Solaris Owners!

[rmlevasseur]

I just had to report on this new store that GSellers told me about. I was visiting my folks in Clearwater this last week, and located the Coral Corral in Tampam Fl. The store is lit entirely by Solaris fixtures - apparently the first in the country.

Let me say I was blown away. The staff was very helpful and the tanks looked fantastic. But what impressed me the most was that I noticed that all of the Solaris fixtures were set at 25% daylights, 100% blues! I was blown away. I had been running my daylights at about 90%, and a few corals had bleached. I've always advocated that the Solaris had as much PAR as a halide, but I had no idea the daylights could (and apparently SHOULD, based on how the critters looked in this store) be set so low.

In addition, the owner was very candid with me about some of the Solaris' faults and how to fix them. (Solaris owners can email me if interested). My only regret was that I didn't have a means to get some of his animals home with me.

Based on what I say, I'd strongly encourage I series Solaris owners to dial the daylights way down and see what you get. And you lucky Fl residents should check out this great store asap. Sure kicks anything we have in MN.

 

[lcstorc]

Sounds like it would be worth a trip across the state. I would only take a couple of hours and I would love to see it. Maybe I can get some other locals together and we could go together. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Techno-Vicki]

I have the H series, not need to change it. I have never bleached with my solaris. Sorry to hear you did.

 

[reefsurf]

hmmm ok might be a little far from san diego cali:dryer:

 

[rmlevasseur]

Only my donut bleached, but I think he is making a comeback. My large frogspawn started to lighten, but I quickly moved it to the bottom and it is now 100%. I'm not sure about dialing down the H series, I have no experience with them. My guess is that they don't need it.

 

[Wolfgang8810]

Im meeting tipmann there this weekend to do some frag swaps then browse the store )) im so excited!!!1

 

[GSELLERS]

glad my referral was worth it now i just need pierre to give me a discount next time i go there

 

[dafiller]

Im in the kissimmee area gsellers do you have a address for coral corral

 

[Wolfgang8810]

its all right here dafiller

The Coral Corral

 

[rmlevasseur]

Pierre did ask how I heard of him and I did mention you G. He seemed to know who you were, so I'm sure he's thankful for the referral. He was among the best LFS guys I have run across. Very helpful and spent a lot of time with me even though he knew I was just visiting and couldn't buy anything. When he gets his mail order up he will be getting business from me for sure. I would have loved to take home that red anemone he has.

BTW, the place is rather difficult to find. He needs a few signs along the road. Prestige Road did not show up on GPS, but if you find Lowes you're within 1000 feet.

 

[lcstorc]

Ordered my Solaris yesterday. Will find out delivery date this week. I am so psyched.
Anybody want to buy my MH setup?
I'll post it as soon as the Solaris is up and running. This is going to be fun.

 

[SeahorseBT]

Cool Lynn! Post pics when you have it set up.

 

[rmlevasseur]

I hope it ships with the new control board Lynn. PFO just sent me one and I installed it today.

 

[Mattfish]

Great thread. I've already PM'd Robert for the info. we have a G-series 72" Solaris and love it. Got it about 15 months ago. In theory, lower power usage, better control, and safer with no bulbs, etc. The price, to me, is easy to justify, since it's like buying the power savings, bulbs, etc now and paying up front. The built-in control also saves money and complexity.

Never had bleaching issues. Have had some lfs' that don't understand the Solaris or haven't checked it out that talk badly about it, but that's just lack of knowledge, since the output is the same or better than MH.

PFO has been great. I've emailed and called Pat Ormiston and the people ar PFO several times and gotten all answers - except for one - which is what % of whites and blues to make various K temperatures. This is needed since corals do different things at different temps. If someone has this, I'd be very greatful! At some point, it'd be good to understand this better.

Our tank looks great and everything light-related is working perfectly, but every bit of info is helpful.

 

[Mattfish]

Almost forgot - Lynn, let us know what differences you see and how it's going with your new light. You've got the advantage of seeing the difference between your MH setup, and the new Solaris, and I bet your observations will be really helpful for us all.

 

[fatman]

Ordered my Solaris yesterday. Will find out delivery date this week. I am so psyched.
Anybody want to buy my MH setup?
I'll post it as soon as the Solaris is up and running. This is going to be fun.

What is your halide setup? I might be interested. Please do not say Outer Orbit with all electronic ballasts or 20000K. Please!

 

[Boomer]

Bob

Just a note

I've always advocated that the Solaris had as much PAR as a halide

Oen needs to be careful with this statement as it is unfair and not really true. You have to look at what MH it is being compared to.

The new I4 series produces PAR light output levels equal to a 400W MH 15k

That says nothing about a 10K lamp which are almost always higher in PPDF. A Solaris will not even come close to a Iwasaki 400W bulb 6.5 K lamp. Same thing in the comparison of a Solaris 250W compared to a 250 W XM-20K MH. Try that with a XM-250 10K lamp, which beats a 20K to death on PPDF or a Solaris. But then again in all fairness to Solaris, we need to look at the actual wattage of 250 W or 400W. Many of these are not even close to those wattages but much higher. Some 400 W run over 500W and some 250W over 300W. Meaning, many are over-driven. This is something nice about the new Lumatek ballasts, you can control the wattage and are better than Icecap's. I have not seen any actual wattages on Solaris but will ask Pat or Joy when I see them in a few weeks.

 

[fatman]

It is fox hole time. I will watch from the safe zone on this one. However I will say my ANSI M80 magnetic Ballast driven XM-250 10K perform better than a Solaris 250 watt.

 

[Witfull]

However I will say my magnetic driven XM-250 10K perform better than a Solaris 250 watt.

you would be right~

 

[lcstorc]

Well we will see what difference I find. Since I keep mostly softies but also clams it will be interresting to see the reaction.
What I have now.
I have a 72 inch Coralife fixure with external ballasts. I am not certain about the ballast type but they are the ones everybody recommended when I bought the light.
3 150q Hqi DE XM 10k halides.
4 96w PC Actinics (don't know brand sorry)
The lights are about 8 inches from the surface of the water.
The primary reason I am going with the Solaris is for the electrical and heat savings. I am certain they will be enough for my current stock and I do plan on trying a few SPS but if they aren't happy I am happy with my softies. Can't keep LPS since my Chevron considers them a lovely afternoon snack.
If you have other questions about my current lighting just ask and I will try to find out.
As far as which Solaris and which controller, the person I am buying from is a small operation as well as a good friend so he is going to Solaris to get the latest and greatest for me.