Solairs LED Light

stimpy4242

stimpy4242

Member
So I am seriously considering this light for my tank and I was curious about a few things. The article is clear that it provides the same lighting situation as a MH setup. The Pros being no need to replace bulbs and no need to worry about heat, the cons seem to be some continued skepticism about the quality of light and the price. But consider the bulb replacements you do with MH and PCs it seems to be paying for itself. Also there is no need for a chiller, not that it is necessary with MH and proper ventilation, but also no need for the excessive fans. So I was curious if that made the purchase smart? I don't expect the price to change much because there are no additional costs. 160 a year for two MH bulbs plus 60 every 6 months for a couple PC thats a lot of money each each for bulb replacement. A nice retrofit is around 560 on the geat auction site or more at retail plus 280 a year for bulbs and I will just leave out the price of the chiller. Just seems that even at 2500 up front cost it will pay for itself and the actual day cycle that it does from sunrise to sunset and the moon cycles even provide for better homeostasis in the environment which will probably pay off in marine life. So someone convince me not to spend 2500.
 
tx reef

tx reef

Active Member
Sorry, I think you should do it. A saltwater store about 60 miles from me bought one and the corals in their frag tank look great.
 
moneyman

moneyman

Member
LED - $2500 initial + $0 / year
MH - $560 initial + $280 /year
After 7 years
LED: $2500
MH : $2520
In 7 years, everyone will go LED assuming the technology will prove itself. Right now, those 3-watts Luxeon LED bulbs are $7 retail. The 48" requires 50 bulbs. That's only $350. You're paying a lot for the R&D.
PFO has a link to Dana Riddle's testing of the Solaris sytem. I find the article misleading. The most obvious is that if you want anything less than 20k, you'll have to turn off the blue LEDs. This means less light.
I am not a fan yet ...
 
stimpy4242

stimpy4242

Member
I am curious was the choice of seven years arbitrary? I guess if you think about the range, with MH and PCs you only get one choice as well unless you change bulbs, so I don't think it is a good comparison to say you will have less light. You can order the 13k version which comes with more white LEDs if you are interested in that range. Also a chiller might be a factor in the purchase, if not we are still talking about annoying little fans to blow off the heat...
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
we had put them over a 75gallon tank in out store here and i think they are pretty sweet, definitely no heat comes from it...and it does look nice, they were thinking it may not be a great system for an all sps tank however...but for lps or less itd do such fine.
 
moneyman

moneyman

Member
Originally Posted by stimpy4242
I am curious was the choice of seven years arbitrary? I guess if you think about the range, with MH and PCs you only get one choice as well unless you change bulbs, so I don't think it is a good comparison to say you will have less light. You can order the 13k version which comes with more white LEDs if you are interested in that range. Also a chiller might be a factor in the purchase, if not we are still talking about annoying little fans to blow off the heat...
It takes 7 years for you to start saving on the initial cost of the Solaris (w/o buying a chiller).
One of the selling point of the Solaris is you can dial the spectrum from 6500k (or something like that) to 20000k (or 13000k). Individuals LED can just change spectrum on the fly. When you dial something less than the 'bluest', you have to dim the blue LEDs. That will reduce the PAR. If you want to run the Solaris with all the LEDs, this is a non-issue.
On the PFO website: "Note: The Actinic Blue LED’s produce more Par than the Full Spectrum White LED’s. For the most Par use the 20K LED version.(Opposite of Metal Halide)." So, I would order the 20000k version.
There are tons of us with MH that doesn't use a chiller. Yeah, we do have crazy fans and huge evaporation rates. But, that helps with kalk dosing and our winter heating bills.
I expect the heat output is compariable of a power supply of your PC.
Of course, I have not touched/seen an actually Solaris...
You wanted advice not to buy the Solaris. I am in the same boat is you with a Tunze Stream.
 
stimpy4242

stimpy4242

Member
Ok another question that is really bugging me...the light is offered as a 20k and 13k model...the blue actinic day lights are gone from the 13k model and replaced with full spectrum white making 15 white leds 0 blue. 20k model has 9 blue 6 white. Now there are also blue lunar lights that are on during the day cycle so its not like the blue is completely gone....but one comment that is made clear is the 20k version has more PAR than the 13k version...my question is this...which is better for a reef tank...i understand sps grow slower under the 20k, but still grow...so what is going to suffer under the 13k? Or is the 13k the best choice?
 
kingnai

kingnai

Member
There is an awesome form on the other central website about reef ' s
a lady who bought them actually documented everything and you could definitly see growth on sps and lps and softies...
I can't even afford metal halides so they are def out of my price range, there was a comment from pfo in that link that a 400w version would be out early next year and possibly without the expensive control panel.
-Ian
 
symon

symon

Member
I think you all are missing the fact that with the control panel you can adjust from 6500 to 20000 to give you a true dusk to dawn effect! I would love to have a set, no more replacing bulbs every 6 months! I would be worth it in the time save and the ease of just enjoying my tank!
Now if i could just win the lottery!
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
I was just at a trade show and if you simply wait about a year there are less expensive models arriving later in 07. I'll have to dig up the info, but they are in the testing mode right now and had one on display. From all the articles I have read, LED lighting systems provide enough and proper lighting for moderate growth
 
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