Anybody seen these yet?

[brewercm]

These looked interesting and I can't wait to hear more from some of the experts once they come out with there reviews of them. Then preferably hear from some non-experts who aren't paid under the table to endorse them.
Sounds like a very interesting concept if they work like they say. I was curious about this point also on the LED's and you moon light folks can probably answer this. Don't the LED's also give the same type of water shimmer effect as the halides?

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PFO-67042&Category_Code=Solaris

[brewercm]

Let me rephrase (and get my post count up) :D since these haven't come out yet and ask.

Has anyone heard anything about these yet?

[seamonkey2]

ahhhhh!!!

new toy, and it saves energy, where is Richard?
does he have one already?

Jose

[brewercm]

Yeh, that's what I was looking at mainly was the energy savings and the savings on bulbs. If this thing works like they are stating that is.

And of course wait for the price to come down. No way I'm paying $2,890 for this system.

Kind of reminds me when I had my air handler replace earlier this year. The guy tried to sell me a whole new system to get mine up to new standards of SEER 14. Pulled out the charts and showed me the savings I'd get on average per month and the price of the unit. Pulled out the trusty calculator and figured that if the new system lasted 22 years without needing majore repairs it would pay for itself. Didn't sound like such a good deal to him either after I showed him that.

[blueboy]

i was wondering how long it would be before someone lit their whole tank with LEDs. i bet some DIY'r already has this.

[matt]

I would have bought one of these for my corner tank if I had not just bought the HQI pendent.

[Instar]

I heard about this last year. Its nice to see it hit the market after all the R & D. Hopefully it will work out well or better than expected.

[TexasTodd]

Yes, I've been hearing about this coming for over 2 years. I didn't know what company.

The advancements actually came from the Medical industry with research in to curing Jondis (spelling) using LED's instead of VHO's etc. Of course these were something like $10,000 to start for the Medical industry.

This looks great. Not a bad deal if you were starting out and didn't already have a chiller and full lighting set up.......then the cost difference wouldn't be quite so much.

Hopefully they'll come down some.

Todd

[brewercm]

I'm sure the price will come down once the market gets flooded with other companies jumping in. That is as long as they work out the way they expect them to.

[SBreef]

72" 13k hood $3344.00

I think not!!!

[seamonkey2]

my question is, why are the chinese or koreans not copy cating this already? for less money, let's say $500.00 for the 240ga tanks, like mine

Jose

[JeremyGlen]

That looks really cool. Maybe I'll get one in the fall. Sure would be nice to not have all the fan noise and stuff all the time. I would love to be able to have gradual sunrise/sunset and the full 28 day moon cycle, not to mention cloud cover. All of that would definitely help induce spawning in the corals. Could really help the industry by providing tons of aquacultured corals and fish. I'll let everyone know if I decide to spend the $1300 for the 24" fixture.

[TexasTodd]

I'm sure he's already on it, but I fired off a link to Sanjay, asking if he's going to test.

Todd

[GaryP]

Yea, I would like to see the spectrum on the 13K.

[Richard]

new toy, and it saves energy, where is Richard?
does he have one already?


LOL, I don't want to be the guinea pig on these.

I read about LED technology years ago. Ultimately it will be the way to go but still many years away from being common place. This (reef aquariums) is such a small industry that I think they won't be really affordable until they are more popular for the general public (home lighting, business lighting etc.). When I read about them for aquariums years ago spectrum was th big issue with making LED suitable for lighting a reef tank so I wouldn't want to be the one who drops 2 or 3 grand just to find out the spectrum sucks or doesn't hold up for very long. Since LED's are a single point of light you should get some glitter effect like halides although since this is an array of multiple LED's I would think it would be less pronounced than with a halide.

Since Jose has made so few changes since he got into the hobby I think he should be the one to try these first.

[GaryP]

LOL, I don't want to be the guinea pig on these.
Why not? You are on every other new technology that comes down the road. Could the price tag have something to do with it?

[MarkLW]

Most of the DIY sights on the net seem to point to this guy:
http://superpositioned.com/articles/2006/02/25/diy-led-lighting-guide


Other:
http://www.instructables.com/id/ET8H3JUVTHEP2867AB/

[cpreefguy]

How about everybody pithces in a few bucks, we buy one, and Ill be the guinea pig and let you all know how it works :lol

[Enigma13]

CNN Money has an interesting article today regarding how LEDs are the wave of the future and will be the primary lighting source for all applications in the next ten years. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/07/01/8380231/index.htm

The article does not discuss aquarium applications, but does discuss use in a new Lexis auto and potential home use. The more widespread the technology the lower the price will go overall. If the price goes down this definitely looks like it has great potential.

[Bill S]

The US government just announced a big grant program for further development. Prices will continue to rapidly fall. They use a fraction of the electricity - and are very popular in the boating industry. Particularly for sailors where electrical needs can be critical. I've also seen some articles where automotive experts discuss some drawbacks of newer lighting. HID headlights, for instance, do NOT function well in real life situations.

[MarkLW]

Good article...thanks... hope they get in gear soon! Would be nice to cut down on the power bill! I recently changed out our entire house to PC bulbs so maybe by the time they start to go the prices will be more reasonable...not even talking about the power consumption on the fish tank!

Some food information about LED technology:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED