l ed lights

[rossi]

Has any one tryed the Solaris i-4 lights. I have a 180gal, tank
72x24x24 Im haveing a lot of heat problems with my tank.
Temp, is geting up too almost 84 unless I run my central air.
A lot of day,s its 74 or 75 outside temp, its not needed to
run my central air. but the temp of my tank gets too high unless
I run my central air I have 5 6 foot vho bulbs run by two
ice cap ballists and two icecap fans. the lights are in a canopy I dont have corals that need a lot of light. My tank is in a basement not a lot of air moveing even with
fans
. Is the quality of the solaris lights good. not a lot of
failures? well made? is the power use low like they say?

 

[reefconcepts]

Solaris I-4. I had a unit for over a month and it never worked right. Poor customer service! Was asked and did take the Solaris apart (3) times and recheck different connections. I did that and still the problem was not corrected. I asked to charge my credit card and send me a replacement, main unit only, as the problem was not in the ballast. Then when the defective unit was returned to credit my credit card. Was told that they could not do that! I worked the problem! Got my credit from AMEX and they did pick up the defective Solaris. One should not have to go through that kind of hassle to get a light to work after spending the big bucks! Got a Aqua Illumination. Worked right out of the box. Hands down a much better unit in many ways. Did have a question and customer was right there with the answer. I am sure it I did have a problem customer service would be right there again. My 2¢.......

 

[mga345]

I have the Solaris I-4 48" in my 125G tank and it works fine. I once had a problem with blinking LED and I got a replacement for no charge (there's a 2 y warranty).

I don't know about the Aqua Illumination system but the prices of both system are close.

Anyhow, LED system is a great one and will save you money in the long run.

 

[reefconcepts]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12937070#post12937070 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mga345
I have the Solaris I-4 48" in my 125G tank and it works fine. I once had a problem with blinking LED and I got a replacement for no charge (there's a 2 y warranty).

I don't know about the Aqua Illumination system but the prices of both system are close.

Anyhow, LED system is a great one and will save you money in the long run.

mga345 I am glad you did not have a problem with the Solaris as I am sure most don't. My point here is that the customer is very important when things go wrong, my experience here, even customer service failed.

 

[phil519]

Re: l ed lights

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12914274#post12914274 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rossi
Has any one tryed the Solaris i-4 lights. I have a 180gal, tank
72x24x24 Im haveing a lot of heat problems with my tank.
Temp, is geting up too almost 84 unless I run my central air.
A lot of day,s its 74 or 75 outside temp, its not needed to
run my central air. but the temp of my tank gets too high unless
I run my central air I have 5 6 foot vho bulbs run by two
ice cap ballists and two icecap fans. the lights are in a canopy I dont have corals that need a lot of light. My tank is in a basement not a lot of air moveing even with
fans
. Is the quality of the solaris lights good. not a lot of
failures? well made? is the power use low like they say?

LEDs (whether solaris or aqua) may help - but what kind of pumps do you have in the tank? It may be helpful to consider a closedloop or a more energy efficient pump (vortech/tunze).

How long do you keep the VHOs on?

 

[areze]

VHOs arent very high heat. LEDs are not 0 heat. bottom line, if you think a 4000$ replacement of lighting for less output, similair if not higher energy consumption, and slightly less heat is a good idea...

well then I havent been sarcastic enough.

but seriously, throw some fans on the tank, and im betting most of your heat is coming from pumps, not 5 VHO bulbs... if your not circulating the heat to somwhere, what do you think would happen?

 

[GSMguy]

200w of LED emits the same amount of heat as 200w of metal halide or 200w of t5.

this has been covered in many times before.

if your having heat troubles try real fans, computer fans move only a small amount of air.

 

[reefconcepts]

Heat

Heat

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12975503#post12975503 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GSMguy
200w of LED emits the same amount of heat as 200w of metal halide or 200w of t5.

this has been covered in many times before.

if your having heat troubles try real fans, computer fans move only a small amount of air.

GSMguy, Not sure how to tell you this but there is "NO" heat from my
AquaIllumination lights! I can put my hand on the top and I mean on the top and under the lights...................... No heat!!! Not sure why you say what you do.

 

[areze]

I assure you there is heat. LEDs do not defy science.

though I wont agree that 200w is 200w is 200w. heat is a byproduct of the real intent, and depending on efficiency, some produce more light and less heat per watt. but none are perfectly efficient, not really close to it. enough that it can be a very noticable difference when you spread the heat over a big unit and throw in a few fans(if it didnt put off heat, why do you think they put the fans in there?)

anyway, my problem with LEDs is cost efficiency. 4000$ for a light is ridiculous. not even that great of a light, 24" deep tank I would bet the lower 25-50% wouldnt even support stony corals. thats not a tradeoff Im willing to make, and certainly not going to pay 4000$ for it.

LED is a novelty, something people ooo and aaaa at but dont actually buy. they like the concept; but thats where the dream ends. the reality isnt as rosy as it needs to be for the cost.

 

[reeferfriendly]

LFS here in FL has 55 of the solaris set ups in thier store for their display tanks and they have made the comment to me multiple times what a mistake they are they have tons of issues with them generally everyone i talk feels the same they think that the idea is great but they ned to tune the technoligy a bit

 

[mga345]

Re: Heat

Re: Heat

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12976349#post12976349 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefconcepts
GSMguy, Not sure how to tell you this but there is "NO" heat from my
AquaIllumination lights! I can put my hand on the top and I mean on the top and under the lights...................... No heat!!! Not sure why you say what you do.

I couldn't agree more... I get the same results with my I-4 48" Solaris Illumination System - NO HEAT.
There are two fans on each side (a pair for intake and a pair for outake), to take the minimum heat away. I can't feel any change in room temperature, due to this operation.

I am not a physicist, but I don't think that every watt of light emits the same heat. At least, not the heat that we feel and can be measured by a thermometer...

And about the price, there is no need to throw big numbers like 4,000$ or so. It is much less and if you can make a long term calculations, you can see that the price is not that high.

 

[Lucifa68]

hi reefconcepts, was just wondering if you have pics of your tank with the lights on it and what setting do you have yours at???????? day white and blues??????

Thanks Lucifa

 

[Lucifa68]

do you have the lights mounted on just the legs??? how high above the water do you have the lights????

 

[reefconcepts]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13022158#post13022158 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lucia
hi reefconcepts, was just wondering if you have pics of your tank with the lights on it and what setting do you have yours at???????? day white and blues??????

Thanks Lucifa

Lucifa, The day blues are at 100 and the day whites are at 20. They are set on the legs that came with the Aqua ILL. The lights are about 2" off the water as the hanging cable set is backordered. No pictures will try to get you one soon. This is a fairly new system so it is not "stocked" or exciting. Frank

 

[Lucifa68]

Thanks frank for the reply, would that not be way too much blue???? i would really like to see what your tank looks like with this setting.
Lucifa

 

[Lucifa68]

what kelvin bulb would that setting be equal to?????

 

[reefconcepts]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13022158#post13022158 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lucifa68
hi reefconcepts, was just wondering if you have pics of your tank with the lights on it and what setting do you have yours at???????? day white and blues??????

Thanks Lucifa

Lucifa68, Might be some time till I can get a picture for you, do you have a picture of yours and what lights are you using? Another post you asked if it were too much blue, I don't think so.. Thanks, Frank

 

[Lucifa68]

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[/IMG]

hi frank just a few of my tank 120g 2 x 175w 10000K 4 54w T5 atinics overdriven by icecap 660w ballast. heading towards aquaillumination fixture.

 

[Philwd]

GSMguy is correct. Of course there's heat. Has to be. LEDs output most of their energy as heat. But you are comparing, for example, 88W(max if whites are turned all the way up) per foot on the AI88 to 250-400W of halides per fixture. It will feel much cooler. A 2 ft module of the AI88 will have slightly more wattage than a 150W halide. I have 150s over my frag tank. I can touch the fixture(it's warm to the touch) and feel next to no heat couple inches from either top or bottom. All I have are fans blowing across.

Now LEDs have the advantage of wicking that heat away through the back with the heat sink. So less near the water. Also they have far less IR emitted so they aren't as efficient at radiative heating as halides are.

Lucifa that tank is growing in nicely. How long have you been running the LEDs?

 

[reefconcepts]

Lucifa68, Nice shots of your tank, looks great! I see that you are thinking about the Aqua Illumination. I for one like them better than Solaris, have had both ya know.
The biggest draw back I have is that my tank is 48" X 30" X 24" so the spread front to back of that 30" is not what I would like. When I get the hanging kit this may help but this also allows for low light areas. Yours is a 120 so at the 24" it will be a better fit for your. As for as heat in another area of this thread, I am sure heat is produced, what I was saying is that there is "NO" heat transmitted! Not over on under the lights.