badpacket
Premium Member
Bean, I think this is a dead-end at this point.
Some people in the hobby want quantifiable data upon which to base an opinion, others seems to -want- to believe what they want too believe. And after spending $$K for a fixture or anything for that matter, there is an inherent need for the id or ego to latch onto something, anything by which they can plausibly deny that they may have made a purchase that may/may not perform as well as what they had. This is not a slam at anyone who purchased Solaris, but a known human behavioral response.
If someone specifically wanted a lighting fixture which does not produce killer UV, then they have it. Of course that belies the fact that people have been using killer UV-producing MH for decades, and there are a ton of TOTM's which don't seem to be vast wastelands of irradiated coral stumps... Odd how UV is now unacceptable for successful reefing.
Now spending 3x, 4x, 5x+ as much on a fixture is the 'right' thing too do, as we are providing too much light with MH to begin with?
The PFO fixture is a nice one, however I think a healthy profit could still be made at the $1K price point, and we will undoubtedly see such products in the next 6 months from someone, because the efficiency is almost there, and there are numerous other benefits to LED. The fact that we don't know about actual life span for the LED's is worth considering. What happens when they lose 30% efficiency in a year perhaps, and one needs to increase photoperiod?
Cite circa 2004 (does not indicate time, just temp)- http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/solidstate/pdf/ProjectingUsefulLife.pdf
There are a lot of extraneous reasons why we will see increases in LED efficiency in the near-term future. As they happen, LED's will only become more affordable, and realistic as the main light source in reefing. For now, people should realize they are on the cutting edge, and if they want to pay top dollar for bragging rights, they certainly can.
But please don't expect everyone else to ignore the known data, and jump on the bandwagon. Thats not what reefing is about, accepting or or promulgating.
Haven't looked at Sanjay's site, so don't know if anyone has done a real apples-apples comparison with a more 'normal' 175w MH set-up, but it probably doesn't matter. People will believe what they want to, as they have a vested interest.
If anything, I think while PFO has gotten a jump on the market, they have shot themselves in the foor with the apples-oranges comparison PR, and may have underestimated the average reefers innate desire to delve into the details.
Hopefully they will reassess and provide more realistic comparison data.
Some people in the hobby want quantifiable data upon which to base an opinion, others seems to -want- to believe what they want too believe. And after spending $$K for a fixture or anything for that matter, there is an inherent need for the id or ego to latch onto something, anything by which they can plausibly deny that they may have made a purchase that may/may not perform as well as what they had. This is not a slam at anyone who purchased Solaris, but a known human behavioral response.
If someone specifically wanted a lighting fixture which does not produce killer UV, then they have it. Of course that belies the fact that people have been using killer UV-producing MH for decades, and there are a ton of TOTM's which don't seem to be vast wastelands of irradiated coral stumps... Odd how UV is now unacceptable for successful reefing.
Now spending 3x, 4x, 5x+ as much on a fixture is the 'right' thing too do, as we are providing too much light with MH to begin with?
The PFO fixture is a nice one, however I think a healthy profit could still be made at the $1K price point, and we will undoubtedly see such products in the next 6 months from someone, because the efficiency is almost there, and there are numerous other benefits to LED. The fact that we don't know about actual life span for the LED's is worth considering. What happens when they lose 30% efficiency in a year perhaps, and one needs to increase photoperiod?
Cite circa 2004 (does not indicate time, just temp)- http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/solidstate/pdf/ProjectingUsefulLife.pdf
There are a lot of extraneous reasons why we will see increases in LED efficiency in the near-term future. As they happen, LED's will only become more affordable, and realistic as the main light source in reefing. For now, people should realize they are on the cutting edge, and if they want to pay top dollar for bragging rights, they certainly can.
But please don't expect everyone else to ignore the known data, and jump on the bandwagon. Thats not what reefing is about, accepting or or promulgating.
Haven't looked at Sanjay's site, so don't know if anyone has done a real apples-apples comparison with a more 'normal' 175w MH set-up, but it probably doesn't matter. People will believe what they want to, as they have a vested interest.
If anything, I think while PFO has gotten a jump on the market, they have shot themselves in the foor with the apples-oranges comparison PR, and may have underestimated the average reefers innate desire to delve into the details.
Hopefully they will reassess and provide more realistic comparison data.
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