Solaris Lighting

anthony34

anthony34

New member
Have anyone here purchased the new Solaris LED lighting system if so what do you think about them?, I am thinking about swapping out my lighting for these puppies from what I have see no heating and half the electricity bill and also good for up to 11y before needed in new bulb or LED changed.
 
11 years without having to worry about changin' bulbs? Thats somethin' to think about....if the fixture lasts that long :lol: I still couldn't pay the price for one though.

Steve
 
Yeah I seen a 35"/20k for $1600.00... actually its not a bad price if you change out bulbs every 6 months in a 5 years time you have surpassed the cost of the leds and one would still be buying bulbs have not added the vhos of vho $40 and, not to mention chiller with is a must in my case and lower electricity cost, just something to think about.. as like anything in this hobby you will pay the pipper one way or another you are just paying it upfront instead of a chunk at a time :), but yes the all at one is scary LOL
 
One of the ones that the Critter has already has a bad ballast. With that said, I think it's a little earlier to jump on the wagon. I bet their quality control will go up in the next year or so as they get all the glitches worked out.
 
I hear they take care of you as far as customer service goes, but yes it seems they are still working out the kinks on such a new product. I can't remember who at the moment (CloudIX?), but someone in the club is getting some 400 watt ones when they are released, and PFO is sending him some 250s to use until the 400s are ready.
 
keep in mind although critter had this issue, every company has issues occasionally, the nature of the electronic business....AND they have a 2 year warranty on their units. Scott and I are thinking of purchasing this for the new tank as well, just trying to read on further. Our biggest deal is the low cost to run, the cooling way it is lit and the lower scary thoughts of a fire when we are gone. anyone else have opinions, I would love to hear them as well!
 
Thats my big key electric cost and not needing to replace the bulbs all the time, currently I am running 2x400MH and 2x192 VHO and if this unit will cut down on the electric cost and still give out the same par I am all for it, I do have a chiller but it for the most part never kicks on, tank is always around 79/80/81 degrees, but thats because I keep my house a little cooler I could cut down on that also with cooler running lights :).
 
Last edited:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9552762#post9552762 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by anthony34
Thats my big key electric cost and not needing to replace the bulbs all the time, currently I am running 2x400MH and 2x192 VHO and if this unit will cut down on the electric cost and still give out the same par I am all for it, I do have a chiller but it for the most part never kicks on, tank is always around 79/80/81 degrees, but thats because I keep my house a little cooler I could cut down on that also with cooler running lights :).
Click to expand...

OK, I think you've got a good spiel worked out.....now it's time to present it to the wife. :cool:
 
When I talked to the lady at the swap about the light at that time they had no policy in place for swapping the led. She said they had not put a lot of thought into it yet. She gave me the impression that they would not be swapping and you would be buying a new fixture... Something to think about. Even though the amount of time these lights are suppose to last is impressive.

Also they won't give out the same par as 400 watts. They did run neck and neck with the 250. They were nice enough to show me comparisons with a lux meter vs frag tank setups with 250 watters. They seemed to perform as good as a 14k 250watt.

Another thing is don't expect a 10K look. I was told with the way LED works it is not able to put out the same par with the white light our eyes see.

Reading on RC I have seen rumors that some other big players are going to be bringing out LED lights. I am not trying to persuade you to not get them but, at the same time I don't know if the technology is "there" yet. I decided to wait until more try the lights and to see what else comes to the market.

In the end I think LED lights will be replacing alot of light sources in many industries. I know high end automobiles are moving to them to replace tail lights and such. Once I see large warehouses replacing their sodium and MH lighting with LED I will be comfortable that the technology is ready.
 
I spoke with the person at solaris today, you can buy a new led if and when one goes out, they come in Rows of 5 meaning you must replace the entire row of 5 at a time each row is independant and is very easy to swap out, so its not an issue anymore, the cost for a new row of 5 is $70.00.
 
Yes it was me. I currently have the 72" 20k 250watt version over my 240 gallon tank. I love this light and im going to get another for the 40 gallon tank. They will not swap out the 250 for the 400 watt version. But since they did not have a light that would work on a 30" deep tank, they worked out a special deal for me.
 
I'm not as convinced on the par... The numbers I saw were in the 400-500 range on that meter (in air), where mine showed as high as 1500-1700 in the air (drops as it enters the water and moves further away from the light source. I run 250W DE 14K's (the PFO ballast/pendant combination tested a consistent 300-400 below the Aqua Medic, too, which I found interesting). By the bottom of the tank, they were only marginally different in values (Aquamedic still having more). Anyway, I want to see these in action on some SPS tanks long term before considering them. The justification is there for me otherwise, but I need to see them proven for a bit longer term...
 
I cant wait untill there is competition in the segment. Then there are the new leds that just hit completion of the development cycle that are said to be 10 to 15 times more powerful per watt than the most powerful led available today. Those suckers will be able to emulate the sun for our tanks.
 
I can't help but wonder how many people would actually be happy with the same lighting for 11 years... I don't think many, if any of us have that kind of contentment! :D

Seriously, tho...

If they're selling replacements in strips of 5 rows, maybe they can sell varieties in strips of 5 rows that allow you to get the color/intensity you want by matching different "rows" of LEDs instead of matching different bulbs...

That would absolutely set them over the top to me.

Brandon
 
with the solaris light you can change the color temp of the light on the contol panel. There is no need to buy different configurations of lights. I really like this option.
 
Like Gary, the big issue as far as lighting with me is long term coral coloration. Has anyone seen a tank run for even six months with one of these fixtures? IMO it's way to early to jump on the bandwagon. If you want a proven lighting system that will save on heat, and electricity I would go with T5's. Also keep in mind that most bulb manufacturers will claim bulbs last longer than they actually do. Out of a plethora of bulbs on the market with adequate PAR etc... for corals only a small fraction actually color corals, particularly SPS, up well IMO.

JMO, Chris
 
That is why I am looking at getting one of them to test out on one of my tanks I woiuldn't recomend it for someone on there only tank but that is because I have not seen any used for a long period of time.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9560679#post9560679 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CloudIX
with the solaris light you can change the color temp of the light on the contol panel. There is no need to buy different configurations of lights. I really like this option.
Click to expand...

I knew that... I was just testing you...

Congrats! You passed!

:D

If I do it, I'll wait about 2 or 3 years and see how they're doing. Until then, it'll be T5s for me, too, if I'm able to do my tank. Then again, it may be 2 or 3 years before I'm able to do one... heh.

Brandon
 
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