PAR Meter with Wand

This is a well made and packaged piece of equipment. I found it easy to use and great for the price. Let’s be honest the reef hobby is so expensive. This is the best budget PAR meter I’ve seen so far (according to others) so I bought it. I have been very happy with it. Will update with any issues but at this price it seems perfect.

Great PAR meter. For the price it is unbeatable, works really well. Just make sure to turn off all flow in the tank so you can get a stable accurate reading. I took it to a local reef store that I sell a lot of corals to, and matched it up side by side with their $600 Apogee meter. The readings of the side-by-side comparison were very close ((single digits)) at all heights and areas of the tanks. We tested low light fish only, full mixed Reef, SPS heavy, and shallow Frag tanks, all with different lighting. Plus they were impressed that this meter can break down the par into numbers for each spectrum R.G.B. and the $600 Apogee does not do that. Meter is boxed very well, comes with batteries and a USB cable/brick if you would rather plug it in. I got the newer model that has the screw together rod, which is fine, and it did not fill with water like I read in another review.. Rod has 3 pieces - handle, sensor holder, and mid. I did not use the mid piece, and it will still reach to the bottom of a standard 75-gallon tank. Side note: You may want to zip tie the sensor cable to the rod, so it doesn't get hung up on anything in the tank. Would be nice if they included a few velcro ties with the unit. I've only had it for a week so far. If it prematurely stops working, i'll come back and edit this review.

This PAR meter is easy to setup and use right out of the box. It has many features for data collection which a hobbyist may not utilize but regardless the main function, taking PAR measurements, seem accurate. It is very sensitive to minor changes such as the effect water ripples have on transmitted light. Perfectly still water is necessary to get a good reading. The meter has a nice bright display although the backlight shuts off too quickly. This was probably to save battery life (3 x AAA) The telescoping pole is a disaster. It quickly fills with water and simple hydraulic pressure from movement of the rod will cause water to exit the top of the pole often landing on the floor. A solid rod would be better for underwater. I understand that the manufacturer wanted this to be portable but this flaw causes a lot of consternation. Perhaps hinged or socketed, solid fiberglass rod sections would be a better choice in design. I made one myself and ditched the telescoping rod. For this flaw, I docked 1 star.

$500 for what is considered the go to par meter, this one is a 5th the price and dose the same thing. although the wand O ring that the par meter sets on dont hold it as good as id like, its still a solid par meter for a 5th the price!

Works great. Was able to reproduce par values as described by light manufacturer. I use an AI prime 16. Probe was spot on at 12 and 8 inches as indicated by the light manufacturer.

I purchased this meter but I’m not sure if I got a defective one or not by reading these reviews. But mine the readings compared to the one at my LFS were way off in readings and the extension rod fills up with water and makes a big mess. Need one but don’t know. Should I give this a try again?

I was nervous after reading the reviews and watching a video or two claiming this wasn’t accurate. One guy said the readings weren’t consistent and others say the rod filled with water. I got this meter today and it was brand new. I put it together and I followed directions I had seen that clearly tell you to cut off all pumps. (The video I saw you could tell the guy didn’t do this). I spent 15 minutes measuring and it was repeatable and seemed to be measurements that make sense based on my AI Blade LED. Even better I didn’t get any water in my rod that was underwater for 10 minutes - with only 2 sections vs 3 as my tank is a nano. I was finally able to rent a 510 and the meter reads about 15% lower than the actual value by 510. I did learn any of these meters are VERY sensitive to any angle to the light source. By slightly tilting either meter I could change the reading by 20 PAR or more. So if you use this meter go for the low end of your corals range and gradually add light over weeks and watch for them to get unhappy. So if corals want 100 to 200 PAR then start at 100 by this meter and work your way up vs starting at 200. Given with shipping this is almost 6x cheaper I think great vs running blind. I had a 15 gallon nano so this made great sense to me and happy with my purchase.

I received this unit and compared to an Apogee 510. It showed 200 less PAR consistently when compared. Not to mention I received a used unit. All the wrapping was gone, the batteries were already installed, and it was showing the correct date. Will definately be returning. Does not live up to a lot of good reviews I had read.