junior Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 (edited) I'm really hoping I'm doing something wrong because my light levels look really low. I know PAR readings are very accurate with led's, but what I'm getting doesn't seem helpful at all. I know some people have used the apogee meter on led's before, and I was hoping for a little in site. I have a a Nano-Box Duo Plus M. The current settings for day time light is 80% on all channels other than white, which is 40%. Using the SQ-420, hooked into a laptop. I have it set to daylight, and has been calibrated. My readings are about 300 at the center surface of the tank. By the time I reach the first coral(about 4" under) it is at 150. Once to where most of my sps is(about 6-8" under) it is reading 90-100. At the bottom near my clams, I'm getting of reading of 60-70. This just doesn't seem right since, my corals are growing an have decent color. The clams aren't trying to move, and look very healthy. I have looked at their webpage, and even at maxed out I'm not getting the readings they have on their page. Any advice is appreciated, and thank you for the help. Also if anyone would like to use it, I'd be more than happy to swing by. It will create an excel file I can e-mail to you. Thanks, JR Edited March 24, 2016 by junior Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Commonly, the PAR readings on lighting websites are measured in air and only air. It might be the combination of both the distance from the water, the intensity and location of the light. You should see if you get the same PAR readings with the light in only air. Glad to heart the corals are doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junior Posted March 24, 2016 Author Share Posted March 24, 2016 My main concern has always been burning corals with the led's. With those readings I'm thinking I should increase the lighting? Is there anything I may be missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthbound Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Par sensors don't "see" light below 450nm very well so you have to compensate for that in your calculations, I can't remember by what percent off the top of my head though. You have to remember that there are no par meters designed specifically for our hobby so they are all not designed to read the heavy blue spectrum we commonly use. Personally if my corals look good I would care less what par they are getting, they are highly adaptable animals and will generally let you know if they aren't getting what they need. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junior Posted March 24, 2016 Author Share Posted March 24, 2016 (edited) What prompted me to order an apogee is the corals lower down. One blue stag is browned out, and I noticed the BTA stretching towards the light. My concern was ramping the light for them will burn the red dragon colony that is closest to the surface. I was getting a reading of 230 on top of upper most tip of it. I'll snap some pictures tonight when I get him. Edited March 24, 2016 by junior Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenbasketreef Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Look at your light fixture lay out. If you have about twice more blue & violet vs white then you may want to add 30% from your reading to get close to true par reading. If you want to increase power you need to rearrange the sps position, low light species going down and light hungry species going up. Yes you will burn the dragon type acropora if you have it up top. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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