SOLARIS PFOaquatics with I5 Power Supply - AUTO settings question, there a manual?

[davisl]

Hi all!

I am using a SOLARIS PFOaquatics aquarium lighting to culture microfrags of staghorn and mountainous star (I work in a lab). I have it on the AUTO settings and today (12/6/2024 at 11:30am) the PAR read 505. 200-550 PAR is what I have seen for stony coral so I am assuming the AUTO settings are geared towards the highest which should be the corals I am culturing. But, I have been searching the internet to see if an old manual would pop up that describes the AUTO light cycle and haven't gotten anywhere. One manual I found says it can go through the sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, and cloudy cover 365 days a year but I wasn't sure if that was AUTO. I want this for my records and was hoping someone here might know something since the company is no longer in business.

Attached are pics of the lighting system!

Thank you ahead of time!!

 

[griss]

I'm not personally familiar with this fixture. But, here are a couple archived threads discussing settings for it. I'm at work and don't have time to read through them.

https://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=876845

https://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1166829

 

[griss]

Oh, and I'm a big fan of A. Cervicornis so, I would love to see some pics of your research tank(s).

 

[Reefing102]

I haven’t used that fixture either.
Not a manual but I found this:

Product Review: A New Horizon in Lighting: PFO’s Solaris LED System

Dana reviews PFO's new Solaris LED lighting system. PFO makes some bold claims in their advertising. How well do these facts hold up under close scrutiny? Several testing protocols were used to evaluate lamp intensity, lamp spectral quality and heat transfer.

reefs.com

Also not a manual but pulling their website up in the wayback machine (it shows the auto specs): It looks like the manual link wasn’t archived:

https://web.archive.org/web/2007022...sled.com/Specifications/tabid/67/Default.aspx

Detail Specifications​

LED
Each 12” section of hood has 25-Luxeon 3 Watt LED’s for a total of 75Watts/Foot. The LEDs are mounted 5 LEDs/circuit board. If one LED fails than the 5 LED board needs to be replaced. This circuit board replacement is designed to be performed in the field if needed.

The LEDs can be set up for either a maximum color temperature of 20K or 12K at time of order.

	Actinic Blue Daylight	Full Spectrum White	Actinic Blue Night Light	Full Spectrum White Night	Total LED’s/Foot
20K	9	6	4	6	25
13K	0	15	4	6	25

During Daylight all LED’s including Night Lights are on. Each of the four LED’s can be independently dimmed from 0-100%.

Note: The Actinic Blue LED’s produce more Par than the Full Spectrum White LED’s. For the most Par use the 20K LED version.(Opposite of Metal Halide).

Power Supply

The fixture has an 8’ cable with quick disconnect for each required power supply. This cable can not be extended beyond 8’. The power supply cable comes off the back left hand side of fixture. It does not come out of the end. The input is 60/50Hz with selectable voltage of 120V or 230V. All power in the hood is 12V DC. The power supply is powder coated black. The power supply is cooled via a fan. Caution:Water can enter power supply through cooling fan.Mount via wall mounting holes or set on dry surface. Dimensions: 6.75”L x 6.25”W x 3.75” H

Length Width Height LED Wattage # of Power Supplies # of Fans
14” 8.7” 3.65” 75W 1 4
24” 8.7” 3.65” 150W 1 4
36” 8.7” 3.65” 225W 2 4
46.5” 8.7” 3.65” 300W 2 4
59.5” 8.7” 3.65” 375W 3 4
71.5” 8.7” 3.65” 450W 3 4

Fixture CoolingAir needs to circulate through the fixture. If mounting in canopy, ensure there is air flow to the fans on each end of the fixture. The control board has a thermometer on board which will turn off the fixture if the LED’s get too hot. This will happen prior to any damage to the LED’s. The LCD will display a message stating the fixture became too hot. If this happens improve the air flow to the fans.

MountingThe fixture can be mounted with, mounting feet which are supplied on tank, supplied eye hooks, or with optional pendant hanging kit. It is preferred to mount in the open air, but mounting inside canopy is fine as long as adequate ventilation is available to the fans. Ensure that the temperature stays between 70F and 110F. The cooler the better.

Housing/LensThe housing is extruded aluminum. The splash lens is acrylic. Do not remove acrylic lens because it exposes the LED board to saltwater splash and salt creep.

Control Board/LCD DisplayAll units include the control board with LCD input module. The LCD display has a step through menu to program the Auto settings. There is also a manual mode to bypass the auto setting to temporarily adjust light output of each of the LED strings. (This feature is to observe the tank under different color variations like 6.5k or actinic blue only). The only way to interface to the control board is through the LCD push button display.

Auto Settings(These may change slightly):
Current Time 8AMSunrise Options Default Settings
Sunrise Start Time 8AM
Sunrise Time Length Blue 30 min
Sunrise Time Length White 30 min
Sunrise Time Length Night Blue Lights 30 min
Sunrise Time Length Night White Lights 30 min

Daylight OptionsDaylight % Blues 100%
Daylight % Whites 100%
Daylight % Blue Night Lights 100%
Daylight % White Night Lights 100%

Cloud Cover% decrease from Daylight Full Brightness 0
Frequency between Clouds
Length of Cloud cover

Sunset Options Default Settings
Sunset Start Time 7:00 PM
Sunset Time Length Blue 90 min
Sunset Time Length White 30 min
Sunset Time Length Blue Night Lights 90 min
Sunset Time Length White Night Lights 30 min

Night SettingsNight Start Time 8:30PM
Length of Night Lights 700 min
Night % Blues 0
Night % Whites 0
Night % Blue Night Lights 10%
Night % White Night Lights 0%

Set for 28 Day Moon Cycle ON

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I had an I-5 unit & my corals grew like crazy.
If I could have gotten parts I'd still have it.
I liked that unit!

 

[oreo57]

Hi all!

I am using a SOLARIS PFOaquatics aquarium lighting to culture microfrags of staghorn and mountainous star (I work in a lab). I have it on the AUTO settings and today (12/6/2024 at 11:30am) the PAR read 505. 200-550 PAR is what I have seen for stony coral so I am assuming the AUTO settings are geared towards the highest which should be the corals I am culturing. But, I have been searching the internet to see if an old manual would pop up that describes the AUTO light cycle and haven't gotten anywhere. One manual I found says it can go through the sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, and cloudy cover 365 days a year but I wasn't sure if that was AUTO. I want this for my records and was hoping someone here might know something since the company is no longer in business.

Attached are pics of the lighting system!

Thank you ahead of time!!

Do not believe the "Auto" is a fixed program. So it does what you set it to do.
There are 4 channels white daylight blue daylight white night blue night.
Reffing 102's description includes the term "default" which makes me assume each is adjustable.
I could be wrong.

Sunrise, Daylight, Cloud Cover, Sunset, and the lunar cycle, can all be set independently

https://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=876845