Spotted in Abs Fish here in Jersey..

[MightyMike]

I was just in Absolutely Fish on 46 in Clifton NJ, and I spoke with a guy there about PFO's Solaris LED System. The one they have is about 3 weeks old and is 48" on a tank stocked mostly with soft corals, some pink-looking milis, and maybe two montis. He basically said it generates nearly zero heat for the tank and I was able to put my hand right on top and it was totally cool. The exhaust fans were also pumping out nearly cool air; the store's ambient temp is relatively warm. The lighting itself was run by with the built-in computer timer that was able to not only simulate the changes of sun over the course of the day, (morning, noon, cloudy, evening, and night) but also a 28-day varying moon cycle and an annual adapter which changed the length of days with respect to seasons and hemphispheres. It was bananas. The lighting itself is available in a wide variety of par with the flick of a switch, and the bulbs are supposed to last 50,000 hrs. On the down-side, I would say the lighting just wasn't as bright as your good-ol 250w or 400w metal halide. The lights were also guilty of the LED spotlight effect, where it was obvious the light did not shine as brightly (or shimmer at all) into the front and rear of the tank when the lights were centered over the tank (which I'd say was 18 inches front to back?). The price tag I think was about $2400. I'd love to hear what everyone has to say about these lights.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/8/review2

http://www.solarisled.com/

 

[Deanos]

Solaris LED

 

[fritz]

I say BAH!

 

[MightyMike]

Solaris LED

what the deuce? BLAST!! :irked: thanks Dean, I had a feeling that was coming ...

 

[loismustdie]

I saw these in person too. Very unimpressive. My $100 frag tank DIY job wasn't much worse than this. I laughed when I saw the price and what coral can actually be kept under them.
Cali brought up the unreliability of LED's and driving them. Now that I see LED's more and more every day, I see what he's saying. Look at the new street lights. These things were sold to the city as lasting 15+ years before needing to be replace. On my way to work, I'd say 25% of the crosswalk signs have LED's out. What happens, not IF but WHEN 25% of these LED's burn out long before their time? Will they be replaced, or will they tell you to buy another unit for the time being while they fix yours?
With the DIY project I did, I burned 3 transformers before I finally gave in and bought one from Radio Shack. I accidentally hit the switch which changed it from 18 watts to 32 and I fried all my LED bulbs.
I hate to say it, but this will not be the future of aquarium lights. At least not for years to come. They probably could have put less time and money into figuring out how to get more out of MH for less watts (look at what Luminarcs have done for us). These LED fixtures are only for softies and let's face it, you'll be hard stretched to find a softie keeper who would be willing to spend this kind of money on lights especially when there are other low cost/low wattage options out there which will also give a wider range of corals that can be kept (T-5). It's gonna take a lot more than 2 years to cover the cost of these things.

 

[bad coffee]

I agree. Nice and sexy for some doctors' office tank. But us serious reefkeepers know how much of a joke that is.

When I was talking to Randy (prattreef) about a lunar cycle on the tank he says "do you really want your corals spawing every month messing up your system?"

B

 

[MightyMike]

thanks guys, I totally appreciate your educated feedback. I'd say I was intrigued by the idea of simplifying my lighting-life. The idea of doing away with timers and super-high electric bills and super hot lamps ... well it seemed too good to be true, but we can always hope, no? I'm glad to hear from experienced reefers (even BAH!) whatever your opinion is on something like this, before I'm out 2 and half grand on a simple fix that really doesn't fix anything. I was also thinking that for a starter, something first time around, maybe I should only be keeping softies for a while anyway ...

 

[loismustdie]

well it seemed too good to be true, but we can always hope, no?

Mike... we all hope. If you look through the link Dean provided, you will see where I said that there is nothing I want more than for this to work. We all want something more efficient, cooler running and longer lasting. I'm willing to pay more for it. I just think these have a long way to go. It's also a lot of money for LED's.
If you do decide to get it, I will say that I commend you for putting your money where your mouth is in regards to efficiency, but as much as I am a supporter of Absolutely Fish, I would suggest an internet purchase of this piece of equipment to lighten the load if it proves to be unreliable.