Solaris Led lighting systems

[skydancer]

Is this the new method of attracting aliens?

[jman77]

RAVE at Gomer's house !

Gomer, make the lights rotate and lets get the party started !!!

[badpacket]

Amphibious, the code word was an English expresssion for joking/mocking someone, nothing more.
I wasn't sure why you would think it funny that some DIY'er would naturally step up and try to replicate this, now that true high-power LED's are available for more reasonable rates. After all, thats why Solaris has come out with theirs now right? I mean, if the Luxeon's were still $15-20/LED, I'd expect it would still be in development...

Basically, all Solaris has done is "DIY" their product at the commercial level, as it is a bit more costly than some acrylic and cement for skimmers.
One could say in fact, that Solaris has done little more than mock up an array of Luxeons. The TDP is known and published in the industry, getting the proper heatinsking is trivial. The power supply is also a known, with the power solutions like the Maxim16806 available for $1 per LED or so I would think.
Add some fans, moisture proof as needed, and its a done deal.

Now yeah, there is a little more than this thats required. However not that much, as other industries like automotive, etc.
Heck, Lumileds already has solutions for it all:



Need circuit designs? Go here: http://www.luxeonstar.com/application-notes.php

Need heatsink requirements? Go here: http://www.luxeonstar.com/application-notes.php

The funny thing is, a lot of the DIY folks on RC have some electronics backgrounds, and this probably is 'easy'.

Ramping up to the 3w Luxeons is the same process, with more attention to heat I expect.

If I misread your comments, then my bad. But at least more people know where they can get some Luxeon's to play with , and some realistic costs and qualified designs for free.

Originally posted by Amphibious
Interesting post badpacket. Pat and I are not taking the ****on DIY'ers, what ever that means. I've never been good at decyphering coded words. I doubt that Pat has anything against DIY'ers. After all he sells MH parts, when the time comes he'll probably sell the LED parts for DIY'ers. I certainly have nothing against DIY'ers since I am one. What I get a kick out of on the LED lights going DIY is, they are barely out and some DIY'ers think this is going to be a piece of cake, like skimmers. That was a poor comparison, IMHO.

As far as Pat and I being tight??? I would hardly make that statement in a public forum. Pat and I are aquaintances and I am one of his retailers. I like Pat because he's committed to seeing the issues, that are bound to come up with any new complex invention, are all taken care of at his expense. He's a good business man, very personable and honest to a fault! If that seems to you my being in tight with him, so be it. You are intitled to your opinion.

[SurfOnH20]

p

[Amphibious]

I guess we'll just wait and see how long it takes for a DIY unit, equivilent to the solaris, to be accomplished. I will not be holding my breath.

You seem to have the answers and the sources. Can we expect a unit from you anytime soon?

[owsi]

Got mine yesterday, they are still packing extra screws and lock washers inside the fixtures for spares I guess? I found 6 screws and a thin lock washer. Love the light but the shipping carton, and QC need a lot of work. Why not ship the power supplies in a seperate box, make it easier on the UPS driver and customer to handle, less likely to get kicked around ( mine is a 60" with the 3 Power supplies, about 10' carton ). Why can't the assemblers turn fixture over and shake out screws, washers and other unknowns. For the price I paid, I expect quality, this makes me worry about other problems down the road due to lack of QC. But I still love what the light and computer can do.

[Tonyzoo]

To the people with the lights already.

How did you get them already?

To those who want to get them but can't:

The PFO site says they're coming out in July. Will the lights coming out in July be different then the ones already out? Are they different versions or just a new production cycle? If they aren't different, when are the higher watt led's coming out?

[cindyolson]

The site has not been updated in a while. July was last July. You can order them from Amphibious. He is a retailer that carries PFO products. If you look back through this thread you should be able to find his site. Or you could try your lfs, if they don't do PFO they can sign up over the phone.

[Kshack]

OK all you Solaris owners, what are your thoughts.
I have two 60 inch 20K units for about 1 mouth (tank is 36" wide). What have you done as far as programing? I tweaked the photo period so the lights go on for 11 hours on the shortest day of the year, to 13 hours on the longest. What about cloud cover? Mine are at 55% for 8 minutes 8 times per day. Moon light? I went from 10% down to 6%, but still think is too bright at full moon.
How have your corals reacted? I have some frags that have lost some color. Polyp extension is still good, but color has faded. This is usually a sigh of too much light, but not sure if I should just wait it out or change position or possibly more cloud cover. Anyone else have any comments?
Let's not argue if these things are the lights of the future, but rather how experienced users have programmed their units.

[underpar]

For Tonyzoo...

Try http://www.theculturedreef.com/homepage.htm. They have free shipping if ordered by the end of the year.

[Amphibious]

Originally posted by Kshack
OK all you Solaris owners, what are your thoughts.
I have two 60 inch 20K units for about 1 mouth (tank is 36" wide). What have you done as far as programing? I tweaked the photo period so the lights go on for 11 hours on the shortest day of the year, to 13 hours on the longest. What about cloud cover? Mine are at 55% for 8 minutes 8 times per day. Moon light? I went from 10% down to 6%, but still think is too bright at full moon.
How have your corals reacted? I have some frags that have lost some color. Polyp extension is still good, but color has faded. This is usually a sigh of too much light, but not sure if I should just wait it out or change position or possibly more cloud cover. Anyone else have any comments?
Let's not argue if these things are the lights of the future, but rather how experienced users have programmed their units.

I left my daylight length alone but dimmed the blues to about 75%. Did away with cloud cover altogether. Dimmed my Lunar lights to about 15% because like you, I thought the Lunars were too bright.

Some corals brown up on too little light. I would try lessoning the cloud cover before shortening the day length you choose. Corals react farely quick to a change in lighting so, you will know which works in a short period of time.

Dick

[hahnmeister]

Originally posted by Kshack
OK all you Solaris owners, what are your thoughts.
I have two 60 inch 20K units for about 1 mouth (tank is 36" wide). What have you done as far as programing? I tweaked the photo period so the lights go on for 11 hours on the shortest day of the year, to 13 hours on the longest. What about cloud cover? Mine are at 55% for 8 minutes 8 times per day. Moon light? I went from 10% down to 6%, but still think is too bright at full moon.
How have your corals reacted? I have some frags that have lost some color. Polyp extension is still good, but color has faded. This is usually a sigh of too much light, but not sure if I should just wait it out or change position or possibly more cloud cover. Anyone else have any comments?
Let's not argue if these things are the lights of the future, but rather how experienced users have programmed their units.

You see similar effects when running halides and T5s that have a very narrow output in the blue spectrums. IME, its from alot of blue, which the corals use most of, and little else, which these LEDs are guilty of more than any other light. Someone else contacted me about this and my suggestion was to add a couple T5 strips to the sides of the fixture... a midday and a blue+ (to balance the midday). This provides more light in the warmer and green spectrums that brings the pigments out. I have seen high output systems with a load of blue. Like a system that was 3x400wattRadiums, which, on e-ballasts as they get older, turn more and more monochromatic as they just lose their daylight outputs all together. Then add to this system a good 320 watts of actinic VHO. Well... the tank looked very blue, and everything inside the tank was blue no matter if it was green, purple or red. Many of the corals ended up doing what you are mentioning... turning pale white/blue.

Similar things have been noted with T5s... people running aquablue bulbs for daylight, blue+ bulbs for supplimental blue, and actinics means little of the warmer spectrums, as the aquablue/11,000Kish bulbs are really mostly blue still. Some have added a single 3000K bulb to help corals pigment in better, and its been shown to work.

Those 'white' leds that the PFO uses are really heavy in the blue still... with minimal amounts of red/green. LEDs are going to require better husbandry by aquarists in the future as LEDs are known for their near-laserlike monochromatic looks. You can get actinics that are only 420nm. You can get blues that are only 450nm. Even the whites arent really that 'white'.

It was seen as an advantage by some... having so much blue... but when you get to the point where there it little else (as with these), the corals just have no reason to develop pigments that reflect these other colors. Thats why PFO added a couple red LEDs to the units, and I would speculate that they end up adding a couple 3000Kish LEDs in the future to help the red/orange/and yellow pigments show better.

I had similar problems with a pheonix 14,000K bulb... loads of blue, but little else. Many corals at the top of the tank were simply fading out...growing great and getting loads of output though. I switched to a ushio 14,000K with blue+ supplimental bulbs, and the colors came back in.

It seems that corals can not exist on blue alone.

[hahnmeister]

Originally posted by Kshack
OK all you Solaris owners, what are your thoughts.
I have two 60 inch 20K units for about 1 mouth (tank is 36" wide). What have you done as far as programing? I tweaked the photo period so the lights go on for 11 hours on the shortest day of the year, to 13 hours on the longest. What about cloud cover? Mine are at 55% for 8 minutes 8 times per day. Moon light? I went from 10% down to 6%, but still think is too bright at full moon.
How have your corals reacted? I have some frags that have lost some color. Polyp extension is still good, but color has faded. This is usually a sigh of too much light, but not sure if I should just wait it out or change position or possibly more cloud cover. Anyone else have any comments?
Let's not argue if these things are the lights of the future, but rather how experienced users have programmed their units.

You see similar effects when running halides and T5s that have a very narrow output in the blue spectrums. IME, its from alot of blue, which the corals use most of, and little else, which these LEDs are guilty of more than any other light. Someone else contacted me about this and my suggestion was to add a couple T5 strips to the sides of the fixture... a midday and a blue+ (to balance the midday). This provides more light in the warmer and green spectrums that brings the pigments out. I have seen high output systems with a load of blue. Like a system that was 3x400wattRadiums, which, on e-ballasts as they get older, turn more and more monochromatic as they just lose their daylight outputs all together. Then add to this system a good 320 watts of actinic VHO. Well... the tank looked very blue, and everything inside the tank was blue no matter if it was green, purple or red. Many of the corals ended up doing what you are mentioning... turning pale white/blue.

Similar things have been noted with T5s... people running aquablue bulbs for daylight, blue+ bulbs for supplimental blue, and actinics means little of the warmer spectrums, as the aquablue/11,000Kish bulbs are really mostly blue still. Some have added a single 3000K bulb to help corals pigment in better, and its been shown to work.

Those 'white' leds that the PFO uses are really heavy in the blue still... with minimal amounts of red/green. LEDs are going to require better husbandry by aquarists in the future as LEDs are known for their near-laserlike monochromatic looks. You can get actinics that are only 420nm. You can get blues that are only 450nm. Even the whites arent really that 'white'.

It was seen as an advantage by some... having so much blue... but when you get to the point where there it little else (as with these), the corals just have no reason to develop pigments that reflect these other colors. Thats why PFO added a couple red LEDs to the units, and I would speculate that they end up adding a couple 3000Kish LEDs in the future to help the red/orange/and yellow pigments show better.

I had similar problems with a pheonix 14,000K bulb... loads of blue, but little else. Many corals at the top of the tank were simply fading out...growing great and getting loads of output though. I switched to a ushio 14,000K with blue+ supplimental bulbs, and the colors came back in.

It seems that corals can not exist on blue alone.

[ccoral]

FYI the sun is not blue and I agree with hahnmeister as most companies are promoting a lot of blue color bulbs for the main reason of instant color.
There is an advantage to T-5 as you can mix and match bulbs to create a fuller spectrum. Bulbs from 3000 k to Blue O3.
It would also be nice if you could mix and match your Led's hopefully in the future.

[hahnmeister]

Im sure it will be possible... just look at the range of colors you can select in 5mm and 3mm LEDs... there is everything imaginable... UV-C (250nm-280nm) through IR (800nm+). The only problem is that most of them are a very narrow output, unless you get some sort of 3000Kish indoor lighting bulb. Even in higher output LEDs, you have actinic (420nm), blue (450nm), and super white (which is really like a 14,000K or something since its still mostly blue)... like what PFO uses. But Reds, Oranges, Greens... all easily available... its just a matter of who is going to make them plug into the fixtures. I cant wait myself.. I would love to have an array of UV-A LEDs (315-400nm) to add into a mix of blues, actinics, and 3000K bulbs. That combo would really make things color up nicely.

LED's offer more control over exact spectrum peaks.... thats their advantage and weakness. You can blunder by having a setup that lacks certain wavelengths all together... and have a hard time figuring it out without the use of a spectroradiometer.

[stimpy4242]

Ok i have a 20k 48" version. This is the second unit I have received as the first one had lights out and computer problems and such. The second units had all the lights working, but now that we are in night mode the far right bank has all six lunar LEDs on and no blue and I can not do anything to adjust it. If i adjust the levels on the other banks adjust and this remains the same...any suggestions??? I have already contacted pfo AGAIN. For 2500 dollars and this being the second unit you would expect them to have checked it out.

[Amphibious]

stimpy4242,

I know that PFO checks out all Solaris units before shipping. What I'm not sure of is to what extent they go through in checking them out. They are working deligently to get the kinks straightened out on these units. I know Pat was in China again this week working with the manufacturer on this issue. It's been a problem but he is determined to set things right. It can be a bit disconcerting to purchase an expensive unit and have it not function properly right out of the box. I have to praise PFO for sending you a replacement unit before asking you to send back the defective unit. It's unfortunate that that one has issues, too. Being my customer, you can rest assured that I will work to getting this resolved as soon as possible.

I'm not going to make excusses for PFO but, I know they are very concerned about QC and are working hard to get it right.

Dick

[Amphibious]

I haven't posted a picture in awhile so thought I'd share a couple with you. I bought my wife a new camera for Xmas and had to try it out.

First, my Bali Tri-color from Nov 27th.......



And the same coral taken yesterday......



This growth difference is in about 25 days. The first picture was taken with my Nikon D70. The second with my wife's Kodak Z650. I'm assuming the color difference is because of the different cameras. The coral hasn't changed color to the naked eye.

While it's evident the Solaris lights have some QC issues that PFO is working on, the logistics of fixing QC is daunting considering they are being manufactured in China. In the end these lights are incredible IMHO.

[Amphibious]

Just got my energy bill for the last thirty days. It dropped an additional $32. That's down $118 from the peak last August. How much the current drop is due to the Solaris lights is hard to say. It is cooler than in August but, if I were still running the MHs the fish room would be over heating causing the chiller to run constantly and the window AC unit to come on, too.

Can you see me smiling?

[RGibson]

Amphibious PFO would have less QC issues if the LED lights were made in the USA..

[Amphibious]

Probably true but, then where would the cost of the unit be?

[jmccalip]

Off topic


Wow, Gomer. Where did you get that lens? I might put one on my 35w hid spotlight.

[RGibson]

Originally posted by Amphibious
Probably true but, then where would the cost of the unit be?

The same may be lower ,because there would be no going to china to fix bad lights.

[DrBegalke]

Originally posted by owsi
Got mine yesterday, they are still packing extra screws and lock washers inside the fixtures for spares I guess? I found 6 screws and a thin lock washer.

They had (have?) problems with screws and the such falling out during shipping.

[stimpy4242]

I was on the phone again today with pat from pfo...while it was certainly nice of him to take time out of his personal weekend for my problem, we still could not fix it. This is the second light I have had from them with problems. At the worse time too seeing its the holidays and people aren't shipping much...so I will get a light by the end of next week. He said he would personally check over it and while I think that is great, I would have expected the second light to have been inspected too. Still looking forward to its potential...maybe this is leverage to get a low cost upgrade when the higher wattage ones come out...