Patrick214;116075 wrote: Cameron, i wasnt trying to suggest what i read on rc was from you. I meant to say my consensus was from others who posted on rc. The reason I brought this debate up in the first place was to try and get a better understanding bc it is difficult to determine whether this fixture is worth the money. I want the best light money can buy. If this fixture is the best i want it. if it is only average id be rather upset. I really like the cloud cover and the other features but I recently found a mh that does the dimming, clouds, and lunar cycle. It was a giesseman that costs about the same as the solaris. Do u have ne thoughts on these? Im confused do u think there are better lighting options period without regard to cost or that there is just better bang for your buck fixtures. I've had ppl whose opinions I trust tell me to get the led, if its not gonna give par better than a 175watt halide its not worth it to me.
Ahh... yeah the RC guys can and are be brutal. Sorry for the confusion.
The fixture is fine, but what you are paying for is a lot of feature without a lot of purpose. I seriously doubt cloud cover, sunset and sunrise are really important to coral growth. To me they are nifty features without much substance. It is great they can do them, but I don't put much stock in them. The Neptune LunarSim can do a similar moon function, but I don't really think it is going to help much if at all. The moons effect on corals is far more substantial than lighting. That said if someone can get XYZ to spawn under one of these fixtures that they couldn't get under a more common fixture I would be impressed and put more consideration into those features. To me they fall into the cool factor but not much else.
The ability to alter the color is pretty cool, but the first Solaris had to run at optimum lighting in order to throw good PAR thus kinda negating this function. The new i4 may have more success with it, but T5s give you this ability already as you can choose the color combinations of the bulbs. It isn't as slick, but it works and doesn't really cost anything.
So in the end, for me and my opinioin, it comes down to lighting and output numbers. Next year it is likely companies will use another LED lamp virtually obsoleting the current units. In 2-3 years, they will probably be using yet another lamp. At some point in the next couple or three years, it is going to make a lot of sense to move to LED. Likely to the point where LED beats the other technologies across the board, but I just don't feel at this moment with the high price tag, limited PAR and lower effeciency (watt to lumen) it makes sense. It will soon, but in this decision I feel patience pays. In the meantime, you can get a lighting tech that produces virtually the same or more PAR for 1/5th the price. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it more than gets the job done. Buy T5 now, wait 3 years and buy a fixture that blows the current LEDs and T5s out of the water for likely a really good price. You will probably be able to pick up a used i4 for pretty cheap by then and save yourself a wad of cash.
Again not arguing the ability of LEDs just making the point for my hard earned cash they aren't producing the numbers that make me believe they are worth the outlay in cash.
