cjason3041
Member
has anyone heard any thing about the new LED lights made by solaris....supposed to be better than MH ?? :thinking:
MH vs LED
- Thread starter cjason3041
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cjason3041
Member
so i'm gonna have to buy them without any recommendations huh :thinking:
wangotango
Active Member
from what ive read they have a par of a 250w 20k bulb, and if you have a deep tank, really doesnt help much. ive also heard of a lot of people having problems with their solaris. id stick with halides for now, cheaper and less problematic.
-Justin
-Justin
cjason3041
Member
ok... it's pfolighting dot well you know the rest...if anyone is curious
scsinet
Active Member
Originally Posted by cjason3041
supposed to be better than MH ?? :thinking:
Says who? The manufacturer? :thinking:
The thing is that they are too new to make any sort of definite conclusion. While I am sure they have promise, I'd stick with halides or T5s until they've been proven a bit more.
supposed to be better than MH ?? :thinking:
Says who? The manufacturer? :thinking:
The thing is that they are too new to make any sort of definite conclusion. While I am sure they have promise, I'd stick with halides or T5s until they've been proven a bit more.
jfcat
New Member
It would actually be a fairly simple experiment to do a side by side of a solaris and a comparable MH / actinic setup.
Light is measurable. We know what works. The "technical specifications" on the solaris site are much to general and non-scientific. This leads me to believe that they are hiding small flaws in the light output. Go to any major light manufacturer and you can get the specifications including the lux at each wavelength.
The acid test would be to compare a LED system to a MH system at various depths. My gut feeling is that the LED lux would drop much faster. If the solaris are as good as the company claims that's what they would have done. At least that's what I would have done in their shoes.
As for the Solaris unit itself. I have heard, second hand, the quality of the unit itself is sub-par. With lights not working at all and the control panel not functioning properly. In their defense, everyone has said that their customer service is top notch and they repair / replace as needed without incident.
Light is measurable. We know what works. The "technical specifications" on the solaris site are much to general and non-scientific. This leads me to believe that they are hiding small flaws in the light output. Go to any major light manufacturer and you can get the specifications including the lux at each wavelength.
The acid test would be to compare a LED system to a MH system at various depths. My gut feeling is that the LED lux would drop much faster. If the solaris are as good as the company claims that's what they would have done. At least that's what I would have done in their shoes.
As for the Solaris unit itself. I have heard, second hand, the quality of the unit itself is sub-par. With lights not working at all and the control panel not functioning properly. In their defense, everyone has said that their customer service is top notch and they repair / replace as needed without incident.
stanlalee
Active Member
at this point LED lighting is just a novelty. there is only one company making led lights, a limited supply of quality leds being manufactured that can be used for the fixtures and it cost several thousand dollars. It has to be novelty for anybody to dash away their perfectly good $200 MH to consider these with no indication they will be any better other than possibly reducing heat issues..
cjason3041
Member
copy, all....thanks i think i will stick with MH
mtennant
Member
The Solaris is the first LED System designed to replace Metal Halide and Fluorescent lighting for the Aquarium Reef Tanks. It has been in development for over two years. It will change the way Aquarists light their tanks from now and into the future.
The current design produces PAR light output levels equal to a 250W MH 20K. It uses 40% less energy than the Metal Halide Fixtures it replaces. The life of the LED`s is 50,000 hours, so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements. All heat is radiated up and away from the tank Therefore, it does not heat the water like Metal Halides or Fluorescents. This eliminates the need for Chillers. The room air conditioner needs to work 1/2 as much since the light fixture produces only half the heat of Metal Halides which saves even more energy over traditional lighting methods.
There is a built in microprocessor that controls the Solaris. This not only eliminates timers, but it allows the unit to dim the actinic blue LEDs, white LEDs, Lunar actinic blue LEDs and Lunar White LEDS independently from 0-100%. This dimming capability opens many opportunities. The light can be adjusted from 6.5K to 22K, or anywhere in between, to set the ideal color temperature. Sunrise, Daylight, Cloud Cover, Sunset, and the lunar cycle, can all be set independently.
Coral Growth has been outstanding with the new lights. There is excellent water penetration of the light.
The current design produces PAR light output levels equal to a 250W MH 20K. It uses 40% less energy than the Metal Halide Fixtures it replaces. The life of the LED`s is 50,000 hours, so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements. All heat is radiated up and away from the tank Therefore, it does not heat the water like Metal Halides or Fluorescents. This eliminates the need for Chillers. The room air conditioner needs to work 1/2 as much since the light fixture produces only half the heat of Metal Halides which saves even more energy over traditional lighting methods.
There is a built in microprocessor that controls the Solaris. This not only eliminates timers, but it allows the unit to dim the actinic blue LEDs, white LEDs, Lunar actinic blue LEDs and Lunar White LEDS independently from 0-100%. This dimming capability opens many opportunities. The light can be adjusted from 6.5K to 22K, or anywhere in between, to set the ideal color temperature. Sunrise, Daylight, Cloud Cover, Sunset, and the lunar cycle, can all be set independently.
Coral Growth has been outstanding with the new lights. There is excellent water penetration of the light.
cjason3041
Member
Originally Posted by walmart
T5s!
..
i'm not too familiar with T5's....what exactly are they?
T5s!
..
i'm not too familiar with T5's....what exactly are they?
cjason3041
Member
Originally Posted by Mtennant
The Solaris is the first LED System designed to replace Metal Halide and Fluorescent lighting for the Aquarium Reef Tanks. It has been in development for over two years. It will change the way Aquarists light their tanks from now and into the future.
The current design produces PAR light output levels equal to a 250W MH 20K. It uses 40% less energy than the Metal Halide Fixtures it replaces. The life of the LED`s is 50,000 hours, so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements. All heat is radiated up and away from the tank Therefore, it does not heat the water like Metal Halides or Fluorescents. This eliminates the need for Chillers. The room air conditioner needs to work 1/2 as much since the light fixture produces only half the heat of Metal Halides which saves even more energy over traditional lighting methods.
There is a built in microprocessor that controls the Solaris. This not only eliminates timers, but it allows the unit to dim the actinic blue LEDs, white LEDs, Lunar actinic blue LEDs and Lunar White LEDS independently from 0-100%. This dimming capability opens many opportunities. The light can be adjusted from 6.5K to 22K, or anywhere in between, to set the ideal color temperature. Sunrise, Daylight, Cloud Cover, Sunset, and the lunar cycle, can all be set independently.
Coral Growth has been outstanding with the new lights. There is excellent water penetration of the light.
not to be mean but uhh i read that on the web site too....i was looking for anyone who might have experience with them
The Solaris is the first LED System designed to replace Metal Halide and Fluorescent lighting for the Aquarium Reef Tanks. It has been in development for over two years. It will change the way Aquarists light their tanks from now and into the future.
The current design produces PAR light output levels equal to a 250W MH 20K. It uses 40% less energy than the Metal Halide Fixtures it replaces. The life of the LED`s is 50,000 hours, so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements. All heat is radiated up and away from the tank Therefore, it does not heat the water like Metal Halides or Fluorescents. This eliminates the need for Chillers. The room air conditioner needs to work 1/2 as much since the light fixture produces only half the heat of Metal Halides which saves even more energy over traditional lighting methods.
There is a built in microprocessor that controls the Solaris. This not only eliminates timers, but it allows the unit to dim the actinic blue LEDs, white LEDs, Lunar actinic blue LEDs and Lunar White LEDS independently from 0-100%. This dimming capability opens many opportunities. The light can be adjusted from 6.5K to 22K, or anywhere in between, to set the ideal color temperature. Sunrise, Daylight, Cloud Cover, Sunset, and the lunar cycle, can all be set independently.
Coral Growth has been outstanding with the new lights. There is excellent water penetration of the light.
not to be mean but uhh i read that on the web site too....i was looking for anyone who might have experience with them
cowfishrule
Active Member
some dood on here was on his like, 4th solaris unit in less than a year's time.
search around.
search around.
stanlalee
Active Member
Originally Posted by Mtennant
The life of the LED`s is 50,000 hours, so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements.
that 50,000 hours is not without degredation in output. I cant remember the percentage but there is a thread on -- where its posted. what ever it was it came out to bulb replacement about every 5 yrs. Chiller $500-600, 48" LED lighting $2325. 72" led lighting $3300. I think I'd just get the chiller. anyway you look at it will take years of usage to make up the difference in effiency and 20k 250w performance isn't a good selling point for the cost. With that performance they should be comparing them to 10k 175w bulbs instead of 250w 20k bulbs which they dont of course because that greatly reduces their efficiency margin.
scsinet
Active Member
I agree.
LED technology for actual lighting applications (as opposed to indicator lamps, etc) is still in it's infantile stages. It's starting to get more accepted... they are using them in traffic lights now, flashlights, and tail lights/turn signals.
You're going to see them used more, especially for applications like household lights and LCD/plasma backlights.
All these things are going to drive the industry and push prices down, and ... quite frankly, the early adopters of this solaris system will endure the pain that helps the later adopters get them for less money and more reliability.
It's ahead of it's time right now.. but it's heyday isn't far off.
LED technology for actual lighting applications (as opposed to indicator lamps, etc) is still in it's infantile stages. It's starting to get more accepted... they are using them in traffic lights now, flashlights, and tail lights/turn signals.
You're going to see them used more, especially for applications like household lights and LCD/plasma backlights.
All these things are going to drive the industry and push prices down, and ... quite frankly, the early adopters of this solaris system will endure the pain that helps the later adopters get them for less money and more reliability.
It's ahead of it's time right now.. but it's heyday isn't far off.
emonemo
Member
Wow SCSI. Looks like someone took notes in Consumer Behavior Bus369.
but your absolutely right.
Im currently diggin around forlighting for my tank. and even though ive got 130wpc over my 20, i want to add a 100w mh. figured a 230w total might be alright for most corals in my 20.
Then i decided i was gonna DIY it by using some 15,000k Xenon's that rate 12v but output 28w each. NOT BAD! But then i needed housing and this and that. Again, its like i wanted a cheap but strong lighting but would have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.
I think im gonna settle for MH. 175w it is now. haha..
ill wait till i get my 500g wall tank in 10 years to spend $5k on led lighting....
but your absolutely right.
Im currently diggin around forlighting for my tank. and even though ive got 130wpc over my 20, i want to add a 100w mh. figured a 230w total might be alright for most corals in my 20.
Then i decided i was gonna DIY it by using some 15,000k Xenon's that rate 12v but output 28w each. NOT BAD! But then i needed housing and this and that. Again, its like i wanted a cheap but strong lighting but would have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.
I think im gonna settle for MH. 175w it is now. haha..
ill wait till i get my 500g wall tank in 10 years to spend $5k on led lighting....