Solaris Led lighting systems
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
isistius
New member
i've been following this thread for quite some time now, and i have a question for all you solaris owners. i understand that you can specify the color range on the leds, right? so could you, lets say, when the light come on during the day, and you're not home set them at 6500K for super impressive growth, then maybe an hour before you get home set them to 14 or 20k, so you get the color you want?
i hope that makes sense?!?
i hope that makes sense?!?
RichConley
New member
The LEDs make blue better than they make white, so going to 6500k gives you less par.
Looking at the spectrum comparison on the AquaIllumination website(http://www.aquaillumination.com/spectral.html). It looks like they pretty much cover the spectrum of a 20,000K MH bulb. What other wavelengths would be good for coral coloration?
Amphibious
New member
Refurbished Solaris "G" series for sale
Refurbished Solaris "G" series for sale
[violation]
Refurbished Solaris "G" series for sale
[violation]
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BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Wrong forum man... that stuff belongs on the sales forum.
Finally finished reading through all the 'information' on this thread and its predecessor (split). Wow... There sure seems to be a lot of armchair professionals out there wanting to set the world straight to their way - or no way. I do understand physics is physics but I haven't even heard the word Entropy used once when it comes to the discussion of thermodynamics of heat transfer. 
I'm sold on the Solaris for my 125 upgrade. I did my own calculations of cost. I currently have a 1/5 HP chiller on my 260W PC lit 50 gal that does run about 4-6 months as I keep my house AC set pretty high (83 to 85 max). I do run evaporative cooling; I have fans on the canopy cooling the no-lid tank (summer) and especially anytime the chiller kicks on or is about to kick onâ€"œ with a much cheaper to run clip-on 10W fan than running a 450W chiller (set to chill at 82.5 to 81.5). So I know if I go up to MH/T5/LEDmoons on the 125 I will surely need a chiller and more house AC as well.
I figured with a DIY Canopy with Retro DIY halide - T5 kit (HelloLights) with controllable/variable LED moonlights and fans not only for the lights but also for the surface of the aquarium and all the X-10 controllers to control that with my AquaControllerII would cost slightly over $1000. When I took a lightly conservative estimate for increased chiller usage and increased house AC usage, MH bulb replacement at 2 years, T5 replacement at 1 year, and ASSUMING the H4 output IS 300W per power supply (x3 for the 72") the Solaris would become cheaper to own and operate in just over three years. And with that I’m sure the reflectors I would get from HelloLights would be far from top-of-the-line when comparing PAR outputs...
The fact that I wouldn't have to put a power panel in the canopy for all the aforementioned items and the outstanding, single-point control with the Solaris (gradual light increase/sunrise & decrease/sunset, cloud variability, adjustable color temperature, included moonlight option, and onboard fans) I was clearly turned on to this device.
Further, the fact that the light is directed exactly where we want it and not outside the tank or more specifically not on the glass sides thereby reducing algae growth on the glass is a definite plus.
I've seen the G series (250W equiv) at a LFS and the heat coming off it, top and bottom, was virtually nil. The fans on the outlet side were putting out some heat but certainly none was directed downward and no where near that of MH’s I’ve dared to get near!!! And fan noises were hardly noticeable. Another win for Solaris. (Yes, I did check the fan outlet and temps on the power supplies â€"œ not bad and probably less than a MH ballast.)
PFO is a fine, established, lighting company who pioneered this LED technology and has already appeared to have many of the initial troubles of a new product worked out. Thank you early adapters. Therefore, if I can ever find $4,000 to buy one - and assuming they're in stock - it seems they sell fast - I'm going to have my own. Yes, I understand there will soon be competitors and better LEDs and I look forward to that. Who knows, by the time I can afford this fixture, I may want something else. But for now, this one is available, and the people that are happy with it are enough to validate my sale.
So just for some eye candy... will Solaris owners update pictures on this thread or have all the Solaris owners unsubscribed? How about you Amphibious? :dance:
Just my two cents.
I'm sold on the Solaris for my 125 upgrade. I did my own calculations of cost. I currently have a 1/5 HP chiller on my 260W PC lit 50 gal that does run about 4-6 months as I keep my house AC set pretty high (83 to 85 max). I do run evaporative cooling; I have fans on the canopy cooling the no-lid tank (summer) and especially anytime the chiller kicks on or is about to kick onâ€"œ with a much cheaper to run clip-on 10W fan than running a 450W chiller (set to chill at 82.5 to 81.5). So I know if I go up to MH/T5/LEDmoons on the 125 I will surely need a chiller and more house AC as well.
I figured with a DIY Canopy with Retro DIY halide - T5 kit (HelloLights) with controllable/variable LED moonlights and fans not only for the lights but also for the surface of the aquarium and all the X-10 controllers to control that with my AquaControllerII would cost slightly over $1000. When I took a lightly conservative estimate for increased chiller usage and increased house AC usage, MH bulb replacement at 2 years, T5 replacement at 1 year, and ASSUMING the H4 output IS 300W per power supply (x3 for the 72") the Solaris would become cheaper to own and operate in just over three years. And with that I’m sure the reflectors I would get from HelloLights would be far from top-of-the-line when comparing PAR outputs...
The fact that I wouldn't have to put a power panel in the canopy for all the aforementioned items and the outstanding, single-point control with the Solaris (gradual light increase/sunrise & decrease/sunset, cloud variability, adjustable color temperature, included moonlight option, and onboard fans) I was clearly turned on to this device.
Further, the fact that the light is directed exactly where we want it and not outside the tank or more specifically not on the glass sides thereby reducing algae growth on the glass is a definite plus.
I've seen the G series (250W equiv) at a LFS and the heat coming off it, top and bottom, was virtually nil. The fans on the outlet side were putting out some heat but certainly none was directed downward and no where near that of MH’s I’ve dared to get near!!! And fan noises were hardly noticeable. Another win for Solaris. (Yes, I did check the fan outlet and temps on the power supplies â€"œ not bad and probably less than a MH ballast.)
PFO is a fine, established, lighting company who pioneered this LED technology and has already appeared to have many of the initial troubles of a new product worked out. Thank you early adapters. Therefore, if I can ever find $4,000 to buy one - and assuming they're in stock - it seems they sell fast - I'm going to have my own. Yes, I understand there will soon be competitors and better LEDs and I look forward to that. Who knows, by the time I can afford this fixture, I may want something else. But for now, this one is available, and the people that are happy with it are enough to validate my sale.
So just for some eye candy... will Solaris owners update pictures on this thread or have all the Solaris owners unsubscribed? How about you Amphibious? :dance:
Just my two cents.
Fishdude1984
New member
i wish the LCD display was back lit blue instead of green, the same blue to match my reefkeeperII
kimoyo
Active member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8872187#post8872187 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
You guys sure you pay .36 a kWh That sounds unreasonably high
Here is a map with avg costs throughout the country.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electr...table5_6_a.html and a more complete table with the compiled data (available almost every quarter from what I understand)
For example, the table shows I pay around .10 a kWh here in PA (the actual on my bull is about 9.8 cents.
NW and NJ are among the nations highest with .15 to .18 per kWh.
As I mentioned, looking up Amphibious' town revealed .09 a kWh but he says it is more... FLA comes in on avg around 11.36 cents.
Anyway... check the numbers to make sure.
If you DO pay .36 a kWh and you run the lights 10 hours a day...
that is 800W X 10 hours = 8kWh a day
That is $2.88 a day for the lights, or $86.40 a month for the lights.
Adding your pumps and other 24/7 equipment in (lets say 500W that runs 24/7) you will consume another 12 kWh a day. That would cost another $129 to run the aquarium. So $220 or so a month for your tanks electrical costs would be a good guess if the rate is correct.
What PFO setup do you plan on replacing the (2) 400 MHs with?
Forget tiers, I live in NYC and pay $0.27 kWH and I know plenty people in NYC who pay over $0.30. My tier difference is $0.01, wow big help. Go to manhattanreefs.com and say you doubt people pay that much for electricity or better yet go to the LIreefers forum here and say it. I have it lite compared to some people on Staten Island or Long Island. And for you to continually act like people can't read their electric bills (three by my count on this thread) because of an internet map that give averages over an entire state is foolish.
Not true, not even close to being true! All energy is not heat and heat shouldn't even be called an energy! Heat is the process of energy transfer due to temperature differences, an object can't hold heat. And then to call all energy heat, which is what you did when you wrote "energy=heat", is ludacris.
IMO you are twisting science to fit your point of view. I bolded where you wrote energy in this post, had you said heat, that entire sentence would have been wrong. But the rest of your post is wrong. Again, not all energy from these lamps is converted into thermal energy or transferred thru heat. So both units will not "put out" the same amount of "heat" regardless of wattage. This is the biggest flaw in your thinking because a box doesn't convert electomagnetic energy into chemical energy which does happen in our fishtanks. How do you think corals grow and go thru their processes, they use radiation energy to do so. Even when a coral dies this chemical energy is not fully converted to heat because the skeleton (a large part of the coral) is still there and removed. The point is, that if you have a light that puts out more usuable raditation for a coral, more of that radiation will be converted into chemical energy and not thermal energy. So two different sets of lights with the same wattage draws can and will have different thermal energy production.
The growth pics in the beginning are amazing.
kimoyo
Active member
Before my previous post I had only read halfway into the first thread. Then I started looking backward in this thread after my post. Before any of you internet scientist start bashing, go read a book and apply it. Science read on a crackerjack boxes should be excluded. That is not meant as a cut on anyone, just a simple statement of what is very obvious to anybody who truly understands the basics of physics, heat and energy.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Who cares what YOUR rate is, it was not in question. Secondly, I posted the map to show the averages. Did you read my post or are you just trolling? I also stated that the rate MAY be wrong. I did the math showing what I found to be the rate, but could easily do it at ANY rate you wish.
For your information, MOST municipalities post their CURRENT rates online at their websites. THAT is where I draw information from if it is available and that is what I use to base my comments on.
You say I have no clue? Get the REAL rates from those (3) people who you say I have lied about. YOU SHOW THE MATH.
Did congress not just pass laws regarding electric, phone and gas bills, using the reasoing that the AVERAGE AMERICAN can not read their own bill?
Was I saying that people can not read their own bills, or was I saying that people do not understand how to calculate electrical usage and the "Solaris savings" numbers were out of line with reality.
Honestly man... if you going ot attack me, do so armed with good information and an informed arguement. Not arguements like you posted above.
I would be more than happy to work through ANY set of numbers for ANY setup with ANY electrical rate. We can leave the attacks and silly tangents aside and get rigt to the the math.
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BeanAnimal
Premium Member
I suggest you read the Law of Conservation of Energy again.
Heat and Work are the only means by which energy can be transfered.
We are talking about transfering energy here are we not? We certainly are not storing it are we? Energy is imparted to the tank and the room. The only thing in either that stores energy is the life in the tank. Care to weigh it before and after? That is the only ENERGY stored, and therefore can be subtracted.
Care to talk about WORK. Do we have perpetual motion in our tanks or rooms? NO? Then what becomes of the energy that is transfered to WORK... ohh it becomes HEAT. ENERGY=HEAT
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Not meant as a cut? That is all you have done.
"internet scientists"
"science read on crackerjack boxes"
So YOU truly understand the basics of physics, heat and energy. It sure does not appear that way here. All you have done is propose that an insignificant amount of energy is trapped by the corals in the process of their growth. Honestly... what a joke with regard to the amount of energy being used here.
Not only that, but don't BOTH MH and LED lights add mass to the coral? Subtract that the difference and wow... we can talk about heat again.
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