Well, I finally got to feel and see the solaris in person at a LFS. Damn that thing is nice and bright! But I can only touch the lovely thing... If I have the $$, I would hella buy them. It was on for like 1/2 hr and the fixture was soo cool, no heat at all. Anyone else see it yet? leave some feebacks!
Got a taste of PFO SOLARIS
- Thread starter tcnguyen
- Start date
Justin74
New member
You got a taste, she got a bite 
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1066620
Interested to hear about it myself, oh where is our pioneer of the new frontier?
-Justin
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1066620
Interested to hear about it myself, oh where is our pioneer of the new frontier?
-Justin
MrMikeB
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9556620#post9556620 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bkmorris
ahhh mike i need pics of that thing! not sure if i want to touch it after justin has his private time with it. hehe.
You got it... I will bust out the good camera and do a full on photo shoot. 'Work it baby! Show the camera them beautiful LEDs'
ctrlaltdelete
In Memoriam
I had seen it in person, a live demo for 20 mins.
There is nothing like it...lusty...and pricccceey.
I guess you get what you paid for. Too bad the one they
put on demo is only a 24". Would love to watch a 48" light show,
do you know which store will have a 48" in stock?
I might have to forget about the vacation.......
There is nothing like it...lusty...and pricccceey.
I guess you get what you paid for. Too bad the one they
put on demo is only a 24". Would love to watch a 48" light show,
do you know which store will have a 48" in stock?
I might have to forget about the vacation.......
pbetito
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9556620#post9556620 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bkmorris
ahhh mike i need pics of that thing! not sure if i want to touch it after justin has his private time with it. hehe.
If I share my time with Justin and we touch it together is it still only a dollar a minute. Brooke can have seconds if the lights have any par value left when we are done with them
raymond4133
New member
Geezzzzzzz!!! People ... People.... People .... get a hold of yourselves....For goodness sakes it's just a light fixture for a fish tank....
key word: light for a """"FISH"""" """"TANK"""""
--------I was just thinking to myself.....we hobbyist and enthuasists spend so much time and money on a something that at the end of a day, at which at any rate the darn thing is going to still be a """"""FISH TANK""""""
--yeah a $300 starter T5 system would be nice or add a couple hundred dollars to get a Metal Halide ....Make it a $1000 for an ultimate lighting setup.....Make it $2000 and you get the Bentley of lights which now supposedly is a """PFO SOLARIS"""
( which quite honestly looks quite drab and or ugly***from my prespective of how it is shown on internet ads****) You would think if you spent $2000 PFO could have given you a choice of skin colors or a customized look to it...
(for example I would probalby pay $1000-$2000 for one of those german brand fixtures like aquamedic or giesman, etc...Where the light is basically a computer yet very sleek and attractive) But this SOLARIS light looks rather square with no sleek lines and 2 big ugly fan grils on the side of it...
-----Now what would you say to people who don't know diddly sqwat about reefs and saltwater tanks when they see a beuatiful reef tank and then look up and see an equally as weird and perhaps ugly rectangle metal box on top of the tank in plain sight...-----First they would say
"wow...What's that?....Then....Ohh it's a light" "how much did you spend for such a thing" ====Then you tell them the truth "$2000" .... Yup! I paid $2000, that's three mont's salary, a vacation, a down payment on a new car, etc. so that i can buy this "FISH TANK LIGHT"
So i guess what i'am trying to get at here is....I see customers everytime that are just happy having bought a 10 gallon tank and finding the replacement T-12 flourescent bulbs from "aisle 7" so that they can see their goldfish and feed him/her flakes while watching it swim....
---I would say anybody in the saltwater hobby, morever the reef tank hobby especially should be very fortunate, because it seriously takes a special person and yet a "brain washed" person to spend $300, $800, $1000, even $2000 on just a "light for their fish tank"
-I say brain washed because we were hooked once we saw our first mind boggling reef or saltwater tank....I know my mind boggling experience was just seing my uncles two colorful damsels in his 55 gallon two week old SW aquarium...
====Regardless I know I was a fool as well to spend so much money on a hobby that at the end of the day still makes it a fish tank and really nothing else...It's a pet that swims, eats, and grows just like any other pet or fish in this case that so happens to be a fish that swims in a multi thousand dollar piece of estate we call a reef tank powered by a small power plant funded by our outrageous power billls====
----> However I have not goten tired or bored of the hobby and quite frankly i love it...Although sometimes i just wished it was 90% cheaper and 98% affordable and well 99.9% less addictive than drugs and gambling are for some....I just thought i help broaden the hobby and give some insight from an outsider's perspective and just enlighten us all for what the hobby has done to all of us.....Yeah it's nice, and sometimes it something that wel really care about almost to the point to where it is as important as a member of your family, but don't get to carried away and lose sight of true meaning in life and that's to ....LIVE!!! and be with family and friends and not worry how your "FISH TANK LOOKS LIKE OR WHAT LIGHT IT HAS OR WHAT EQUIPMENT IT HAS...ETC"
---I hope you enjoyed my little $0.02 cents of nonsense and I had no attention of ever offending or targeting anbody's thoughts or feelings in this repsponse ....
-raymond4133
key word: light for a """"FISH"""" """"TANK"""""
--------I was just thinking to myself.....we hobbyist and enthuasists spend so much time and money on a something that at the end of a day, at which at any rate the darn thing is going to still be a """"""FISH TANK""""""
--yeah a $300 starter T5 system would be nice or add a couple hundred dollars to get a Metal Halide ....Make it a $1000 for an ultimate lighting setup.....Make it $2000 and you get the Bentley of lights which now supposedly is a """PFO SOLARIS"""
( which quite honestly looks quite drab and or ugly***from my prespective of how it is shown on internet ads****) You would think if you spent $2000 PFO could have given you a choice of skin colors or a customized look to it...
(for example I would probalby pay $1000-$2000 for one of those german brand fixtures like aquamedic or giesman, etc...Where the light is basically a computer yet very sleek and attractive) But this SOLARIS light looks rather square with no sleek lines and 2 big ugly fan grils on the side of it...
-----Now what would you say to people who don't know diddly sqwat about reefs and saltwater tanks when they see a beuatiful reef tank and then look up and see an equally as weird and perhaps ugly rectangle metal box on top of the tank in plain sight...-----First they would say
"wow...What's that?....Then....Ohh it's a light" "how much did you spend for such a thing" ====Then you tell them the truth "$2000" .... Yup! I paid $2000, that's three mont's salary, a vacation, a down payment on a new car, etc. so that i can buy this "FISH TANK LIGHT"
So i guess what i'am trying to get at here is....I see customers everytime that are just happy having bought a 10 gallon tank and finding the replacement T-12 flourescent bulbs from "aisle 7" so that they can see their goldfish and feed him/her flakes while watching it swim....
---I would say anybody in the saltwater hobby, morever the reef tank hobby especially should be very fortunate, because it seriously takes a special person and yet a "brain washed" person to spend $300, $800, $1000, even $2000 on just a "light for their fish tank"
-I say brain washed because we were hooked once we saw our first mind boggling reef or saltwater tank....I know my mind boggling experience was just seing my uncles two colorful damsels in his 55 gallon two week old SW aquarium...
====Regardless I know I was a fool as well to spend so much money on a hobby that at the end of the day still makes it a fish tank and really nothing else...It's a pet that swims, eats, and grows just like any other pet or fish in this case that so happens to be a fish that swims in a multi thousand dollar piece of estate we call a reef tank powered by a small power plant funded by our outrageous power billls====
----> However I have not goten tired or bored of the hobby and quite frankly i love it...Although sometimes i just wished it was 90% cheaper and 98% affordable and well 99.9% less addictive than drugs and gambling are for some....I just thought i help broaden the hobby and give some insight from an outsider's perspective and just enlighten us all for what the hobby has done to all of us.....Yeah it's nice, and sometimes it something that wel really care about almost to the point to where it is as important as a member of your family, but don't get to carried away and lose sight of true meaning in life and that's to ....LIVE!!! and be with family and friends and not worry how your "FISH TANK LOOKS LIKE OR WHAT LIGHT IT HAS OR WHAT EQUIPMENT IT HAS...ETC"
---I hope you enjoyed my little $0.02 cents of nonsense and I had no attention of ever offending or targeting anbody's thoughts or feelings in this repsponse ....
-raymond4133
MrMikeB
New member
Raymond,
The fundamental issue I see with your point above, is that it is based on being sane and what a typical person would see when they look into a glass box full of saltwater. I think it goes without saying, many of us traded in our sanity card for the geek card a long time ago. I think you either realize that and embrace it, or stick to a ridiculous notion we are still normal. Either way, rational arguments based on a atypical persons' typical values no longer hold water (pun intended).
Why would somebody willingly pay 2-3k on a lights? Because its cool and takes us a step further into the abyss of what is possible with building a piece of the ocean in our homes. It all comes down to what really motivates us and why we enjoy what we do. Whatever the driving force, whether an addictive personality, drive for success, fellow companionship, all the above, etc. - reefing makes us (well at least me) happy and feel at home. And when its all said and done, being happy is what living is all about. So is it worth 2-3k of lights to make me happy? - hell yeah it is! Bring on the LEDs, the StarFire glass, Tunzes, AquaControllers and sign up the local reef clubs and subscriptions to reef geek magazines!
Oh, and by the way - if you too secretly want to touch these lights and be pay homage to the greatness that is PFO, I can arrange it. No questions asked!
The fundamental issue I see with your point above, is that it is based on being sane and what a typical person would see when they look into a glass box full of saltwater. I think it goes without saying, many of us traded in our sanity card for the geek card a long time ago. I think you either realize that and embrace it, or stick to a ridiculous notion we are still normal. Either way, rational arguments based on a atypical persons' typical values no longer hold water (pun intended).
Why would somebody willingly pay 2-3k on a lights? Because its cool and takes us a step further into the abyss of what is possible with building a piece of the ocean in our homes. It all comes down to what really motivates us and why we enjoy what we do. Whatever the driving force, whether an addictive personality, drive for success, fellow companionship, all the above, etc. - reefing makes us (well at least me) happy and feel at home. And when its all said and done, being happy is what living is all about. So is it worth 2-3k of lights to make me happy? - hell yeah it is!
Bring on the LEDs, the StarFire glass, Tunzes, AquaControllers and sign up the local reef clubs and subscriptions to reef geek magazines!Oh, and by the way - if you too secretly want to touch these lights and be pay homage to the greatness that is PFO, I can arrange it. No questions asked!
raymond4133
New member
Nicely said my friend, nicely said....
-I admit it is very much a part of me as welll
and i don't see an end to it in the foresable future....
Already spend years of my life and time and MONEY to let it go just like that....
Thanks for your input Mike...
Raymond
-I admit it is very much a part of me as welll
and i don't see an end to it in the foresable future....
Already spend years of my life and time and MONEY to let it go just like that....
Thanks for your input Mike...
Raymond
Mike, how deep is the tank that you plan to use it on ? I thought I had read that it only had effective PAR to 16" - 18"" or so ? Either way I would still love to see one running on an SPS/Clam tank . We gave serious consideration to them when setting up our tank, but the technology was still new and as of yet unproven on true hobbyists tanks (real easy for them to "prove" it in a lab, for marketting purposes). That plus we would need several to cover our tank (yea.. can you say ChaChing !!! ?)
Please do photo-chronicle your setup when you get it over a tank. We may still ditch our lighting for the LEDs, if they save enough energy over all.. but the last I checked they would take many years to "pay for themselves", but the versatility would be worth the xtra $$.
. We gave serious consideration to them when setting up our tank, but the technology was still new and as of yet unproven on true hobbyists tanks (real easy for them to "prove" it in a lab, for marketting purposes). That plus we would need several to cover our tank (yea.. can you say ChaChing !!! ?) Please do photo-chronicle your setup when you get it over a tank. We may still ditch our lighting for the LEDs, if they save enough energy over all.. but the last I checked they would take many years to "pay for themselves", but the versatility would be worth the xtra $$.
pbetito
New member
There is another good reason to buy these as well if you do the research and are able to look at the LONG TERM!!! Metal halides cost a fortune in energy and bulb replacement. The LED'S run at (don't quote me) about 40% less energy than halides. Add to that the fact that Mike saves about $270 a year in replacing his 3X250W Ushio's + $100 2X96W P.C. attinics and he paid $1700 for the fixture which needs bulb replacement every 10- 15 years and third grade math skills will tell you THAT HE GOT A BARGAIN!!! If I had the cash to buy a new fixture, or found a deal as great as Mike's, I would jump on it. So Raymond, when you say "---I would say anybody in the saltwater hobby, morever the reef tank hobby especially should be very fortunate, because it seriously takes a special person and yet a "brain washed" person to spend $300, $800, $1000, even $2000 on just a "light for their fish tank"
I WANT TO JOIN THAT CLUB
P.S. Mike, If I am gentle....Can I touch it one more time???
Paul
I WANT TO JOIN THAT CLUB
P.S. Mike, If I am gentle....Can I touch it one more time???
Paul
raymond4133
New member
---What a coincidence....
I'am going to have to replace my bulbs right about this time of year and it is going to cost me a pretty $200 just for bulbs....
Then again we are special people right???
--> As much as i like to spend on my tank and upgrading here and there I still need to stay sane and save money for next semester's textbook costs for college...
and iam pretty sure " tcnguyen " knows how it feels to balance both the reef hoobby and school expenses as well...In addition living expenses, gas, enterntainment, etc....
--->That is why i wish the hobby was a little more cheaper to help us students and whomever, with very little to obtian such wonderful products....
Maybe when Disney makes another fish movie about freshwater fish and popularize/glamourlize the whole Freshwater thing...maybe than we will all have cheaper things in the hobby....
I'am going to have to replace my bulbs right about this time of year and it is going to cost me a pretty $200 just for bulbs....
Then again we are special people right???
--> As much as i like to spend on my tank and upgrading here and there I still need to stay sane and save money for next semester's textbook costs for college...
and iam pretty sure " tcnguyen " knows how it feels to balance both the reef hoobby and school expenses as well...In addition living expenses, gas, enterntainment, etc....
--->That is why i wish the hobby was a little more cheaper to help us students and whomever, with very little to obtian such wonderful products....
Maybe when Disney makes another fish movie about freshwater fish and popularize/glamourlize the whole Freshwater thing...maybe than we will all have cheaper things in the hobby....
well, I am not sure if they still do, but they used to have a calculator on the Solaris web site to calculate, at your utility rate, how long their LED lights would take to "pay for themselves", it factored in MH, VHO/T5 supplementation, bulb replacements and chiller expanses. The avergage was 6 - 8 yrs to make it cost effective, if I remember correctly. Now factor in that the LEDs have a 50,000 hr lifespan.. if you happen to use it for sunrise, sunset, lunar cycle, etc, then at least a certain percentage of the LEDs will burn out in approx 5.7 years. I know that PFO had a tech sheet about replacement LED modules, but I am unsure of cost of ease of replacement (I read it some time ago). But I do seem to recall that if 1 LED went out and you wanted to "replace it", then you had to replace the whole LED panel (at least that is how it was originally.. reality may have changed that).
We are still interested in hearing more about them though, and may even take the dive and change out our lights to LEDs eventually
We are still interested in hearing more about them though
, and may even take the dive and change out our lights to LEDs eventually 
Unarce
Unshackled
Tom - I'm pretty sure you don't have to replace the whole panel if some LEDs go out. You can just replace the cylinder, which is $70 a piece.
It's still a work in progress, and probably several years away before SPS nutheads view it as a viable option from MH. I'm looking forward to seeing the 400W equivalent version, and contributions from other manufacturers, that have worked out the kinks. Maybe the stronger ones will even have the same ripple effect as MHs .
It's still a work in progress, and probably several years away before SPS nutheads view it as a viable option from MH. I'm looking forward to seeing the 400W equivalent version, and contributions from other manufacturers, that have worked out the kinks. Maybe the stronger ones will even have the same ripple effect as MHs
.I am sticking with my MH for awhile still. Like "Unarce" said, LED technology is still evolving rapidly. I am sure, as are many of you, that in due time they will be significantly cheaper and have 400w equivalent systems. Just look at those plasma and LCD televisions, for God's sake. They are, what, like 75% cheaper than when they first came out?
Those Solaris units are cool though! And hey, we have to spend money on *something* cool to impress our friends!
Those Solaris units are cool though! And hey, we have to spend money on *something* cool to impress our friends!
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