AliExpress PAR Meter

[Tamberav]

Apogee was $255 at Premium Aquatics. Looks like the deal expired though

 

[BeanAnimal]

i don’t really get what any of you are testing at all, flow on or off or compared to what or how or why… honestly.

 

[Manose]

i don’t really get what any of you are testing at all, flow on or off or compared to what or how or why… honestly.

Flow off

 

[BeanAnimal]

Ohh.. I was not being funny. What do the numbers that you "read" mean in the context of growing coral?

There is an obsession with the numbers that these "instruments" provide that give the false sense of their importance. Hoards of people throwing around PAR numbers that mean absolutely nothing and have no decipherable context anything else. Sure they can be good for heat mapping a fixture, but other than that???

 

[BeanAnimal]

Flow off

Why not flow on?

Don't your coral live under lights with flow on?

 

[Manose]

Why not flow on?

Don't your coral live under lights with flow on?

Then do it with the flow on - I was just stating what I do so you do you
I just find it easier with flow off and yes people throw around numbers a lot but I get a round about and go by how the coral looks.

 

[sharkbait-uhaha]

Ohh.. I was not being funny. What do the numbers that you "read" mean in the context of growing coral?

There is an obsession with the numbers that these "instruments" provide that give the false sense of their importance. Hoards of people throwing around PAR numbers that mean absolutely nothing and have no decipherable context anything else. Sure they can be good for heat mapping a fixture, but other than that???

I use the numbers I get from my par meter to give me an idea as to where future coral placement would be best as some corals dont like high par and others do.

 

[fredward]

Why not flow on?

Don't your coral live under lights with flow on?

Par testing is just a benchmark. So a hobbiest can have a scale in their mind when building a knowledge base. To compare past results, future results, and the results of others. And it’s especially important for the meter to be consistent, not necessarily accurate. But consistency allows people to compare results and have a standard to compare against. And flow off because flow on makes the reading bounce around too much so you cannot measure consistently with flow on.

So yeah like most things in this hobby measuring par is not critical to grow coral but it’s a very good way of comparing lights and results across the board and to have a standard for which to do so.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I use the numbers I get from my par meter to give me an idea as to where future coral placement would be best as some corals dont like high par and others do.

Simple physics dictates that high light corals go higher in the tank and low light corals, lower or in the shadows even....

Does the number from the PAR meter mean anything? What are you measuring that matters and what actual number is the right number?

Does that number tell you anything about the suitability of the light to grow that specific coral that you are measuring for or is it just an expensive toy that makes you feel like you are measuring something important, when in fact you are not measuring anything of use at all?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Par testing is just a benchmark

A benchmark to exactly what?

. So a hobbiest can have a scale in their mind when building a knowledge base. To compare past results, future results, and the results of others.

I can grab a DB meter and measure how loud an elephant farts. I can do that over and over. Everyone else can with their meters as well. What scale are we weighted to? How are we calibrated against each other? More importantly when we compare the loudness of elephant farts, what is it really telling us? Is it a useful number? Useful for what?

PAR (PPFD) is really a useless number for what most of you are attempting to use it for. It tells you nothing about the spectral appropriateness of that light to grow coral.

And it’s especially important for the meter to be consistent, not necessarily accurate. But consistency allows people to compare results and have a standard to compare against.

Again, to what end? If you measure 4 times with the same meter and you get 321, 308, 363 and 315 what does it mean? And that is only if you are measuring the same exact spectrum. Ahh... you want to see if your light degrades over time. News Flash - different color diodes degraded at different rates. So the PAR meter tells you that something degraded, but what exactly? Again, essentially an entirely useless number.

And flow off because flow on makes the reading bounce around too much so you cannot measure consistently with flow on.

Measure what? If you are not measuring what the coral sees (not that it matters) then what is the purpose? Ohh the "benchmark"... benchmark against what? Also if that is the case, why put the sensor in water anyway?

So yeah like most things in this hobby measuring par is not critical to grow coral but it’s a very good way of comparing lights and results across the board and to have a standard for which to do so.

No it is an extremely poor way to compare lights. In fact it is a ridiculous way to compare lights. No two fixtures have the same spectral output. One fixture that puts out "300" may grow coral far better than one that puts put "400"... it all depends on spectrum. Aggregated intensity (PAR) over a certain band is pretty useless when we know that certain subsets of that band are what are important for growth, health, color, etc.

 

[fredward]

A benchmark to exactly what?


I can grab a DB meter and measure how loud an elephant farts. I can do that over and over. Everyone else can with their meters as well. What scale are we weighted to? How are we calibrated against each other? More importantly when we compare the loudness of elephant farts, what is it really telling us? Is it a useful number? Useful for what?

PAR (PPFD) is really a useless number for what most of you are attempting to use it for. It tells you nothing about the spectral appropriateness of that light to grow coral.


Again, to what end? If you measure 4 times with the same meter and you get 321, 308, 363 and 315 what does it mean? And that is only if you are measuring the same exact spectrum. Ahh... you want to see if your light degrades over time. News Flash - different color diodes degraded at different rates. So the PAR meter tells you that something degraded, but what exactly? Again, essentially an entirely useless number.


Measure what? If you are not measuring what the coral sees (not that it matters) then what is the purpose? Ohh the "benchmark"... benchmark against what? Also if that is the case, why put the sensor in water anyway?


No it is an extremely poor way to compare lights. In fact it is a ridiculous way to compare lights. No two fixtures have the same spectral output. One fixture that puts out "300" may grow coral far better than one that puts put "400"... it all depends on spectrum. Aggregated intensity (PAR) over a certain band is pretty useless when we know that certain subsets of that band are what are important for growth, health, color, etc.

Well I’m not sure why you are so hot over this. I really don’t care to spend time to convince you of anything. I see the value in it. If you don’t that’s cool.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Well I’m not sure why you are so hot over this. I really don’t care to spend time to convince you of anything. I see the value in it. If you don’t that’s cool.

I am not hot at all or asking you to spend time trying to convince me. To that end, there is nothing that you could say to sway me even if you tried.

I fully understand what a PAR meter is and exactly what it measures. The vast majority of people using them have no clue, even if they think they do. If they did they would see how pointless they are for what most people in the hobby use them for. That was kind of the point.

Just trying to put a little sanity back into misconception and save people a little bit of money at the same time.

Also not beating Telegram up for testing these things or his enthusiasm for measurement tools and lighting.

Have a nice evening.