PAR Results that will surprise you..

[z28pwr]

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.






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.

[Gseclipse02]

crazy how that works out

i wish we could all get together and just try all the different set ups like this guy kind of did

http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...lector-testing


thanks for posting the results

[z28pwr]

crazy how that works out

i wish we could all get together and just try all the different set ups like this guy kind of did

http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...lector-testing


thanks for posting the results

Thanks JT.

This is an excellent review of different reflectors: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/review

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/review

[Bill S]

Any chance there's a difference in the area that gets lit? In other words, did you also measure off center to see how far from the center you continue to get light. If one is 2x the PAR, it might only cover 1/2 of the geography...

[TexasTodd]

Ditto what Bill said, the reason the LumenArc's are so "good" is the even and large spread of PAR.

[TexasTodd]

Well, good title Jose! You're right, it DID surprise me.
Someone has built a better mouse trap.
Great article.

We should get Sanjay down here for a lecture.

Todd

[z28pwr]

Any chance there's a difference in the area that gets lit? In other words, did you also measure off center to see how far from the center you continue to get light. If one is 2x the PAR, it might only cover 1/2 of the geography...

Bill, the LumenArc Mini's are around the same size of the LumenMax Elite and I saw considerably higher levels all around. I think if they were the large reflectors then that would definately be the case. The article I posted discusses that and has the percentage loss of each reflector but they don't compare the Mini's and come to the conclusion that the LumenMax are great for deep tanks and the larger lumenarc are better for shallower and wider tanks.

Well, good title Jose! You're right, it DID surprise me.
Someone has built a better mouse trap.
Great article.


We should get Sanjay down here for a lecture.

Todd

Thanks Todd.

[ErikH]

Just saw this...
http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...lector-testing

Good write up Jose