Par Meter or Lux Meter?

[Jeremy Brito]

So digging deep in the quest to find my tanks sweet spot, I think I narrowed my tanks issue to lighting but its getting much more complex the more I look into it.

You would think it would be a matter of adjusting the lighting in the tank to something pleasing on the eyes and what looks healthy for the coral.. but it aint that simple . I have to find a balance between the type of light and the intensity and the mixture of the color, its a math equation from hell..

To start as I was discussing before I have 4 channels of LEDs
Channel # 1 contains 12,000 K cool white (blue factually) and 470 NM blue
Channel # 2 contains 410 nm purple and 395 nm ultra violet
Channel # 4 contains 450 nm royal blue and 660nm red
Channel # 5 contains 18000 K (daylight) and 450 nm royal blue

So as if it wasn't complicated enough we gotta add two different types of measurements for lighting in the equation (kelvin/NM). From what I am told 12,000K is like the light the eye sees looking at a blue sky and 18000 k is like daylight so I guess less blue either way they both look white to me.

During my research I read that most lights rated for reef tanks on the market are around 10000k to 20000k and higher kelvin is better for reef tanks.. but then I saw in another article that the writer stated 6500k was what they found had the best growth rate again more confusion … so what about the lights measured in nano meters ?

So ill admit here I stink at math so I cheated and found a online conversion calculator that does the complex math and here were my results
470 Nm = 6,165 Kelvin - royal blue
450 Nm = 6,440 Kelvin - blue
410Nm = 7,067 Kelvin - violet
395Nm = 7,340 Kelvin - ultra violet
So with that figured out the statement about 6500k being great for coral growth makes more sense in other words the 450NM lights are the lights that will help my coral grow the most

Ok guys so heres the last factor - Intensity … my lighting has computer that breaks the channels down into 4 channels with 8 time slots for each channel in which I then decide the intensity at which the channel will reach at a given time. The problem is the Intensity will effect the brightness which I believe will also alter the par but that I haven't proven yet as I have no par meter.

so I have to figure out the best mixture of these lights with best intensity to create a sun up to sun down schedule for my corals using the above information... fun times ..

So heres were I need your input and help first any of you much better reefers out there have any suggestions and second does any one have a par meter they are willing to lend me so I can figure this all out? id be willing to leave a deposit

 

[jmags080307]

So digging deep in the quest to find my tanks sweet spot, I think I narrowed my tanks issue to lighting but its getting much more complex the more I look into it.

You would think it would be a matter of adjusting the lighting in the tank to something pleasing on the eyes and what looks healthy for the coral.. but it aint that simple . I have to find a balance between the type of light and the intensity and the mixture of the color, its a math equation from hell..

To start as I was discussing before I have 4 channels of LEDs
Channel # 1 contains 12,000 K cool white (blue factually) and 470 NM blue
Channel # 2 contains 410 nm purple and 395 nm ultra violet
Channel # 4 contains 450 nm royal blue and 660nm red
Channel # 5 contains 18000 K (daylight) and 450 nm royal blue

So as if it wasn't complicated enough we gotta add two different types of measurements for lighting in the equation (kelvin/NM). From what I am told 12,000K is like the light the eye sees looking at a blue sky and 18000 k is like daylight so I guess less blue either way they both look white to me.

During my research I read that most lights rated for reef tanks on the market are around 10000k to 20000k and higher kelvin is better for reef tanks.. but then I saw in another article that the writer stated 6500k was what they found had the best growth rate again more confusion … so what about the lights measured in nano meters ?

So ill admit here I stink at math so I cheated and found a online conversion calculator that does the complex math and here were my results
470 Nm = 6,165 Kelvin - royal blue
450 Nm = 6,440 Kelvin - blue
410Nm = 7,067 Kelvin - violet
395Nm = 7,340 Kelvin - ultra violet
So with that figured out the statement about 6500k being great for coral growth makes more sense in other words the 450NM lights are the lights that will help my coral grow the most

Ok guys so heres the last factor - Intensity … my lighting has computer that breaks the channels down into 4 channels with 8 time slots for each channel in which I then decide the intensity at which the channel will reach at a given time. The problem is the Intensity will effect the brightness which I believe will also alter the par but that I haven't proven yet as I have no par meter.

so I have to figure out the best mixture of these lights with best intensity to create a sun up to sun down schedule for my corals using the above information... fun times ..

So heres were I need your input and help first any of you much better reefers out there have any suggestions and second does any one have a par meter they are willing to lend me so I can figure this all out? id be willing to leave a deposit

Still think a par meter would be a nice benefit for paid members. I know some other clubs offer this.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Trio91]

ACC rents them so that would be your best bet. To purchase a par meter wouldn’t be worth it IMO.

Is it the Chinese LEDs that you run?

 

[Mrx7899x]

Do you know what degree lenses the light uses

 

[Jeremy Brito]

@Mrx7899x I have no idea the lense measurements I had a chart at one time that told me roughlythe spread of the light but I'd have to look for it.

@trio91 yes they are chinese black boxs

 

[Jeremy Brito]

@Mrx7899x so i searched the Dsuny site for the answer to you question about the lens and according to there claims it is 60 & 120 degree mixed lens. Idk if that makes any sense but thats what i could find


Dsuny provided me the following explanation of there lighting the above is what they explained as the coverage area of a single panel of light and its penetration at different measurements in the water. So if i am reading this right, lets say the surface of the water is 100% of the full par achieved by the light at 36" in depth the par is decreased by roughly 25% so hypothetically if the par was 100 at the surface at the bottom of a 36 inch deep tank it would be around 75.
** please, if i am misinterpreting this let me know lol I am putting this up on the forum as both a learning experience and a request for help so if anyone has input please put it up on the forum.


the above picture is a break down of the light panel to help give you guys a better idea of what i was explaining a few posts ago the numbers 1-4 below the led indicates what channel that led is on. I have 2 panels hung length wise across my tank roughly 5 inchs gap between the two panels due to the center support bracket in the tank and they are about 10 inches above the water.

 

[Mrx7899x]

What do you have the lights set at now ?

I'm not a lighting expert but I would like a better led layout then all the same LEDs in a row. Something like thisand instead of 60 degree lens I would like 90 degree lens. Probably not getting the best color blending. There's no reason why it won't grow coral just set it to how you like your tank to look. The max intensity I would set it at would be like 40%. I like more of a blue look to my tank so thats how I have it set. Once you have it set don't change it the coral will adjust to it. I think a lot of problems with the LEDs is that guys keep playing with the settings and the coral never gets comfortable with the light they like things to be stable. And you could always add t5s to help.

 

[Jeremy Brito]

What do you have the lights set at now ?

I'm not a lighting expert but I would like a better led layout then all the same LEDs in a row. Something like thisView attachment 20167and instead of 60 degree lens I would like 90 degree lens. Probably not getting the best color blending. There's no reason why it won't grow coral just set it to how you like your tank to look. The max intensity I would set it at would be like 40%. I like more of a blue look to my tank so thats how I have it set. Once you have it set don't change it the coral will adjust to it. I think a lot of problems with the LEDs is that guys keep playing with the settings and the coral never gets comfortable with the light they like things to be stable. And you could always add t5s to help.

@Mrx7899x so right now I am working with mostly my channel 1,2, and 3 lights and like 2% intensity on my channel 4. I will say as far as blending goes I get a nice shimmer and don't really see much division in the colors. The lights them selves actually would be a good base for a DIY project concidering there at the most basic level of construction ive taken them apart and there isn't much complexity.

Right now this is kinda what I am playing with as far as light settings

Sun up(0600)-------------------Mid day (1300)-----------------------dusk (2100)---------moon light--------- lights out (2300)
C1 (12k) 3%------------------------45%-----------------------------------1%-----------------0%---------------------0%
Ch2 (UV) 5% ------------------------35%---------------------------------15%----------------3%----------------------0%
Ch3 (blues) 10%----------------------65%-------------------------------20%----------------4%----------------------0%
Ch4 (18K) 1%--------------------------3%-----------2%-------1%--------0%-----------------0%---------------------0%
*** this is not accurate but my best guess to my current settings because I have been tweaking them for looks and coral response***
*** also there are 8 times slots for each channel which the percentage will ramp up to so example for 6am to 1300 channel 1 ramps from 3% to 45%

ive been considering t-5 lights, as I was researching lighting I came across a Jason Fox video where he was talking about what kinda lighting he uses and he stated he gets the best results with T-5 cool blues and Reef brights LED blues and that he pretty much uses that combo on all his grow out tanks accept for one which also incorporates a metal halide.

 

[Mrx7899x]

He also only runs blues on his tanks.