light meter, par, lux?

[nunlef]

Hi, I'm thinking about buying a meter of some kind to find out what my current lights are doing. I'm wondering if a digital light meter used in photography would give me some number that translates to aquaria, or is it more specific than that? The one I'm looking at is called a "Lux Meter".

I'm not trying to write a scientific paper or anything, just wanting to get some usable information. PA sells a par meter for about $100, but the photography ones are only about half that.

Thanks

 

[BigAl07]

PAR is what you're wanting to know.

PAR - Photosynthetically active radiation

Photosynthetically active radiation, often abbreviated PAR, designates the spectral range (wave band) of solar radiation from 400 to 700 nanometers that photosynthetic organisms are able to use in the process of photosynthesis.

 

[nunlef]

i got you. so something that measures "lumens" is not specifically relevant to something that measures "par", right?