VIPARSPECTRA LED PAR values

[Stevebhammer]

So working at home got board and bought an APEX PAR meter... 2 Viparspectra 300 W LEDs. upgraded from T5's. So they are adjustable from 0 to 100% Channel 1 (actinics) and Channel 2 (daylight). My plan was to increase about 5% per week to give corals time to acclimatize. Up to about 70% Actinic and 50% daylight mostly ok, I have noticed my green leather closing polyps during daylight for a while maybe an hour or so out of 6 hours they are on, that's about the only response I have observed. Moving on to PAR meter, it is true once you get to a certain light saturation visual changes are not really noticed, around 50% on both channels I do not really notice difference in look of the light. I have placed the PAR meter around the tank in various positions, moving once per day. Taking the averages from each location over 1 day (I know its PAR and levels don't really change but there is some fluctuation). Anyway this is what I have come up with so far. First number is actinics only, on from 8 am to 8 pm at 80% and second number is daylights on at 60% from 10 am to 4 pm.

 

[LostInTheDark]

So working at home got board and bought an APEX PAR meter... 2 Viparspectra 300 W LEDs. upgraded from T5's. So they are adjustable from 0 to 100% Channel 1 (actinics) and Channel 2 (daylight). My plan was to increase about 5% per week to give corals time to acclimatize. Up to about 70% Actinic and 50% daylight mostly ok, I have noticed my green leather closing polyps during daylight for a while maybe an hour or so out of 6 hours they are on, that's about the only response I have observed. Moving on to PAR meter, it is true once you get to a certain light saturation visual changes are not really noticed, around 50% on both channels I do not really notice difference in look of the light. I have placed the PAR meter around the tank in various positions, moving once per day. Taking the averages from each location over 1 day (I know its PAR and levels don't really change but there is some fluctuation). Anyway this is what I have come up with so far. First number is actinics only, on from 8 am to 8 pm at 80% and second number is daylights on at 60% from 10 am to 4 pm.

These are the lights I am looking at to go over a 225. What size tank do you have them on and what is your overall opinion of them?

 

[Stevebhammer]

These are the lights I am looking at to go over a 225. What size tank do you have them on and what is your overall opinion of them?

Tank is 120 72" x 18" surface area. They pretty much cover entire surface. 225 depending on area, might need two big ones and a small one. If you look at PAR values they do drop off a significant amount towards the edge, if you have some low light corals not an issue. Here are a couple views of how much they cover. I previously had T5s and LEDs mixed which were ok but bulbs were expensive and I just was not happy with amount of light, wish I had PAR meter to compare! I am 95% happy with them, think they look great, function great, easy set up. Almost didn't get them because of reviews but I think most of the bad reviews people leave on things is due to them screwing something up or not understanding what is going on or how to do it. The 5% I regret is not being able to adjust spectrum or easily run them off my Apex controller. I have an AI fuge light on my mangroves and really love the ability to adjust spectrum. But Reef tank size those lights are more than I wanted to spend. For the price yes I would buy them again, they are quite, nice cooling fans. No issues... I do miss my ramping feature my USA Current LED's would do, so I mounted one of them towards the back of the tank so I could do light ramp up and down if I want.
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[LostInTheDark]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not worried about ramping up and down as my house faces east and the sun streaming into the tank is my natural ramp up. For ramp down it's just blues until 10pm with a couple of 1w lunar lights.
I also had an 8 bulb ATI T5 but the heat in the summer, the overall glare in the living room and the cost of bulbs going up over the last few years put an end to that. I resurrected my three old Ocean Revive S026s and am using them until I find a replacement I like. I'm old school so $3,000 for lights is not gonna happen.