My Solaris experience.......

[villious]

Hello all. First of all, I'm NOT starting this thread to be a Solaris lovers/haters flame war. Seems the "LED War" has gotten out of hand. One thing I've learned over 20 years of being in this hobby is that there is no one/right way to accomplish a means to an end, and that "the science" isn't always written in stone. It evolves.

I had a Solaris G series 20K on my tank for about 6 months and I ended up selling it and going back to metal halide. The solaris was not a bad light, it just didn't meet all of my requirements. See below on my OPINION and my experience with this light......


I sold my Solaris 20K LED light fixture. I was happy that I could be in on the ground floor in aquarium LED technology and here is what I found out. They are not bad lights. But I feel that LED technology has a long way to go, and it's just too expensive now. That being said, the Solaris lights are NOT bad lights. Let me break it down......

1. Biggest plus.....heat savings. They put out almost no heat. That's nice! One more thing you don't have to worry about.

2. At 20k, they make the tank look pretty, but the tank was dim in many areas, especially at the very back of the tank. I want to cover the back of my tank with either GSP or Xenia, and there is just not enough light spread to get back there. So, light spread is a big downside. My tank is 48" x 24" x 24".

3. Another HUGE downside for me.....well, the LEDs just don't bring out the corals colors like MH do. That was a huge thing for me. I've had MH back over my tank for about three weeks and the coloration has very much intensified and the growth has increased too. The corals do grow very well under the LED's, but they are just not like MH. But the color this was the big point for me, and the main reason I switched back.

4. A big plus of the LED's were getting to see the "sunrise/sunset"......beautiful to watch the tank light and dim. I'm sure the fish liked it better too.

I bought a 4' Outer Orbit Pro with 2 - 250w MH's with Phoenix 14k bulbs, 4 T-5 HO actinics and blue and while moon lights. It lights the tank so much better. MUCH better colors from the corals. Lights the entire tank. But, produces the heat. But I'll have to live with that.

There is a new LED fixture on the market that is WAY brighter and has MUCH more features that the Solaris systems do. It's made by Aquaillumination. www.aquaillumination.com
If I were going to buy an LED now, I'd go with the Aquaillumination in a heart beat over the Solaris. But in the coming years, we'll see aquarium LED technology take off and come to be the norm I believe.

I lost about $100 on the deal, but that's not bad to be able to try that technology and see for myself how well it worked. I used some of the money I recouped to buy a full Tunze system to improve my water movement.

This has been my experience and I'm sure there are people that have the Solaris lights that love them and wouldn't trade them for anything. There's no "right way" to navigate this hobby. I just traded no heat for better light coverage and color.

If you want good information on the LED systems, talk to the people that have them, and let the arm chair scientist that have never owned one keep on ranting

Happy reefing and keep on truckin

[jimmyPx]

Hi Villious,

I have had my Solaris over my 60 gallon cube tank (24 in x 24 in x 24 in) since March. I personally love it, but I agree with your pros and cons.

I live in Florida, so the heat issue is a big deal for me. Also, my tank is mostly LPS and they are doing great under the Solaris. However, my 2 Acroporas are doing OK, but not growing that much (and I have a Nielson reactor for topoff and a Geo calcium reactor, so it isn't the calcium or alk).

I think that the first generation of Solaris give off about T5 levels of light, not MH levels. Now the new 2nd Generation I hear are much more powerful, but I haven't tested them.

I'm happy with the lights and as LEDs get more powerful, I think that everyone in the hobby will be using them eventually.

[villious]

Hi Jimmy. I agree. LED's are going to bust out eventually. My tank is mostly SPS now, so that's why I went back to MH.

I've heard the Solaris H4's are much brighter than the G series, but I think the Aquailluminations are going to blow them both out of the water (no pun intended). Hopefully, now we'll start seeing technical/price competition between them and other future manufactures of LED systems.

By the way, I'm originally from south Georgia. Been to Jacksonville many times. :-)

[PFO Lighting]

Just to give an update on the output of the Solaris. We started with the G Series, then the H4 series, and now we are introducing the I4 series which is scheduled to ship in late October. The I4 series is almost twice as bright as the G series.

As new LEDs are developed we will continue to update all of our LED fixtures to incorporate the newest technology possible.

The I4 series uses LEDs that are not even officially released yet. They are the best in the world today and are pushing more than 80 lumens/watt.

For existing owners we are working on providing upgrade LEDs for the existing owners. We do not expect to have any upgrade options until January-February 2008.

Patrick Ormiston
PFO Lighting Inc.

[jimmyPx]

Hi Patrick,

that's great news. Like I said, I love the Solaris unit that I have (G series), but I would really like to get the LEDs upgraded so that more Acros and Clams can make a home in my tank.

[SlowCobra]

While currently this is an item that is WAY out of my price range thank you for the honest feedback. I, too, agree that some day LED's will be the new in thing to have.

For most people the expense right now as well as the technology incorporated in them just isn't an option. While lighting does get expensive, with a little creativity you can create a great setup for minimal expense.

Also a thanks to Patrick for providing feedback in here as well. At least current and future owners know that they have the option to upgrade their units to the latest and greatest without purchasing an entire new unit.

[oct2274]

good to hear from the sponsor and great to hear they are continuing to push technology as it comes out. Hopefully prices will fall so more users can take advantage of these fixtures. I'm sure once the prices are closer to good halide fixture prices many more people will take advantage.