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Coral Vue Hydros

How do my par levels look?


DOJOLOACH

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So I've rented a par meter for the week and want to dial my setup in for a softie and lps tank, 40 breeder.

I have read several articles on par levels and I've seen that 50-100 is the par levels you want at the bottom of the tank. Turns out I had my lights set too high, a 32" sb reef mounted 14" above surface, putting out 150 to 200 at the bottom.

I now have my whites set at 10.% blue 25%. For some reason my whites can't go any lower without shutting them off. Anyways...

Par levels at bottom : B/B+W
60/100 in middle area, middle ring of values is 40/80, outer ring is 35/60
PAR level at middle of tank:
Inner circle:90/140, middle circle 75/100, outer circle 50/80.

Top of tank 1" under surface:
Inner circle 120/190
Middle circle: 90/130
Outer circle 60/100.

Light schedule
Blues: 2pm-9:45pm
Whites: 330pm-8pm

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4 hours ago, DOJOLOACH said:

Turns out I had my lights set too high, a 32" sb reef mounted 14" above surface, putting out 150 to 200 at the bottom.

Mounting height is more related to proper coverage than it is to PAR.  (Dimming gives you independent control over intensity.)

 

Assuming you have 90º lenses, did you end up with a mounting height of around 9" off the water (or less) to limit "light spill" outside the tank?

 

4 hours ago, DOJOLOACH said:

Light schedule
Blues: 2pm-9:45pm
Whites: 330pm-8pm

Does this light have sunrise/sunset dimming, or just per-channel dimming for overall color control?

 

Seems like you should have room to increase the power to the blue channel if you think it would still look good.

 

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6 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Mounting height is more related to proper coverage than it is to PAR.  (Dimming gives you independent control over intensity.)

 

Assuming you have 90º lenses, did you end up with a mounting height of around 9" off the water (or less) to limit "light spill" outside the tank?

 

Does this light have sunrise/sunset dimming, or just per-channel dimming for overall color control?

 

Seems like you should have room to increase the power to the blue channel if you think it would still look good.

 

Mounting height was left the same. With my whites turned down at 10%  already, it didn't seem like I could go any lower. I do have some light spill out of the tank but not a lot.

 

Also the lights are on timers, they can't ramp up, only have a channel for blue, white, and a viewing moonlight. Moonlight does not put out any par

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7 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Mounting height is more related to proper coverage than it is to PAR.  (Dimming gives you independent control over intensity.)

 

Assuming you have 90º lenses, did you end up with a mounting height of around 9" off the water (or less) to limit "light spill" outside the tank?

 

Does this light have sunrise/sunset dimming, or just per-channel dimming for overall color control?

 

Seems like you should have room to increase the power to the blue channel if you think it would still look good.

 

Also, what makes you suggest increasing blue power? Do you think these par levels are going to work with scans, favias, zoas? Maybe eventually a monti at the top

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5000 lux (100 PAR) for most corals is approximately what is called their "compensation point" – where the are making enough with photosynthesis to meet their most basic demands.

 

Looks to me like you're in good shape as far as that goes.

 

You can go by looks for how much blue to add.  As long as it looks something like a nice 20,000K blue, you should be set for color as well.

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56 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

5000 lux (100 PAR) for most corals is approximately what is called their "compensation point" – where the are making enough with photosynthesis to meet their most basic demands.

 

Looks to me like you're in good shape as far as that goes.

 

You can go by looks for how much blue to add.  As long as it looks something like a nice 20,000K blue, you should be set for color as well.

Appreciate it, I'll take that advice!

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