Seneye Spectra, Submersible spectrometer
So during this COVID-19 Pandemic we finally found the time to test out the new Seneye Spectra submersible spectrometer.
The current Seneye Reef unit does have a par meter built in but there's more to lighting than just overall par and that's where the Spectra opens a new window on the lighting in our aquarium. Not only does it provide information about the overall lighting energy but it provides details on the full spectrum of light we are using.
Technically the spectra is a "Nanospectrometer device with a 400nm - 730nm range and 1nm resolution. Fitted with a cosine corrector and fully submersible". Im sure there's some lighting specialist out there that this means something to. I'm not one of those, i'm a reef keeper. So essentially this means it can look at my lights really good and I can dunk it in the water (winner).
I would like to stress at this point that the seneye isn't just for ReefKeepers although they are possibly the aquatics enthusiasts who might get the most benefit from this product, but it can also be used in freshwater, ideal for planted tanks and of course ponds.
Lets take a look
First things first, the box, its a sturdy little carry case that's protecting the Seneye really well, it reminds me of a gun case that you see on american tv shows, im tempted to buy a set of handcuffs and walk around with it strapped to my wrist wearing a suit (although during a covid lockdown this may look extra odd), pop on a pair of orange lens glasses and im going to look the part.
Inside the box is the Seneye Spectra sensor its very similar looking to existing Seneye equipment, similar shape and ours has a 2m USB cable, now i think Seneye will be increasing this to 5m or at least making it an option, i think 2m is a little short to go from your laptop to the depths of your tank. Our display tank is 1800mm long with the laptop at one end its going to be a struggle, You can however use a standard USB extender up to a maximum of 5m total length so its not the end of the world.
Also in the box is a fancy pants USB pen drive which contains the drivers and software needed to get you up and running. Easy to install. Bosh.
Now for us at Kraken in our tests, the one thing that we felt was missing was an extendable arm with holder for the Spectra so we can place the device with precision into our aquarium. Holding the device up to your arm pit in the aquarium and trying to look at your laptop at the results isn't ideal. For our tests we fashioned a holder and arm from a D-D aquarium 24" scraper and some cable ties (we would survive well in an apocalypse situation with our makeshift skills). You can see the contraption in our video at the bottom of this post. We are told that Seneye will be bringing a holder out to make life easier in the future.
So what does the Spectra tell us
In our tests the Spectra was responsive and very accurate, it gave us PAR, PUR and a full spectrometer read out so we could see the lighting in our tank was very blue (just the way we like it). Adjusting the colour spectrum in our AI Lighting control app we could see the predicted output graph in the AI app and the actual graph from the Seneye were super similar.
Some users of T5 lights or bar leds without apps may not have the luxury of spectrum graphs created by these apps so the Spectra is really handy in these situations to what spectrums of light your lighting is producing, it is also going to be really helpful in monitoring when your T5 bulbs may need replacing as you will be able to see the difference over time with regular checking.
Par Vs Pur
So technical PAR is all the light energy available where PUR is the photosynthetically available radiation. So whilst par shows you how much light is available total, the theory is the PUR reading can be more important to plants and coral growth as this is the light they actually use for growth. As such the new PUR reading given by the Spectra is extremely useful, there are plenty of videos on PAR and PUR available on youtube if you want to learn more about them and their roll in the aquarium.
Does my coral suit this position?
Another very useful feature is the Coral or Plant drop down menu, this allows you to select a species of coral or freshwater plant and it will give you an indication on how well that livestock item may do in that particular position in your aquarium under those lighting conditions, i know Seneye intends to expand this list and provide more data on coral and plant species as users provide feedback on their experiences.
Conclusions & Price
As as shop the Spectra is invaluable to us, we can re test all our coral trays and display tanks over the coming weeks to see if we need to add additional lights, adjust the lighting schedules or re position the sales corals around the tank. But i think the Spectra is even more useful to the home customer who wants to test their lighting setup and to help them understand what species are best suited to different positions for optimal success, its certainly going to be less costly than trial and error.
This isn't a device you will just purchase in your local fish store as an impulse purchase however, it comes with a hefty price tag of £799, and while may feel like a worth while investment for those with large aquariums with many species of expensive coral for many the preferred way to get your hands on one of these units will be as a rental scheme.
We are looking at the best options to rent our unit out to customers currently. It would require a large deposit due to the cost of the item along with a daily rental fee. It's also possible once covid has cleared and we are out of lockdown here in the UK we would look at an option where to negate the large deposit we would at least within a local radius bring the Spectra to you along with our laptop so that your tank can be analysed without the initial cost.
The Spectra In Action
We produced a little YouTube video of the Spectra in action here at Kraken Corals, you will have to excuse our on screen spokesperson, he needs some more experience / training in front of the camera :)