so.
I will say. It will give you an idea of your light coverage. Not intensity. Yes the higher number is brighter light but i think all of our eyes can see bright and dim light. Its the coverage and shadowing we can not see. We still see light their and think its adequete when its not...
D

 

[Sharebear]

I had a guy come over with a par meter when i 1st started prob 2009 or so.
I will say. It will give you an idea of your light coverage. Not intensity. Yes the higher number is brighter light but i think all of our eyes can see bright and dim light. Its the coverage and shadowing we can not see. We still see light their and think its adequete when its not...
D

Wait.... so adjusting my intensity on my lights will not do anything to the PAR strength? Haha my tank is pretty open/ don’t have a lot of stuff yet.. was trying to see if I should or not... but maybe if changing intensity doesn’t do anything... I should get new lights.
I just wanted an excuse to play with a cool tech toy.. but I should learn it better..

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

No turning the intesity up will increase par and it might spread your light out 1" lol but coverage is what your really looking for. You will see when u get the monitor and start doing readings.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

It will only increase par in that area. Of that makes any sense. Lol!
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

If*

 

[Bronx19]

Another vote for Seneye. You only use these things a couple of times, no point spending big.

 

[Sharebear]

I bought mine... because I figured I can rent it out to my fellow reefers in exchange for a frag maybe.... haha

 

[amazongb]

With all the $$$ we spend in this hobby, adding a par meter to your test kit is not a bad idea. I use it at least once a month the check various areas in the tank, especially when placing an expensive coral or modifying light settings.

 

[hhaase]

Having cobbled together some DIY LED's from busted old junk, I really had zero idea what my tank situation was. I was about ready to pull the trigger on nearly 2k in lights, and I bought the meter so I could plan the adaptation period.

I was pleasantly surprised at the results. PAR still is lower than I'd like, but nowhere near as bad as I feared. I've already made some movements of frags based on the results, we'll see over the next couple of months if it pays off. Instead, I'm going to keep having fun with my DIY stuff and phase in the modern lighting at a much more wallet-friendly pace. Not just that but I'm also more comfortable introducing more LPS into the tank now.

 

[Sharebear]

With all the $$$ we spend in this hobby, adding a par meter to your test kit is not a bad idea. I use it at least once a month the check various areas in the tank, especially when placing an expensive coral or modifying light settings.

This might be a dumb question... but when you measure your light. Does your color of wavelength matter? I usually keep them mostly at blue because I’ve read that blue is better for coral growth.

 

[amazongb]

This might be a dumb question... but when you measure your light. Does your color of wavelength matter? I usually keep them mostly at blue because I’ve read that blue is better for coral growth.

Yes, spectrum matters a lot. Read up on AB+ spectrum
https://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ReefWholesale_CoralLab.pdf

In short, mostly blue and purple, with minor amounts of red/green/white..