Solaris?

[Ty1e]

what does everyone think of this solaris led hood unit, good/bad
is it as good as it's being made to sound or is it not as good as MH and T5's?

[cwilson]

personally, i think their WAY WAY WAY too expensive for what they are, but if they go down in price, i might replace my MH with one; but they would half to go below half their current price

if you look under the large reef forum, theres a guy posting about build a 5' x 5' 30" cube tank, and he's got Solaris lights. and he shows the lights onhis current system vs his MH. the LED's do like nice, and the lights are much cooler when on, and i think they consume less elec, but i think they are still out rediculous in price.

(ps if the forum's not in large reefs, its in DIY. i think its large reefs though)

[SWSaltwater]

I love mine. So far all corals have done well for me under it, I had a few issues with clams but I think it was my clown tang dive bombing them. New Clams seem fine.

[Ty1e]

what's the light like, does it look like a t5 or does it have shimmer or completely diffrent.

[SWSaltwater]

Has shimmer with surface movement, the light on my tank appears brighter then the MH tank next to it. Corals do better as well.

[SWSaltwater]

btw I had the 250w solaris on it for over a year, recently added a 2nd 400w version.

[Ty1e]

that looks good, do you think it's worth the money now or will the price drop soon?. i was think of getting that lighting system for a future 100gal

[pjf]

I believe that the Aquaillumination modular LED fixture with a purported 100 lumens per watt, looks better on paper:
http://www.aquaillum.com/par.html

[villious]

I've had the "G" series light for about 6 weeks now. I like it very much. I know it's pricey, but so is all new technology. Best thing...no heat. Very nice light.

[RichConley]

MH and T5 make about 100 lumens per watt.

The LEDS the solaris uses make 20 lumens per watt. You do the math.


The Solaris is nothing buy hype. If you want an LED fixture, buy the aquaillumination unit. It uses LEDs that are actually more efficient than Incandescent bulbs, unlike the Solaris.

[SWSaltwater]

Originally posted by Ty1e
that looks good, do you think it's worth the money now or will the price drop soon?. i was think of getting that lighting system for a future 100gal

I think the price will not drop in the next 3-6 years for LED simply because it is a rapidly evolving light source. The LED's are high dollar and by the time the current technology drops in price new better LED's will come out. I think this will keep the price high for some time. I don't think any manufacturer will keep the same old LED's once a new better one is proven. The goal will eventually be less LED's in a fixture to lower price, but this will take some time for them to get that powerful. It is worth the money IMO. The solaris 250 and 400w have proven themselves to me and a lot of other users. You will find very few dissenting opinions that have used the light. Seem the only naysayers are people that have only seen em at trade shows and think they "know it all".

[Musho3210]

yeah solaris seems crap compared to MH and T5, but aquaillumination seems comparable. PFO over charges a lot of things.

[RichConley]

Originally posted by SWSaltwater
The goal will eventually be less LED's in a fixture to lower price, but this will take some time for them to get that powerful.

Well. The solaris's only competitor uses LEDS that are 5 times as efficient.....

[SWSaltwater]

Just to clarify, they have not actually shipped a light yet, Solaris has been out and proven for well over a year. Once I get an aquaillumination hood in I will judge the results myself. Unlike some I prefer to see and test myself as opposed to BS and speculate/form unsupported opinions. I did not sell Solaris lights until I had used it myself and loved the results. I would take a solaris over T5 and MH any day. I use T-5's, MH, and LED in my shop so I can actually compare em, and customers can see the difference right away.

[HecticDialectic]

^^ Yeah. Those silly engineer types... who do they think they are acting like a piece of paper can tell them everything they need to know to calculate performance!

[Kentanner11]

Originally posted by SWSaltwater

I have seen this tank, and WOW! Honnestly in my unexperienced opinion these lights make the tank/coral look NOTHING like MH. It adds so much more vibrant coloration!

[jimmyPx]

Hello,

I have used VHO and MH in the past and have been using my Solaris G model for the last 4 months.

In my opinion, I think that the LEDs are a huge leap forward and in a few years, everyone will be using them (price being the main concern). LED technology is also advancing rapidly (in fact the Solaris has the new models out that are even more powerful)

The things that I like with the Solaris is that it simulates cloudy days, longer days in the Summer, shorter days in the Winter, Phases of the Moon, etc. In addition, I do not need a chiller, my office that the tank is in doesn't need extra air conditioning, I don't need sunglasses in my office , I don't have to worry about burning my hand on the hood, I don't have to worry about the hood glass shattering if water hits it, I don't have to change bulbs every 6 months, and oh yeah, it uses ALOT less power.

Personally I don't get hung up on par numbers, all I'll say is that my SPS are doing great.

I know that it is costly, but I am glad that I saved up and bought it. Oh and if MH was so much better, I have my old PFO MH/VHO hood in the garage that I would have switched back to if I thought that the Solaris was all hype and didn't work.

[villious]

Glad you like your Solaris JimmyPx. 99% of everyone that actually has a Solaris that I've talked to, loves them. We see for ourselves how well the corals are thriving and feel the heat reduction. I know it's expensive, but if you don't like them or can't afford one, don't buy one. Wait for something better to come along or wait for the price to drop. It's the same with all new technology. Just like the iphone that just came out. I think it's pretty cool, but I don't want one, and I'm not going to go to the iphone message boards and bash them.

I'm just dumbfounded by the Solaris haters that come to these threads and bash them and yet have never actually seen one. I too, don't get hung up on the numbers. I can see how well my tank is doing and I really like the look. It's that simple. In my opinion, it's common sense vs book smarts. Just because the paper says it, doesn't make it so. I got into a flame war with someone yesterday and realized that you can't reason with a rock. I refuse to even respond to that poster anymore. It's the equivalent of racial hatred toward PFO or Solaris. They feel that just because we bought it and it wasn't cheap that we HAVE to like it to justify the money....how absurd. I don't get it..... Maybe it boils down to Solaris envy instead of Solaris hatred.....whatever.

Oh well, to each his own :-) Glad you like your Solaris.......peace out.

[villious]

Originally posted by SWSaltwater
Just to clarify, they have not actually shipped a light yet, Solaris has been out and proven for well over a year. Once I get an aquaillumination hood in I will judge the results myself. Unlike some I prefer to see and test myself as opposed to BS and speculate/form unsupported opinions. I did not sell Solaris lights until I had used it myself and loved the results. I would take a solaris over T5 and MH any day. I use T-5's, MH, and LED in my shop so I can actually compare em, and customers can see the difference right away.

SWsaltwater......Sorry, I didn't see your post. Thank you...well said. Actually the wisest and most common sense post I've seen to date on this subject! And your actually a "professional" in this business. Can I get an AMEN????!!!!

[koraltek]

pfo recently came to our local club to give a presentation on the solaris (the older 20k 250w version)
i think the one singular thing that is making this thing grow corals at it's lower wattage is the angle of the led lights,... it's like a straight down spot light...you dont have these light waves bouncing around all over the place, being reflected, or going out of the tank, they are simply traveling straight from the source directly to the coral...
that in it's self is enough for me to understand that this fixture will grow corals nicely...
but now for my gripe...
this thig is an ugly fixture at best, that is fat, and dopey looking...no elegance whatsoever.
and some idiot actually put the controller directly on the front of the unit.
it looks like the pc fixtures from 10 years ago.
if i spend 1,000 - 3,000 on a fixture it better damn well be pretty.
i do like the way the aquaillumination looks better, and coupled with the seoul semi's, blutooth remote controller, and modular expandability, as well as ability to upgrade the led arrays, im thinking that is the way to go. i just wish they would mix led arrays with t5, that would the best of all!

[villious]

Koraltek, what is your sig a quote from?

[koraltek]

that be: Gorillaz "dont get lost in heaven/demon days" one of my favorite songs

[villious]

Sweet :-)

[SWSaltwater]

well as for the looks of a unit, if someone is looking at the light and not whats under it, something was done seriously wrong............

[villious]

LOL.......