Solaris LED Illumination System

[Amphibious]

Many of you know PFO has developed the first LED light fixture for lighting our reef systems. PFO's owner, Pat Ormiston, spent the last 2 1/2 years, countless hours, many trips to China and probably hundreds of thousands of dollars, designing the Solaris LED Illumination System. The prototype intrigued me enough that, back in April at the IMAC show in Chicago, I placed an order for the very first one. It was a bit of a risk because LED technology had never been tested on coral. But, I was convinced it would grow coral, Pat was convinced it would grow coral and evidence coming from light research author Dana Riddle is convincing, the Solaris indeed grows coral. Dana received a 14" Solaris prototype at IMAC for testing and has published his preliminary report. You can read it - HERE.

The first units purchased are now being delivered into the hands of everyday reefers like you and me. The units purchased from my website are due for delivery beginning today. My customers will have their Solaris units in operation before me. Mine is due to be delivered next week. I'd like to say it's just good customer service but, it's just the way it worked out. However, I will add, the Solaris units completely sold out of the first production run and Pat and I had several conversations about how he was going to fill the orders. I requested that the units sold through my web site be delivered before mine because, my customers had paid up front and patiently waited, as Pat worked out the last few glitches, for two months for PFO to ship.

I invited each of my customers to take a look at TR and indeed one of them, Jarhead, has joined. He has already contributed to other threads. I invite Jarhead to freely report his experiences with the Solaris unit on this thread as will I. Of course, I expect all interested parties to ask questions and respond.

Dick

[Rob]

yes, please do, not that i can afford it, but i am EXTREMELY interested in the overall results of the system

[V]

fantastic news, great thing is u can dial in aclimation yeah!
my question is.... is it better to buy smaller units that one big one so u can target spectrum corals or does it translate where each cells can be dialed in anyways.

[bubbletip]

When the Solaris units first came out for pre-order I emailed PFO to find out if the 14" unit would work well with my 30G(20" across). He stated that I woudl be losing 6" of light as the LED's should be purchased to cover the entire length of the tank. I guess a smaller unit would be ok if all your corals/clams were directly under the LED's. You would lose valuable tank space with this configuration.

I am intersted to see where people are growth and color wise with their corals a year from now. I think the 14" Solaris would be e agrea experiment on a nano tank especially with the minimal UV radiation and low heat from the Solaris units. May be the new wave for nano and pico tanks.

[Stevej72]

Amp could you post some pics of the led arrangement in the unit what size LEDs are in it and how many?

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by Stevej72

Amp could you post some pics of the led arrangement in the unit what size LEDs are in it and how many?

My 72" unit came in yesterday. Plugged it in to day and man it's cool. I did have a small issue with it. 3 rows of lights didn't come on. E-mailed Pat at PFO and he called and walked me through the wiring on that bank of lights and we found a crimp connector that wasn't crimped properly. A quick trip to the hardware store tomorrow and a fix. I'll post pics tomorrow in my LED thread.

The wiring, circuit boards, transistors, motherboard and LEDs are very complex. I was thoroughly impressed with what Pat designed. When he walked me through the wiring diagram searching for the problem, he knew the different colors of all the wires. That was from memory because he's in Las Vegas.

However, I cannot post pics of the unit opened and exposing the wiring system. It's all proprietary stuff. Sorry.

[V]

my ass is covered, looks like Amps ass is covered as well, who else need covering..lol
smart thinking my man, just untill clones kick in!

im itching to buy one now my friend, but i dont have the set-up yet.although it would force the setup quicker..lol
might time it for series 2

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by veriann

my ass is covered, looks like Amps ass is covered as well, who else need covering..lol
smart thinking my man, just untill clones kick in!

im itching to buy one now my friend, but i dont have the set-up yet.although it would force the setup quicker..lol
might time it for series 2

It wasn't smart thinking on my part. I took the pictures when I had the unit open. It's complex and really compacted in there. a lot of sh*t in the fixture. But, rather than post pics and get into trouble later with Pat (PFO president/owner) I asked while I had him on the phone. The answer was no. So yes, I'm covering my ass. You are right about things changing when a clone comes along.

[V]

YOUR A GOOD MAN AMP!
great to be riding shot-gun with ya!

[fat walrus]

Originally Posted by Amphibious

It wasn't smart thinking on my part. I took the pictures when I had the unit open. It's complex and really compacted in there. a lot of sh*t in the fixture. But, rather than post pics and get into trouble later with Pat (PFO president/owner) I asked while I had him on the phone. The answer was no. So yes, I'm covering my ass. You are right about things changing when a clone comes along.

Amp, actually it is just courtesy and mutual respect that prevented you from posting pictures. Unless a specific contract was agreed upon, you were the owner of the light unit and pictures that you post are nothing more than pictures of your property. The only rights that Pat had would have been to prevent you from posting the owner's manual, warranty certificates, and any schematics/charts/diagrams/specifications that have been copyrighted or trademarked.

[Bernie]

I just wanna see a pic of the unit on the tank getting it's light on... I drooled over the magazine ad for the system for weeks until I found a price online and since it cost more than I just sold a car for, I'll be passing until a later date... but that thing is lighting sex!

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by fat walrus

Amp, actually it is just courtesy and mutual respect that prevented you from posting pictures. Unless a specific contract was agreed upon, you were the owner of the light unit and pictures that you post are nothing more than pictures of your property. The only rights that Pat had would have been to prevent you from posting the owner's manual, warranty certificates, and any schematics/charts/diagrams/specifications that have been copyrighted or trademarked.

You are correct, Wally. Pat asked me not to post the pics and I agreed. I had respect for Pat from the day I met him at IMAC in Chicago. After peering into his LED fixture, that he designed from scratch, my respect grew exponentially. To a person trained in electrical engineering it may have been a matter of design and work out the kinks but, to me the guts of the unit looked Greek. Yikes!

Before Pat and I talked, I had a chance to program the time, daylight length, percent of output and various other "inputs" adjustable by the owner. That went smoothly and with very little effort put toward learning. I simply gave the instructions a cursory read through and connected the unit to the three control boxes (transformers) and plugged them in and wallah, let there be light. Holy Cow let there be light indeed. Man that thing is brilliant. I had it leaning vertical against the wall. Don't do that!!!

One feature I especially appreciate is, inside the light fixture it's all low voltage. I hate electrical shock!!! Pat had to take a call while we were going through this "fix" and Sue and I were poking around looking for a lose connection when the phone suddenly rang. Both of us jumped a foot like we had been shocked. We looked at each other and laughed our ass off. Funny!

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by Bernie

I just wanna see a pic of the unit on the tank getting it's light on... I drooled over the magazine ad for the system for weeks until I found a price online and since it cost more than I just sold a car for, I'll be passing until a later date... but that thing is lighting sex!

I have to agree with you, Bernie. Pant pant pant, slowly walks over to the aquarium gazing at the beauty of it all and lights a ciggybutt.

[V]

mutual respect/ covering your ass, same bunch of grapes if u ask me!
ether one helps with future arrangments of the benifical kind!

[Amphibious]

I didn't get all this gray hair sitting around growing old. I learned the art of getting along through experience.

[V]

i was born with that gift> i just choose to ignore it from time to time and love ruffeling feathers instead!

[Amphibious]

Yes, V, you are a smooth talking devil at times.

[Stevej72]

Im not asking for trade secrets or the guts photos, just the reflector side of the unit, and what type and amount of LEDs

[NaClFinatic]

Yes, and you said you would get some pictures of the tank with it today. We want to see it please!

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by Stevej72

Im not asking for trade secrets or the guts photos, just the reflector side of the unit, and what type and amount of LEDs

Your wish is my comand, Steve. Here's the LED shot.




There's 150 LEDs in a combination of white and blue, some for daylight and some for moonlight in both colors. All 150 are on during daylight. The unit is factory programmed and can be run plug and play. However, since I would rather play it is easily programmed to do what ever you want. Within it's working parameters, of course.

Dick

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by NaClFinatic

Yes, and you said you would get some pictures of the tank with it today. We want to see it please!

Sorry David, been busy today. Here's the first shot of the tank. Excuse any algae on the glass. Didn't have time to clean before the shot.



This is without flash. Didn't want flash to influence the overall picture.

Dick

[gwen_o_lyn]

It's very blue. Do you think it's more blue than 20k lights would be? I like it!

[wildeone]

Wow Amp, that looks great! I know how long normal LEDs last, are these expected to last the same amount of time? Also, I use the new Super Bright LED's for different things at my job, and we install them outside and you can see thim in full sun so they are truly SUPER BRIGHT! I wonder isf these are the same superbright LEDS or the standard ones?

At anyrate, I plan on getting one one I cash my retirement plan in!

[Jarhead]

Dick,
That looks great! Can't wait to get mine in.

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by gwen_o_lyn

It's very blue. Do you think it's more blue than 20k lights would be? I like it!

I'm not sure for two reasons. First, I had 10ks on it, second, I'm color blind and blues are my worst color.

I do like it though.