Light Meter
- Thread starter mikekomm
- Start date
I believe what you need is a PAR meter. If you do a Google search I believe it will return some info about Apogee meters. I'm looking into getting one as well. I believe they start at $299 and go up from there. PAR is short for photosynthetic active radiation and refers to the amount of usable light for a plant at different depths/locations.
JJust realized I say "I believe" too much. Sorry 'bout that. I believe I must not be entirely sure about what I'm saying. Ha!
I believe you're right 
what about these.....
http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CD4Q8wIwAg#
what about these.....
http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CD4Q8wIwAg#
A lux meter is different than a par meter. Unfortunately, lux is only a measure of light intensity perceived by the human eye, so it doesn't do us much good for plants. If you measured the lux at a depth of say 18 inches in your tank, it only measures how intense the light is to us, or how bright it is. It doesn't signify anything in particular about how good the light is for your plants. That's where a par meter comes into play. Par meters actually measure the intensity of light available for a plant to undergoe photosynthesis.
I'm wondering though if that matters for my purposes. The 6700K bulbs that I'm using and having success with are fine for my setup, so all I want to do is determine the condition of the bulbs so I know when to replace them. So...in this case, I'm thinking the LUX meter will identify when it's time to replace the bulbs. I would take a measurement when the bulbs are new so I can have a baseline reading.
Is my logic OK ?
Is my logic OK ?
better you state i believe or i think if you not sure then state things as fact. to often people state things they think is correct as fact yet are wrong. nothing to say sorry about it should be praised.
what standardbyker63 said is correct. par will measure how much light is available for the plants while lux measures how bright it is for us. par meters are not cheap though. personally if the plants stop growing and starting to die back it would prob be a good time to replace it. the cf last a about a year. i would keep some extras on hand though.
basic again if the plants still growing fine you most likely dont need to replace it.
