Should I buy a Par Meter

[Hooz]

I have not seen the BRS rental option for awhile.

Can anyone post their rental link?

See above. They don't "rent" them anymore.

 

[Hooz]

Do you know anyone local renting them?

corey

Matt's Corals in Gahanna. $25/day for the SQ-510

 

[biecacka]

Haha. Cool thanks. I talk to him often and never knew that. He’s only A few minutes from me.

corey

 

[Rmckoy]

Brs did a experiment investigating 3 different par meters.
I’m considering getting a seneye .
As accurate for a fraction of the cost .

 

[Freenow54]

Fragbox Corals, in Toronto will rent that to you.

As I suspected. The reply from BRS was that it is too expensive for them to rent here

 

[Freenow54]

The BRS 'rental' doesn't appear to come with the wand. I'm sure that's not essential but if I'm paying the $80 restocking fee, I don't want to have to buy the wand as well (or rig some temporary solution).

After watching many videos I know you need the wand, as every tank is different as to lighting spread ( concerns height from water, and light design ( was suggested 8 inches was optimal ) and water depth. Lots of variables.

 

[Freenow54]

Brs did a experiment investigating 3 different par meters.
I’m considering getting a seneye .
As accurate for a fraction of the cost .

I looked at that as well. Seems to be quit a few negatives from the community

 

[Freenow54]

Doesn't BRS rent them?

Not to Canada just read the reply from them

 

[JGT]

Looks like they don’t rent anyone anymore.

 

[shwareefer]

Not to Canada just read the reply from them

Your Green Bay jersey doesn't tell me where you are in Canada, but as mentioned Fragbox rents them. It's $30 for 2 days.

 

[FishyFishFish]

Looks like they don’t rent anyone anymore.

You can buy an ‘open box’ unit that is returnable within 60 days for an $80 restocking fee. Whilst that might seem different, it is effectively the same as paying a deposit for the full value and having that deposit returned later. It’s just the wording that’s a bit different (although you can also keep the open box unit if you decide you don’t want to return it).

 

[JGT]

Hmm, good to know.

 

[mfinn]

You can buy an ‘open box’ unit that is returnable within 60 days for an $80 restocking fee. Whilst that might seem different, it is effectively the same as paying a deposit for the full value and having that deposit returned later. It’s just the wording that’s a bit different (although you can also keep the open box unit if you decide you don’t want to return it).

Yeah, I got the notification the Open Box one was back in stock while there were no new ones in stock.
So I figured that the "new rental idea" they have was back.

I ended up buying one ( mq-510) from amazon. Kind of glad I did.
Gives me a much better idea what kind of par my CoralCare gen 2 fixtures are putting out.
I'm not worried about it laying around gathering dust. It would sell if I discounted it a little. People are always looking for a bargain

 

[G Santana]

Not to Canada just read the reply from them

That sucks, hope you can score a rental from a fellow hobbyist

 

[Midrats]

You can approximate PAR pretty well with a simple LUX meter. There's a bunch of info on here about it.

 

[Uncle99]

Fragbox Corals is a Canadian Reef Store.
Rented mine for $15.00 a day.

 

[landlubber]

i'm with the "rent it" crowd.
too expensive for a device that realistically is only useful at setup. spend a bit of time with it charting all the readings throughout your tank and keep the results handy.

 

[Rmckoy]

Im
Considering buying a seneye .
but not sure other than par how user friendly they are .

@brandon429

 

[brandon429]

Rmc truly in responses posted in threads people say the par meter and pH meter don't line up with their current gadgetry

I dont own one to have calibrated it but can easily relay 80% do not like its par meter or pH based on posts about seneye

I have seen a few posts, the minority, who said those two specs did test and benchmark well on their current relied devices for measure.

 

[shwareefer]

Im
Considering buying a seneye .
but not sure other than par how user friendly they are .

@brandon429

I have a seneye and my par was alot higher than I thought it was. I adjusted accordingly and everything definitely appreciated it and has continued to flourish since. However that is the main complaint from hobbyists - that the seneye over reports par compared to an apogee. I also believe the version I have (4.0) is the main suspected offender. Having said that, I can't deny the positive results from my light adjustment and I have no intention of increasing them. As for the ph/ ammonia slides. I find it's expensive to keep replacing every month and the ammonia sensor is easily fooled. One piece of activated carbon stuck to the side of the seneye will have it telling you your heading for a tank crash via excessive ammonia for some reason. In the end I decided getting a used apex made more sense than buying slides and I don't get false ammonia scares this way.