# PAR measurements for many lights



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

thanks....


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## Ashenwelt (Aug 29, 2016)

This id very cool, thank you for doing it.

It would be real cool to add some of the other comon ones and some of the low cost LEDs for nano.

One thing this does is help me see a real sampling on where my PAR should be for my light. The reason being I am about 22 inches with a Current USA Freshwater LED plus which i guess should put me in the 25 PAR range at the bottom.

Very cool job here.

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So the EVO 15 inch clip on is PAR 208 at 18 inches? How far does that spread? That seems insane for a light that plane isn't that much money. Or am i looking at the wrong light?

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## Felipe (Sep 4, 2014)

Thanks! I bought the beamswork 1w hoping to be at medium light. Looks like it is.


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## irishspy (Oct 22, 2007)

Huh. Thanks for posting this data. I had thought my Planted+ was PAR 60 at 12", based on what I'd read elsewhere. Guess I was wrong.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

irishspy said:


> Huh. Thanks for posting this data. I had thought my Planted+ was PAR 60 at 12", based on what I'd read elsewhere. Guess I was wrong.


All LED lights that are a long bar give more light the longer they are. The 20 inch long version gives a lot less light than the 30 inch long version, etc. The only exception would be a light that has narrow angle optics on each LED, instead of the relatively wide angles that Finnex uses. With the wide angle, every LED helps light the whole length of the tank.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Visual............


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## fearsome (Feb 16, 2013)

It is also worth mentioning the planted plus has 660nm LEDs, and the PAR meter I am using misses some of that spectrum. Therefore the planted plus may have a lower reading with this meter than real levels.

And on top of that everyone seems to use different conditions to measure PAR, in the planted tank world it seems many will measure in an aquarium which introduces light scatter, and reflection off the glass.


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## Ilikefish (Aug 25, 2016)

I have a beamwork 36" 125x 0.5w LEDs. 
so how to tell is high light or med or low light?


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

fearsome said:


> It is also worth mentioning the planted plus has 660nm LEDs, and the PAR meter I am using misses some of that spectrum. Therefore the planted plus may have a lower reading with this meter than real levels.
> 
> And on top of that everyone seems to use different conditions to measure PAR, in the planted tank world it seems many will measure in an aquarium which introduces light scatter, and reflection off the glass.


Free air and in tank Par doesn't vary that much.. Most will measure a slight increase in tank vs out of tank par levels..i


Ilikefish said:


> I have a beamwork 36" 125x 0.5w LEDs.
> so how to tell is high light or med or low light?


The only "real" way of knowing is in-tank/water measurements w/ an accurate meter..
After that there is the "what is high light" judgement call..
Starting at Ambient Sunlight producing from 0 to 1500PAR..









Or more to the point, estimates such as this:


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## gt turbo (Sep 13, 2012)

Could this be data be extrapolated to determine par values for the Green Element Evo 18" - 22" LED 10 x 3w fixture? Would love to see where this fits, but I believe it is going to put me in to the high light category.



fearsome said:


> Updated PAR Data for common dart frog lights.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## rising1000 (Sep 29, 2016)

wow really liked this simple to understand spreadsheet 
i am looking at the vivagrow(36 inch) cause its reasonable comes with a timer on a 50 gall
want to start growing moss on my driftwood. sitting on the bottom (no co2 a little seachem flourish excel)

keep up the good work, i hope u continue an ad more led lights to this chart


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## luke.simon (Nov 15, 2016)

I am confused. Why it appears as though these PAR numbers are actually PPFD numbers. PAR and PPFD are technically not the same thing. Am I correct in saying that when people on this forum say "PAR" they really mean "PPFD"?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

luke.simon said:


> I am confused. Why it appears as though these PAR numbers are actually PPFD numbers. PAR and PPFD are technically not the same thing. Am I correct in saying that when people on this forum say "PAR" they really mean "PPFD"?


Technically, yes. But PPFD doesn't roll off the tongue like PAR does. Par is like saying 'visual spectrum' or 'ultra violet', right? And PPFD is like meters or feet. One is the spectrum and one is the measurement. At least we aren't using watts per gallon still! :grin2:


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

"Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) is measured by a silicon photovoltaic detector. This detector measures light in the 400 nanometer to 700 nanometer range. Some PAR sensors measure the PPFD of photosynthetically active radiation. PPFD stands for photosynthetic photon flux density and is used to quantify PAR.Aug 12, 2010......."


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