Par readings- Another disapointment

MMreef said:
Two things here, you say bulbs are 8-10 months old. If you research this matter you will find that bulbs lose about 30% PAR in a year use in superior fixtures like ATI with active cooling. Change your bulbs and I am sure your PAR numbers will increase. Also not having individual reflectors in your fixture compounds the problem. You're losing about another 10-15% by not having them. That's why higher end fixtures cost more but also perform a lot better. Having 400 PAR is maybe good for mixed reef but for SPS to thrive you need a little more. If you look at my tank that was featured here , my PAR was over 900 at the surface and about 600 in the middle. I did change my bulbs every 8 months to keep the PAR stable.
Click to expand...
Yeahi agree with u on that. I do have dual fans on my fixture that run any time the lights are on. I know I'm getting close to needing to replace bulbs but for the price i might get those gb fixtures lol
 
Joe5688 said:
Yeahi agree with u on that. I do have dual fans on my fixture that run any time the lights are on. I know I'm getting close to needing to replace bulbs but for the price i might get those gb fixtures lol
Click to expand...

Yeah, replacing bulbs gets costly . Unfortunately this hobby is not cheap.
 
MMreef said:
Yeah, replacing bulbs gets costly . Unfortunately this hobby is not cheap.
Click to expand...

That's one of the reasons I went with LEDs. They are cheaper to run and maintain, though the costs at the point of sale is high. MH was not an option due to the amount of electricity they consume, the cost of bulbs and the likelyhood my buildings electric system would burst into flames. T5 with all those bulbs would cause me greif with driving, locating and spending on the bulbs.
 
What i find odd is that this fixture has caused bleaching on my montis and zoas but it has the same if not less par where it was sitting on my cannopy. Now the fixture is on my tank i wonder how bad the bleaching will be
 
DB9181 said:
Hasn't the 'time come'? Your bulbs are at least 8 months old, and Par values have dramatically dropped from where they probably should be w/ good/ATI bulbs.
Click to expand...

I don't know how much if any they have dropped cause i never got par readings with fresh biulbs. And i have a single reflector so that makes a big difference
 
I know most of the Nova Fixtures had Indiviual reflectors and I know for sure the 8 bulb fixture did have them since I own one myself.... So either your bulbs really suck becasue even with after 8 months of bulb use I still had over 380 or close to 400 PAR with ATI bulbs.... The longivity of the bulbs depend on how long you have them on during the day and how cool you keep them running during the day also. Nova Fixtures have Fans built right into the fixture so when the dawn light are on one fans turns on and with the other same thing other fan kicks in. You heard this already but change the bulbs...
 
Which bulbs you use affects par, if they are the more blue type you are going to get lower numbers, and purple will barely read any par, despite putting out alot. T5 looses par fast over time, And the older you let the bulbs get the more light shock corals will experience when you change them, at one time i let my t5's get approx 12 months old, and changed them, with new bulbs same height/lighting schedule i bleached my corals.
 
Joe5688 said:
If i were to replace one id probably swap out 1or 2 every few weeks. Not all at once.
Click to expand...

I always replace all at the same time, but shorten the light period from 12 to 8 hrs. Every week I add 30 min. till I get back to regular 12 hrs. day. Corals have time to adjust to new intensity, never bleached one yet with this method.
 
My current schedule is 1pm-8pm 4 on. 5pm-10pm second 4 on. I was running thus schedule because of the bleaching.
 
Joe5688 said:
My nova fixture Doesn't have individual reflectors... :angry:
Click to expand...

This is your problem. I used to have the same fixture and I looked all over, even call the maker, you cannot upgrade to individual reflectors, there's no room. Without individual reflectors, T5 lights are never going to get you what you need for sticks.
 
Tank2379 said:
I know most of the Nova Fixtures had Indiviual reflectors and I know for sure the 8 bulb fixture did have them since I own one myself.... So either your bulbs really suck becasue even with after 8 months of bulb use I still had over 380 or close to 400 PAR with ATI bulbs.... The longivity of the bulbs depend on how long you have them on during the day and how cool you keep them running during the day also. Nova Fixtures have Fans built right into the fixture so when the dawn light are on one fans turns on and with the other same thing other fan kicks in. You heard this already but change the bulbs...
Click to expand...

The old fixtures do NOT have individual reflectors, I know because I had one. I know for certain that you get 40% MORE par when you compare the Nova's with and without individual reflectors. I wouldn't say for certain you'll get an extra 30% more PAR from newer bulbs like mmreef mentioned because he was referring specifically to ATI fixtures which overdrive their bulbs. I used to test before and after adding new ATI bulbs and saw maybe 10-15% boost with new bulbs, however, I replaced every 7 months max. I went through this exercise a couple years back and tested 2 Nova fixtures (with and without individual reflectors) with same ATI bulbs etc. Joe, your issue is not old bulbs, it is the lack of individual reflectors. You will not jump from 250 to 400 PAR with new bulbs, but you will with good reflectors. I realized I had to dump the fixture, best move I made for my sticks, they took off afterwards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top