Yes, T5 actinics produce PAR, not as much as lower Kelvin lamps. It's PUR (photosynthetically usable radiation) that counts. If you have seen this article, look it over.
Luke, could you take a pice of tape and make a cone around the sensor
Makes sense. Thank you.
Those are very good suggestions - thanks! I do have kits to test trace elements, so I'll add that to the routine - I very rarely test them, truth be told.Just my two pence worth..I found the gyres too much on random on higher settings as when the flow clashes it causes a flow which was too strongly directed directly at my SPS causing them to get a battering.....I found the OGC setting much more forgiving as it alternates more so and increased my Polyp Extensions and more natural...Also if you haven't done a firmware upgrade on the controller, that will be well worth doing as the settings upgrade are much improved.
I used to use the AquaForest components 1, 2 and 3 which i'm assuming you do? but found the inclusion of the trace elements to be too much or not enough and the fact the calcium is mixed with the Magnesium. It is difficult to keep my parameters stable unless you are dosing a load and have heathy growth. Especially when my tanks ALK consumption went down it's kinda the catch 22....it maybe worth checking with a ICP test your traces (as a guide only). I do know all 3 always must be added equally which I'm sure you are well aware of and on top off...I switched out to basic Balling ( Tropic Marin) and dosed traces manually which has paid off ten fold. Good Luck
Hello Canadian Reefer. Yes, actinic light is very beneficial to coral as it peaks out about 420nm. If you look at the chart you can see that the absorption rate by zooanthellae is quite high in this area. In regards to total PAR; this can sometimes be deceiving because a high PAR in spectral ranges not used by coral is not much good. In my opinion it would be best to have lighting that can closely duplicate the spectral range of the chart. In this regard any PAR readings taken are useful because the light is emitting a spectrum that is beneficial to coral. Too much of green or yellow isn't very helpful if the most need spectral ranges are not being provided in a high enough intensity. As an example, if I were to measure PAR of a sodium vapor discharge lamp and get a reading of 450 would that make it excellent for growing coral? Mmm, I doubt very much when the spectrum peaks at 589nm and very little light is emitted in other areas of the visible light spectrum. Sanjay once said; "In my experience a target of approximately 100 micromoles/m2/sec at the bottom of the tank will provide enough of a light gradient to satisfy a wide range of corals."
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