Par reading from my DIY T5/LED Hybrid

[SchnitzelReef]

Borrowed a par meter from Greg C. (Thanks again Greg).
My light is 90-3w bridgelux and 4-80w t5.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/06/eby3u2ah.jpg

The highest reading I got was middle of the tank, 6" under the water. I got a reading of 690 par.
This was with all my pumps on and all lights at full blast.

Half way down at the top of my left rock structure.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/06/5e7ypenu.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/06/6uba5ena.jpg

Bottom of the tank, in the sand bed.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/06/u9u6yseg.jpg
If u look in the back ground, u can see the par meter eye where it gets the reading from. Unfocused, It's sitting there on my sand bed.

Pretty stocked with those numbers. I think I achieved my goal. That should be plenty of light for SPS.

[SchnitzelReef]

Also, I've changed out about half of my optics to 60*. I was using the 80* optics, but I think they are too diffused and lose par. I checked on the sand bed before switching to the 60* optics and I was getting 200-250ish par. So it def made a difference. In the middle of the tank, where the majority of the 80* optics are left, I noticed about 100 par less then the areas with 60* optics.

[SchnitzelReef]

Ok so I found a spot on a rock where I was getting consistently 500 par, I turned off my LEDs and BOOM dropped 300 par down to 200. Then I ran all LEDs and no t5s, dropped 200 down to 300 par. So the combo really kicks butt.

I also tested the par about halfway down, and I moved the par meter in front of the ATI Coral + Bulb vs the ATI Blue+ bulb, and the reading was exactly the same. Right around 170-220, regardless of which bulb I was under.

[wildman926]

Very nice write up.

Interesting to note that you lost more par when turning off the leds.

[SchnitzelReef]

Very nice write up.

Interesting to note that you lost more par when turning off the leds.

Ya. I think the LEDs with 60* optics pack more punch then 4-t5s.

Also forgot to add that my whole light fixture is about 10-12inches off of my water. So I'm sure if I lowered it more, I could get some more par from my t5s.

[TimeConsumer]

What reflectors are you using on the t5s?

[SchnitzelReef]

I got them from Hellolights.com. Supposed to be German parabolic reflectors. I think

[SchnitzelReef]

Update:
Lights are still working great. Ended up switching 1 of my coral + for another blue+. I love the 20k look. Plus i think the blue light gets better color from certain corals.
My SPS love the hybrid light. I've also got clams,Lps,zoas, palys... And they all are thriving. I def couldn't say that when all I was running was LEDs. Certain corals did ok and some corals did horrible. Now, they all do great.

[Bo0sted_Rafi]

any update for this? Still using the same light combo with the same good results?

[SchnitzelReef]

any update for this? Still using the same light combo with the same good results?


Yep I sure am. I had to remove all my SPS due to an acro eating flatworm infestation. My acros are all in a 30g frag tank under an ATI fixture that I turned into a t5/led hybrid. They are all doing great. All my corals in my display are growing great, and I'm getting excellent colors.

I'm in the process of setting up a new tank. It will be an 8' tank with 150-3w LEDs and 6-80w t5s. My tank is only 20" deep, so I decided to go with 80w bulbs instead of doing 2 rows of 54w t5s. I'm hoping that my LEDs will do the grunt of the work and the t5s will just help with spread and spectrum.

I'll update this thread after I finish that build.

[JDM_SOHC]

How did you get the middle two t5 lights to turn off and not turn off the other 2..?? I have a 6 bulb tek light and when I take out the center 2 T5 bulbs the other inner 2 turn off as well..

Thanks