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Midland Reefs Ltd :: Apogee Instruments
Midland Reefs is the UK distributor for Apogee Instruments.
Apogee Instruments manufacture a range of instruments suitable for measuring
light output in the reef aquarium in terms of PAR (Photosynthetically Available Radiation). .
Apogee Light Sensors.
The Apogee light sensors measure photosynthetically active radiation or PAR. This makes them a very useful tool for reef aquarists in that instead of looking at a vague indication of how much light is available, such as watts per gallon/litre, you can actually measure the amount of light potentially usable by the corals zooxanthellae for photosynthesis. These sensors can be safely used underwater so you can measure the amount of light that actually reaches the corals wherever they might be in your tank. In the long term I hope that this will enable us to compile a guide to coral placement in the aquarium based on the coral's PAR requirement.
A secondary, but still very important application, for these sensors is in determining the useful life of aquarium lamps. As a guide I would suggest measuring the light output of new lamps at a known distance e.g. 15 or 30 cms and recording this figure in your aquarium log (you do keep a log, don't you?). When the output of your lamp has dropped by about 30% that's the time for replacement.
There are also sensors available to measure UV which may be useful to aquarists running metal halide lamps without protective cover glasses.
Note :- These sensors come in 2 versions, 1 with a dedicated meter, the other without. For our purposes the data aquisition system referred to in the Apogee literature is an everyday multimeter capable of measuring in mV.
Don't forget, unless otherwise stated, all products include free postage and packing!
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