I've seen a few people on here using them. They seem like they would be an awesome light. I just had a few questions.
- Would you say you could grow SPS with them with them being your only light source?
Yes absolutely. No problem. On the sandbed of a 36" deep tank.
- Are they comparable to halides?
Very comparable. Pretty much the same as a 400MH with same power usage and heat as a 250. Same shimmer.
- Any cons I should know about?
They are forced to attach the amplifier (ballast looking thingy) close to the fixture. There is a coax looking cable that connects them that can only be like 12" long. this forces you to hang the amplifier along side of the fixture. There is no such thing as a remote ballast here. This does not make the most elegant looking pendant. Not an issue if you have it inside a canopy. I think the whole unit together weighs like 17 pounds.
- Can you program the dimmer function and spectrum to change through out the day?
This is the best part actually.
There are dimmable MHs but it's not good for the bulb life and they are expensive.
Plasmas are dimmable without affecting the bulb life.
They have an option to come with a manual dimmer knob but this is really kind of worthless unless you are gonna stand there and operate it manually everyday.
No matter where you set the dimming with the dimmer knob, as soon as you disconnect the power, such as with a timer, and then power them back up, the lights go to full 100% on. You can then manually turn up the dimmer knob and then dim it to wherever you want again.
The way to go is to connect them to a controller that has a 0-10v function. Such as a APEX. ( I think Reefkeeper has this too, as well as others) By connecting the plasmas to a controller you can program any dim on, dim off, intensity or duration. (you have to buy a $15 cord from Neptune BTW) There are a ton of ways to go here.
I have mine programed to start out at 50%, ramp up to 100% over a two hour period, stay at 100% for eight hours, then ramp back down to 50% over another two hour period, then shut off.
The spectrum only changes as you dim them. There is no changing the color at 100% on. There is not a separate knob to change the color. At 100% the color spectrum is close to what the classis Iwasaki 65ks look like. They really do look like sunlight.
The more you dim them, the bluer they get.
At 50% you can't tell the difference between the plasmas and my 400 12K Reeflux MHs unless I open the canopy so you can see where they are.
Coral colors are as good as any other bulb I've ever tried. If you are a windex blue glowing tank fan, then you are not gonne be happy viewing your tank until you dim them down or have other blue lights.
I have mine running along side of MHs. I've seen that there is a new version that uses blue Reefbright LEDs along with the plasmas. This looks like it would work really well also. Kind of like the MH and VHO combo that has been a favorite for years.
- Are they worth the price tag?
IME yes but that is up to each individual.
They basically cost twice what a 400MH setup costs, put out the same amount of light, but they dim, the dimming can be automatically controlled, change spectrum as they dim, use less power, less heat.
Mine have far outlasted my LEDs that I spent the same amount of money on.
