Led Par testing

[akunochi]

The optics on mine are 70the on the outside and 40I on the inside.

 

[1guydude]

+1 in time these lights will only get better me thinks! Thxs again mike for bring the par meter and talkin about tanks!
Only thing i would recommend for DIYers or just buyers is that u want more leds and less optics.....say 40 leds with 40deg optics over 20 leds with 60 or 80deg optics!

 

[Myteemouse]

here you go
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f219/cool-write-up-two-different-leds-57630/

 

[Aquanaut]

What no one has mentioned yet is what is acceptable coral growing PAR needed at the bottom most level and the excessive level exposure at the uppermost reef level that is harmful to SPS. Durring SEAMAX a vendor was stating that their newest 100w cree flood light needed 36" ABOVE the tank! because of its intensity.

 

[10gnano]

Par results of AI Sol Super Blue standard optics

Lights are 15" above the tank


6" below lights outside optics (Air) 800
6" below lights inside optics (Air) 1900

6" Below water level (21" below lights) 220
12" below water level (27" below lights) 195
Bottom of tank (39" below lights) 145

What percent do you have your lights at?

 

[akunochi]

I normally run at 65% but the test was done at 100% with lights 15" off the tank.

 

[mojoreef]

What no one has mentioned yet is what is acceptable coral growing PAR needed at the bottom most level and the excessive level exposure at the uppermost reef level that is harmful to SPS. Durring SEAMAX a vendor was stating that their newest 100w cree flood light needed 36" ABOVE the tank! because of its intensity.

Well we werent really going into that Aquanaut, but I guess what most folks look for, for say SPS is around 300-400, LPS is around 200-300 and softies around 150- 200. But thats a subjective thing and varies from species to species, also coral can adapt to lower levels by adding or deleting zoox. Also it seems that LEDs tend to push most of their photons in a narrow band in terms of spectral output and that I believe has a huge impact when you are looking at these.


Myteemouse thats a strange one, I believe those were the same leds that Seth is using and if so we could not get those numbers??


Mojo

 

[dnjan]

What would be nice to see is a series of PAR contour-plots for a couple of different distances below the fixture. Like Sanjay did with MH reflectors years ago.

I would be very interested in seeing eveness and spread for some of these setups.

 

[mojoreef]

Feature Article: LED Lighting Tests: Aquaillumination, Blue Moon, Eco-Lamp KR-91, Ecoxotic Panorama — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

 

[dnjan]

Thanks!
Some of those LED fixtures sure drop off quickly if you aren't directly under the center. This suggests that there is almost no reflector effect sending light straight down.

It would be interesting to see similar contour plots with PAR measured 6" and 12" (and perhaps more) below the water surface to take into account the index of refraction (reflection) effect at the water surface from light hitting it at that much of an angle.

 

[mojoreef]

Dan the drop offs were even worse under water, or at least on the units we looked at. Again the grind on the lens, Seth said that his were 70 degrees on the outside and that showed up on the testing. Going to do some more testing this weekend, so i will try to be a little more detailed on the results, one of the lights is going to be with out lens so we will see how that pans out.


Mojo

 

[dnjan]

... the drop offs were even worse under water, or at least on the units we looked at.
Mojo

Not a surprise. Looking forward to the additional measurements.