Fun with the PAR meter - T5, Metal Halide and PC numbers
- Thread starter sammy33
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It will be interesting to see what your PAR is in six months (PS: I would keep that light setup since you are leaning toward SPS). Your lights are really close to the water too. I have not seen another setup with a 250w DE halide only a few inches up like yours (hence the high numbers). It is amazing your temps stay around 80F. :shades:
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its gotta be the fans lol
OMG - Bryan should be crowned the zenia king. That's impressive or invasive, depenidng on how you look at it!!!
This is a bit early for this chart as I have still not tested certain lighting sytems. I also wanted to have at least two of each wattage type so I can get a better base average but here we go...
This is the base results of the PAR testing I have done on various aquariums. This chart simply shows the average aquarium PAR for each wattage type at an aquarium depth of 12". The system wattage type</em> is simply the wattage of the primary light used to light the tank. This chart does not account for any variables such as supplemental actinics, water clarity or bulb height from the water. It is just the average PAR at a 12" aquarium depth from a certain wattage type.
I chose 12" as this is about the middle to mid-lower portion of most standard aquariums up to about 24" depth. Most aquariums have live rock structures and coral growing at this depth as well.
http://samsreef.com/images/stories/par-chart.gif" alt="" />
Most of the 250w DE systems I tested had a PAR advantage with either HQI ballasts driving the lamps harder with most of the systems having either 10K or 14K lamps.
I only tested two 400w SE systems both with 20K lamps and higher 6" to 8" lamp heights. The only other system I had two or more tests was with the 150w DE type.
I would like to expand this chart when I get more data. This amount of data shows some trends but it is not enough to make solid decisions...yet.
I would like to test other lighting systems especially in the categories I have little or no PAR data. If you have one of these wattage type tanks listed below and would like to know your PAR please PM me. :)
<ul>
<li>24w T5</li>
<li>39w T5</li>
<li>48w T5</li>
<li>70w DE</li>
<li>175w SE</li>
<li>250w SE</li>
<li>400w DE</li>
<li>1000w</li>
</ul>
This is the base results of the PAR testing I have done on various aquariums. This chart simply shows the average aquarium PAR for each wattage type at an aquarium depth of 12". The system wattage type</em> is simply the wattage of the primary light used to light the tank. This chart does not account for any variables such as supplemental actinics, water clarity or bulb height from the water. It is just the average PAR at a 12" aquarium depth from a certain wattage type.
I chose 12" as this is about the middle to mid-lower portion of most standard aquariums up to about 24" depth. Most aquariums have live rock structures and coral growing at this depth as well.
http://samsreef.com/images/stories/par-chart.gif" alt="" />
Most of the 250w DE systems I tested had a PAR advantage with either HQI ballasts driving the lamps harder with most of the systems having either 10K or 14K lamps.
I only tested two 400w SE systems both with 20K lamps and higher 6" to 8" lamp heights. The only other system I had two or more tests was with the 150w DE type.
I would like to expand this chart when I get more data. This amount of data shows some trends but it is not enough to make solid decisions...yet.
I would like to test other lighting systems especially in the categories I have little or no PAR data. If you have one of these wattage type tanks listed below and would like to know your PAR please PM me. :)
<ul>
<li>24w T5</li>
<li>39w T5</li>
<li>48w T5</li>
<li>70w DE</li>
<li>175w SE</li>
<li>250w SE</li>
<li>400w DE</li>
<li>1000w</li>
</ul>
Sammy,
If you're interested, I'd like to help with this project before I completely take down my 25g which has a 24" Solaris (G Series) over it.
LED isn't for everyone right now, but as the field of options widens and prices come down, they will really be worth everyone's attention. Certainly if you're not wanting to deal with heat.
Tank depth is 20" and the light is on the standard legs which puts it 4" over the water level.
Who has the club PAR meter?
If you're interested, I'd like to help with this project before I completely take down my 25g which has a 24" Solaris (G Series) over it.
LED isn't for everyone right now, but as the field of options widens and prices come down, they will really be worth everyone's attention. Certainly if you're not wanting to deal with heat.
Tank depth is 20" and the light is on the standard legs which puts it 4" over the water level.
Who has the club PAR meter?
I think the LED light systems will become a more attractive option in the near future. I would love to add a LED category to my PAR testings. I am using wattage type</em> as a sort of a loose quantifier and I think it can translate to LED systems as well. The 24" solaris wattage specs I found were 200w? Is this the same for the Solaris G?
Sending PM :thumbs:
I would like so see how a nova extremes are doing I have the 36" 4x39 on my 24" tall tank and dont really know if i am giving the corals i have what they need. They all look good now but I Have only had the oldest ones for about 2 weeks. I am trying to keep them all in the top half of the tank which is keeping the bottom very bare looking
My new lights! Three 150w HQI 20K Ushio lamps, basic (eBay) pendants, Galaxy electronic ballast with</em> eight 39w T5 Actinic+, Pure Actinic, Aquablue+ Geiseman lamps, IceCap reflectors and Advance ballast. MH's brand new, T5's about 8 months old.
Here is the old light system with just the 8 x 39w T5's PAR for reference:
The Aqualine Bushcke 10K 150w lamps I have measured around 1000 PAR at the top! :confused2: I decided to use some 20K Ushios for now as the PAR is 30-40% lower. I don't want to shock my corals excessively so I will run these 20K lamps for a few months and then will probably swith to 14K...maybe Phoenix?
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nice cant waite to see it in person
The color in the pic is very close to what my eye sees but the intensity in person is very bright initially but your eyes adjust after several minutes and the colors really show. The picture on the bottom is ever so slightly over exposed however so it may appear brighter than the top pic but trust me...the new light setup with the halides is much brighter.
I do like the color on this setup - 20K's with actinics and I still want more blue! I have plans to try the Phoenix 14K, the Radium 20K and the Iwasaki 50K. I also have the Aqualine Bushcke 13K lamps I can try. I will probably test the PAR on each of these as I am just simply a mad scientist at times. :crazy:
I do like the color on this setup - 20K's with actinics and I still want more blue! I have plans to try the Phoenix 14K, the Radium 20K and the Iwasaki 50K. I also have the Aqualine Bushcke 13K lamps I can try. I will probably test the PAR on each of these as I am just simply a mad scientist at times. :crazy:
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Oh, id love to see how the readings stack up on a solaris, someone on the forums here mentioned they had the h series a while back,thatd be real interesting to see how that unit holds up...ive considered the new led but there seems to be alot of skepticism regarding their par experiments. An unbiased reading and comparison would go a long way in assesing their efficacy for sps type reefs.
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sammy33;131523 wrote:alt="" />
My new lights! Three 150w HQI 20K Ushio lamps, basic (eBay) pendants, Galaxy electronic ballast with</em> eight 39w T5 Actinic+, Pure Actinic, Aquablue+ Geiseman lamps, IceCap reflectors and Advance ballast. MH's brand new, T5's about 8 months old.
Here is the old light system with just the 8 x 39w T5's PAR for reference:
alt="" />
The Aqualine Bushcke 10K 150w lamps I have measured around 1000 PAR at the top! :confused2: I decided to use some 20K Ushios for now as the PAR is 30-40% lower. I don't want to shock my corals excessively so I will run these 20K lamps for a few months and then will probably swith to 14K...maybe Phoenix?
Are the lamps on the lower photo, 54 watts or 39 watts? And thier driven by normal 54/39 watt ballasts, right?
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hey hs 39 watts on a advance ballast 8 of them i believe
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Thanks, Victor
The new T5 setup. 6 60" T5s on 2 IceCap 660 Ballasts using Icecap reflectors. The bulb config is currently:
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue Special
GE 6500k
ATI Pro Color
and here it is.... drum roll please....
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>
>
class="gc-images" title="camspar.jpg_Thumbnail1.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue Special
ATI Blue Special
GE 6500k
ATI Pro Color
and here it is.... drum roll please....
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>
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cam are you gonna change your bulbs out man last time i was there you said still to white ....what you plan on going with ..
