Is a PAR Meter Worth it

[Bear Claw]

Looking to "rent" the BRS PAR meter to get my lighting down before getting into SPS. Anyone who has used them, is it worth it? Or should I take the $80 and put it into, let's say, a new wave maker? I have 2 AI Prime's about 12 inches above the surface of the water, in a 15" tall aquarium. Thank you!

 

[The_Paradox]

Personally not a fan. Only thing my meter has ever done for me is convince me to make bad choices. Go by coral response not some arbitrary number on the internet.

 

[exnisstech]

I purchased one and it's the most valuable reef related tool I have. I could never keep clams alive until I did a par check and found out I was light starving them even tho the lights looked plenty bright to me. I also find it useful when adding new coral as I can try to match the par they came from. Necessary? Absolutely not but I spent my life buying tools that might only get used or twice a year so it was easy for me to make the purchase.

 

[TX_REEF]

definitely worth it, if even just for peace of mind. One time investment for unlimited use for all your current and future systems.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I don't think they are all that useful for most people, especially knowing that people have measured most lights at most reasonable distances and you get a decent idea of your PAR by simply searching.

If you want some wonky color blend, then maybe they can offer some insight, but for most sane color blends on LEDs and/or combos with MH or T5, etc. Just go look for prior results.

To that end BRS measured most common fixtures and published optimum distances (per their calcs) for each fixture to maximize PAR and reduce shadowing, etc.

I have a $550 instrument that sits in a drawer and was used one time in the last 2 years. Buy the time that I use it again, the new $550 model will be out and we will be told that this one is inferior and reads low or high or the wrong spectrum...

save you money...

 

[penguinexdeus]

I bought one a couple years ago and use it every couple of months - whenever I feel i need to tweak/ upgrade something or change placement of something... intensity, spectrum, change lights, or set up a new aquarium. Have also used it on friends/families tanks. I think it's been a great tool to have. Especially for SPS. Going to be using it again today to check par after starting ozone, and moving some things around.

Since you said you were thinking about renting, that tells me you probably don't see yourself using it multiple times in the long run... but i think using one at least once and seeing what different intensities your lights provide is good. You might be able to find someone on the forum willing to loan you one or who may be local to stop by and let you spend 30 minutes with a meter for a slice of pizza...

 

[slowwrx137]

I bought one about 6 months ago to check my coral placement before attaching them to the rocks. I've used it maybe once a month as I get new corals/frags. My tank is only about a year old so I'm still adding things pretty regularly.

If your tank is fairly new or your adding/changing things then it's probably worth the $80 rental but if your tank is older/established and everything looks good I'd probably pass on the rental.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I bought one a couple years ago and use it every couple of months - whenever I feel i need to tweak/ upgrade something or change placement of something... intensity, spectrum, change lights, or set up a new aquarium. Have also used it on friends/families tanks. I think it's been a great tool to have. Especially for SPS. Going to be using it again today to check par after starting ozone, and moving some things around.

You are chasing par differences that are likely outside the margin of error based on angle, precise probe depth, etc. If it makes you feel good to measure, then by all means do it. I just don’t see it making any difference whatsoever.

 

[mizimmer90]

I'll preface that I agree with those that say a PAR meter is not necessary. You don't need one to be successful but I personally think it's a nice for peace of mind that light is near what you think.

I bought the VBR-aqua from Amazon and love it. I use it to get a ballpark for my par values at different locations due to rock scape/depth/overhang differences. As others mentioned, I wouldn't read into exact values but it gives a good idea of what light each region of your tank is getting. Helps to inform if you need to add more light or not!

 

[Narideth]

The post was talking about renting, not buying. That being said, I rented a PAR meter myself from my LFS and found out I was nuking one of my tanks with lights way higher than I'd been led to believe by default spectrum maps.

I didn't change anything, because my corals have adapted, but it did tell me why my low light birdsnest died the way it did, and what I might be expected to keep alive. I found it to be invaluable information, especially since I couldn't find information online about someone else having measured the light at the short distance I was using. I thought it was underlit.

I wouldn't buy one, but if I change my lights, you bet I'll rent it again.

 

[Reef Devils]

Looking to "rent" the BRS PAR meter to get my lighting down before getting into SPS. Anyone who has used them, is it worth it? Or should I take the $80 and put it into, let's say, a new wave maker? I have 2 AI Prime's about 12 inches above the surface of the water, in a 15" tall aquarium. Thank you!

I don’t think it is worth it. I would use the money one something else that you will get a lot of use out of.

But if it is a new tank and u want to know what the par is like in parts of the tank then it might be a good idea.

 

[Troylee]

$80 seems really high for a rental.. the lfs here normally rent it out for $20 or find a local reefer with one to come over and make a map for you it’s much cheaper.. and spend your cash else where.. if you wanna dip into sps just get some and place them where you like them..if they brown it’s not enough light or if they pale it’s too much light.. nutrients and elements play a big role in color also.

 

[Idech]

A reefer on Youtube compared an app with an Apogee par meter and the results were incredibly similar.

It convinced me and I bought a waterproof case for my phone and installed the app. It works really well and costs less than 20$.

 

[ThaBeast]

IMO depends where you are at in the hobby and personal finances. On a budget? Find a local reefer or lfs for a lot less than $80, just to have a baseline. Buying $300-500 corals and have a lot of reef gear? Buy your own so you can check whenever you wonder about your lighting and placement

 

[KrisReef]

Looking to "rent" the BRS PAR meter to get my lighting down before getting into SPS. Anyone who has used them, is it worth it? Or should I take the $80 and put it into, let's say, a new wave maker? I have 2 AI Prime's about 12 inches above the surface of the water, in a 15" tall aquarium. Thank you!

How old is your tank and what corals and stuff do you want to try and keep? The more difficult the livestock the more useful a meter may be. Problem folks have is that they adjust their spectrums later, add more blue and then what's the new par at?

Personally not a fan. Only thing my meter has ever done for me is convince me to make bad choices. Go by coral response not some arbitrary number on the internet.

This will work if you are adding "easy" corals, but knowing par can help

I purchased one and it's the most valuable reef related tool I have. I could never keep clams alive until I did a par check and found out I was light starving them even tho the lights looked plenty bright to me. I also find it useful when adding new coral as I can try to match the par they came from. Necessary? Absolutely not but I spent my life buying tools that might only get used or twice a year so it was easy for me to make the purchase.

It helped exnisstech when he found out he was too low.

If you can borrow one locally, throw the lender a frag and then you will know.

I have one, rarely use it but I have let folks setting up a new tank borrow it and they snapped the probe wand. It's an expensive item to purchase for as often as I don't use it. Still, when I want to add a new coral I can have a PAR number instead of a guess. I had lived for a long time before I got one and probably didn't totally need it.

The Primes are common lights and you can probably look up outputs from others who have them and have a reasonable idea what your PAR range is likely to be.

 

[Bear Claw]

IMO depends where you are at in the hobby and personal finances. On a budget? Find a local reefer or lfs for a lot less than $80, just to have a baseline. Buying $300-500 corals and have a lot of reef gear? Buy your own so you can check whenever you wonder about your lighting and placement

Yea I’m on a budget. There’s a guy near me that would rent it for $30. It’s an apogee 510. Good deal?

 

[ThaBeast]

Yea I’m on a budget. There’s a guy near me that would rent it for $30. It’s an apogee 510. Good deal?

Only you can answer that, whole lot less than $80 though!

 

[Bear Claw]

How old is your tank and what corals and stuff do you want to try and keep? The more difficult the livestock the more useful a meter may be. Problem folks have is that they adjust their spectrums later, add more blue and then what's the new par at?


This will work if you are adding "easy" corals, but knowing par can help

It helped exnisstech when he found out he was too low.

If you can borrow one locally, throw the lender a frag and then you will know.

I have one, rarely use it but I have let folks setting up a new tank borrow it and they snapped the probe wand. It's an expensive item to purchase for as often as I don't use it. Still, when I want to add a new coral I can have a PAR number instead of a guess. I had lived for a long time before I got one and probably didn't totally need it.

The Primes are common lights and you can probably look up outputs from others who have them and have a reasonable idea what your PAR range is likely to be.

Good to know thanks!! My tank is 2.5 years old but I only have a few easy corals. I will soon be buying a bunch of corals though and possibly some SPS. It’d be great if I could find a post about par of my tank but almost no one has my tank so not sure.

 

[Bear Claw]

A reefer on Youtube compared an app with an Apogee par meter and the results were incredibly similar.

It convinced me and I bought a waterproof case for my phone and installed the app. It works really well and costs less than 20$.

Anyone else used the app on the thread?

 

[BeanAnimal]

Yea I’m on a budget. There’s a guy near me that would rent it for $30. It’s an apogee 510. Good deal?

Save the money - look up the lights and set them accordingly.