z28pwr
Sat, 19th Feb 2011, 11:26 PM
PAR METER RESULTS
The tank used for testing was 30" tall but the true depth was 25" from surface to sand bed, I also measured from surface to 14" deep to get an idea of what could be kept at that depth. The bulbs used were single ended mogul bulbs that were given 15 minutes to warm up and achieve their maximum brightness before being tested and are approximately 3 months old, so well within their usable life. The results below were taken using an Apogee MQ200 par meter and the ballast used was a 250 watt Lumatek ballast (I ran a couple of tests with a Blueline 7 ballast and had the same results). The big thing to notice here is that the tests were done using very respectable reflectors but one reflector produced over twice the PAR as the other.
http://www.z28pwr.com/images/parcomparison.jpg
http://www.z28pwr.com/images/tankpar.jpg
500+ PAR @ 25" deep talk about SPS on the FLOOR!!!
In conclusion: Reflectors make a tremendous difference, you may think that you are saving money by buying that $35 dollar spider reflector but in reality you are just wasting money since your light is going everywhere, except where you want it to go.
Thanks to Dipan for lending the PAR meter.
The tank used for testing was 30" tall but the true depth was 25" from surface to sand bed, I also measured from surface to 14" deep to get an idea of what could be kept at that depth. The bulbs used were single ended mogul bulbs that were given 15 minutes to warm up and achieve their maximum brightness before being tested and are approximately 3 months old, so well within their usable life. The results below were taken using an Apogee MQ200 par meter and the ballast used was a 250 watt Lumatek ballast (I ran a couple of tests with a Blueline 7 ballast and had the same results). The big thing to notice here is that the tests were done using very respectable reflectors but one reflector produced over twice the PAR as the other.
http://www.z28pwr.com/images/parcomparison.jpg
http://www.z28pwr.com/images/tankpar.jpg
500+ PAR @ 25" deep talk about SPS on the FLOOR!!!
In conclusion: Reflectors make a tremendous difference, you may think that you are saving money by buying that $35 dollar spider reflector but in reality you are just wasting money since your light is going everywhere, except where you want it to go.
Thanks to Dipan for lending the PAR meter.