Par Reading On Lights

[heath]

Is there a way to determine if your lights have enough " par " short of getting a par reading meter..

 

[pulpfiction1]

you have a fish only with live rock disply if i recall,your coral tank crashed didnt it?

 

[heath]

yup, got the 75 gal tank on sunday and its going to be mainly corals..that's why I was asking,, the lights that came with the tank are/look pretty strong but I want to be sure.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

What kind of lights are they?

 

[curiousphil]

PAR metres are useful for two things: determining if a light fixture is totally inadequate for growing corals, and for creating detailed PAR maps of aquariums so that corals can be placed in their optimal lighting zones.

Most light fixtures will grow corals adequately, especially if you are into LPS and soft coral. When you start getting into SPS, that's when you need to be more discriminate about your light fixture and coral placement.

I would say that as long as you are using a T5 fixture with at least four bulbs, or a newer LED fixture, you can be rest assured that your lights are "up to par" so to speak. No need to measure with a meter unless you want to get anal about placement.

 

[heath]

the light is a T5 quad, I was asking because this is a new tank and I don't want to spend money on corals only to watch them die and find out that it was the light..but I also don't want to spend the money to buy a new light only to find out that the existing light would be ok..

 

[kapelan]

for 75G would use minimum 200W.

 

[EricTMah]

I'm assuming that you're just going with softies and lps for the new reef tank?

If you're sticking with that, then your quad t5 will do just fine.

One thing I would question would be the age of the bulbs in there now and the brand. I've had experience with all different brands of t5's and it makes a world of difference. My suggestion would be ATI bulbs. 2 blue plus, 1 purple plus and 1 coral plus.


Sony Xperia Z3

 

[pulpfiction1]

Yes old bulbs can bring you some hair algae problems

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk HD

 

[heath]

thanks eric, yes I'm planning on softies and lps. Iam not sure of the age of the bulbs, right now it has 2 ati and 2 white, thanks for the great advise..

 

[EricTMah]

thanks eric, yes I'm planning on softies and lps. Iam not sure of the age of the bulbs, right now it has 2 ati and 2 white, thanks for the great advise..

If you don't know the age. I would highly recommend replacing them. Not worth the risk. Old bulbs + new tank is sure to create an algae problem. ATI bulbs aren't too expensive. 48" should run you between $25-$30 per bulb. To me it's a small expense to avoid potential algae issues you could be battling for a while after the tank is up and running. I'd also advise to cycle the tank in the dark. This will also help reduce the risk of potential algae problems.

 

[heath]

you are great giving such sound advise..thanks

 

[bluewater]

you should have no problem with 4x t5 bulbs. I've seen softies and lps do quite well under 2x.

Cheers

 

[reeferkeeper420]

I was doing sps succesfully under a quad t5. So yeah def sufficient.