PAR Measurements

 What is a huge deciding factor that determines the outcome of a reef tank? Definitely without a doubt, any experienced reefer would tell you that light is one of the big players in a reef setup. I wanted to get it right this time and that means the PAR needs to be correct. PAR is the abbreviation for the term Photosynthetic Active Radiation, it is the measurement for light intensity in its full spectrum that is usable by corals. It is different from lumens as lumens measures for visual light, light that can be seen by the naked eye. Every coral species have their own PAR requirements and these are in my experience, the best for them (I'm not that experienced with SPS yet, on a learning journey):

Softies: 50-200 PAR
NPS: No PAR requirement
LPS: 100-300 PAR
SPS: 250-500 PAR (There are reefers who kept them >500 PAR but really, it requires a really experienced pair of hands as corals bleach easily in those lights)

With that being said, the last thing I want is to see corals being bleached from too much light or brown from too little light. I recalled one of the reefing stores called The Reefer had a service where they measured PAR for their customers. I contacted them and managed to get hold of Asri, who arranged a session with me for the price of $55. The session will consist of 2 measurements, 1 for when the lights are at its peak and another 1 which is the blue setting, for viewing pleasure.

He came by on a Sunday afternoon (21/02) and started probing my tank with his measuring device. Apparently the device itself is a rough $1500, something that I definitely cannot afford. After a rough 30min, the PAR measurements turned out rather nicely but Asri recommended me to add another set of lights for the back of my tank.

As I intend to head towards a more SPS dominated tank, the measurements seem pretty cool to me. I didn't see the need to add another set of lights. Maybe in the future when I'm more experienced and want to bring out the 'hidden' colours of the corals.