foreverknight

Aquarium size:

Aqua H2O AQ-31 12 1/4"x6 5/8"x8"

Type of light fixture AND reflector:

Your Zone Bright On LED Desklamp from walmart

Number of lamps, bulbs, or tubes, and wattage:

single 2.4watt LED with the packageing it came with.

Age of lamps, bulbs, or tubes:

About one month

Distance from light fixture to substrate:

lamp is 13" from the substrate and 7" from the waters surface.

PAR VALUES MEASURED AT SUBSTRATE:

Surface Par 42
Mid Tank Par 22
Substrate Par 16


Comments:

As for comments here is the rest of the tank specs and everything in the tank is growing fine with no problems. I was also suprised with how bright the tank appeared how low the actual par reading was.

Flora:

Anubius Barteri "petite"
Vesicularia Ferriei
Staurogyne sp. Repens

Fauna:

1x Melanoides tuberculata
3x Planorbis rubrum
multiple Heterandria formosa

Filtration:

Piccotype HOB Standard floss large and fine no carbon.

Substrate:

SMS

If anyone has any questions about this tank just let me know.

foreverknight

Aquarium size:

Standard 10g 20"x10 1/4"x12 1/2"

Type of light fixture AND reflector:

Standard black plastic 10g incandecent hood with aluminum foil glued into the full underside of the hood

Number of lamps, bulbs, or tubes, and wattage:

2 bulbs 10watt each U tubes from walmart pets section.

Age of lamps, bulbs, or tubes:

About a year old

Other information:

Color temp is 6,500k

Distance from light fixture to substrate:

1 1/4" from water surface
12 1/4" from substrate

PAR VALUES MEASURED AT SUBSTRATE:

Surface Par 60
Mid Tank Par 50
Substrate Par 30


Comments:

As for comments on this tank there really isn't any it has been running this way for about a year now and have not had any problems with it algae has been minimum and haven't had any problems.

Flora:

Java moss at mid tank level
Java Fern (narro Leaf) also at mid tank level

Fauna:

Cherry shrimp
Ramshorn snails
MTS

Filtration:

AC 20 with the elite sponge over the intake tube.

Substrate:

Black Diamond Sandblasting Medium 30-60 grit

Any more questions on this tank again just let me know.

digital_gods

I'm testing and posting up the Par results over this weekend. I'll be dropping off the meter with Tex Gal.

Michael

Thanks Robert.

digital_gods

Data collected. I'll drop every off Tuesday evening. I've added to the kit a pocket tape measure, small screwdriver and a 24" dip stick to hold the probe for measuring.

Results will be posted soon.

Zapins

If I join your club from CA can I borrow the PAR meter too? Haha :P

Drooling over the results, keep it up!!

Michael

Robert, thanks again! Those are great additions to the kit.

As I understand, Tex Gal is next in line for the meter, then she will bring it to the holiday party on the 18th. Maybe Mike and Shane will let us dip the probe into their tanks, which are equiped with variety of lighting types.

I need to write up more of my own results, but I'm waiting for a new camera so that I can post photos of the set-ups. Soon, I promise.

As some may notice, we already changed our borrowing procedures a little. It was inconvenient for members in the far western parts of DFW to return the meter to me between each use, so it has been rotating among them since the last meeting.

Zapins, California might be a little far, but if you pay shipping. . . Seriously, I think the meter has been a great investment for our club, and has given some really surprising results.

digital_gods

PAR DATA COLLECTION

Aquarium size: 90 Gallon - 48 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 25 3/8
Type of light fixture AND reflector: Orbit PC Fixture
Number of lamps, bulbs, or tubes, and wattage: 4x96w
Age of lamps, bulbs, or tubes: 2 - 1+ years, 2 - unknown but brighter
Other information: CurrentUSA 10,000K/6,700K bulbs
Distance from light fixture to surface: 4.5”
Distance from light fixture to substrate: 23.5”
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT UNDER WATER SURFACE:412
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT SUBSTRATE:64


Aquarium size: 35 gallon Hexagon - 23 1/4 x 20 3/16 x 24 3/4
Type of light fixture AND reflector: Coralife PC Quad Compact Retrofit
Number of lamps, bulbs, or tubes, and wattage: 1x96w
Age of lamps, bulbs, or tubes: 6 months
Other information: Coralife 50%(10,000K)/50%(Actinic)
Distance from light fixture to surface: 1.25”
Distance from light fixture to substrate: 21.5”
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT UNDER WATER SURFACE:211
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT SUBSTRATE:19


Aquarium size: 10 gallon - 20 1/4 x 10 1/2 x 12 9/16
Type of light fixture AND reflector: Hood with double ended incandescent fixture
Number of lamps, bulbs, or tubes, and wattage: 2x26w Spiral CFL
Age of lamps, bulbs, or tubes: 1 year
Other information: 6500K Generic Bulbs, horizontal position
Distance from light fixture to surface: 2.5”
Distance from light fixture to substrate: 11”
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT UNDER WATER SURFACE:233
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT SUBSTRATE:45


Aquarium size: 22 gallon – 18”x24”x18”
Type of light fixture AND reflector: Zilla Incandescent Dual Bulb Reptile Fixture, white paint inside
Number of lamps, bulbs, or tubes, and wattage: 2x26w Spiral CFL
Age of lamps, bulbs, or tubes: 1 year
Other information:6500K Generic Bulbs, horizontal position
Distance from light fixture to surface: 15”
Distance from light fixture to substrate: 27.5”
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT UNDER WATER SURFACE:300
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT SUBSTRATE:16


Aquarium size: 29 Gallon - 30 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 18 3/4
Type of light fixture AND reflector: All Glass 18” T-8
Number of lamps, bulbs, or tubes, and wattage: 1x18w
Age of lamps, bulbs, or tubes: 1 year
Other information: GE Aqua Rays Freshwater 4,400K
Distance from light fixture to surface: 5.5”
Distance from light fixture to substrate: 27.5”
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT UNDER WATER SURFACE:53
PAR VALUES MEASURED AT SUBSTRATE:11

Comments:
Are there other conditions affecting light levels? The water in my 10 gallon gets very yellow at times caused by Tanin. I’m trying to raise CRS and so it’s a delicate balance to keep enough acidic and soft yet clear enough for not to filter out the light.

What types of plants do you grow? I have plants in all my tanks including goldfish and marine tank. I grow whatever will grow in my tank.

Was the meter easy to use? The meter was very easy to use. I liked how it logged the samples for later to review.

Were you surprised by the results? Yes. I know the tannin in the water filter the light but I was shocked to see how much light I am really loosing .In my 35 gallon Hex tank, I was surprised how close of PAR value was to the 29 gallon tank. This makes me question the value of actinic in a marine tank.

Michael

Great post, Robert! It is really nice to see photos of the set-ups along with the information.

One question, are your spiral CFLs mounted horizontally or vertically? This apparently makes a big difference.

fishyjoe24

also on the antic's, note you are using power compacts, and not t5 h.o. from what I read t5 h.o. will give a lot more par, then power compacts.... I would also like to see what MH's will do.

I should of measured my saltwater tank too.

also robert, what zoas/poly's are by the blue green chromis is in the reef tank... if you ever frag some of those i would like to get a frag thanks...