Ya, who's gona patent Plasma lighting for Aquarium use????!!!!!!!!!

As far as the patent issue if concerned I'm pretty sure you could still build and market another LED fixture pretty easily. But in order to do so you'll have to have some obvious difference and fork out the money to patent your own fixture. The reason PFO lost so badly is they didn't have a patent and the other company just so happened to have one that described the solaris quite nicely. This is a risk you take if you're going to sell and market a new new idea without a patent, it's also why you see patent pending around more than actual patents. The trick is to fill out the initial paper work for a patent but never complete the process, that way if someone else comes into the market you can complete your patent and because your initial paper work was in first you'll win.

Really I don't think the patent is the issue stopping more competition. First off the patent applies only to the US and yet I don't see any large advances from other countries like Europe or even China. The problem is this lighting source is too expensive, too complicated, not as efficient as people think, and not as effective as people think. It's a gimmick product more than anything and it really can't compete with the leaders in the market, T5s and MHs.

How the heck is Aqua Illumination able to make and sell LED fixtures? AND, they state assembled in the US
http://www.aquaillumination.com/?page_id=38

I believe they pay orbitech a licensing fee.

You may be right on the plasma.
The the point I was trying to make was that with LED is available now and Plasma technology is around the corner it would not be a good move to invest in expensive MH lighting at this time. It would be much better to invest in a cheap T-5 option.

MHs are expensive, have a huge demand for electricity, create tremendous heat which has to be dealt with chillers or noisy supplementary fan additions, require frequent bulb replacement, cannot be programmed to dim and require supplemental lighting.

Would anyone by an analog TV today? Would anyone buy an ordinary LCD TV today when the 3D technology is available for sale this summer?

I sure wouldn't buy a 3d tv just yet!!!

ya, cuz I bought them 2 months befor the anouncment :cry:

Steve

ya and the plasma is a ugly color, not adjustable, expensive as heck, and has been comming soon for 6 years.. and it isn't realy smaller, it is big and bulky due to the magnet design, housing, ect.. looks ugly over a tank. I was all excited about the plasma 6 years ago when it was first showen for fishtanks, but since then it has been all talk.

LEDs may be overall a larger surface area but you can do them 1.5" thick if you want. so it is hardly noticable over a tank.

man are you ever negitive to some things. somepeople grow SPS under T5's LEDs blow them out of the water, you said there are not a lot of high light corals in the tanks, but I see a tone of SPS in them.. as for spotting, if you space them right there is no spotting, even if you have the fixture 1" above the water and for colors, you can make them any color you want.. you like 10K, maby 14, maybe 20, heck you want 12.3K the color is adjustable to anything between the color of the white wich is usaly abut 8K to the color of the royal blue which is abut 24K. you get the shimmer effect of the MH, with the total coverage of the T5, and can be dimmed anywhere from 0 to 100% instead of a couple steps like lights we are using now. here is a write up/review. now he is talking about a LED board that replaces MH lights, the differance between what he is talking about and what we are is that we will get that same intensity over the whole tank instead of a just a footprint simular to a mh pendant. to do these we use more led and yes it costas a bit more, but like I said.. I can build a setup that will replace two MH bulbs for about the same money as it costs to go buy two MH pendant setups.

"Aquarium LED lighting must be differentiated in two different categories:
1. Very low power aquarium LED light
2. High power aquarium LED light
1. Very low power LED lighting
These lighting systems have become very popular now and are easily obtained. The major benefits are that they only use very little power so the electricity cost is close to zero and they increase the visible attractiveness of your reef.
With the low power Aquarium LED light it is easy to prolong the light step down process by switching them on just before the main lights turn off. This light is very weak and therefore doesn t disturb the fish or corals, and many aquarists also use them to add the moonlight effect on the corals which enhances coral spawning.
When the main lights are switched off, the aquarium LED light gives a flickering moonlight effect to the reef tank. It does look lovely when the beams of weak LED light dive through the water and ripple over the rock and coral formations.
2. High power aquarium LED light
I have changed my aquarium light around 2 years ago and have found out that there are some great benefits and advantages compared to my previous metal halides. I will try in this post not to become too technical so that also novice aquarists will understand the benefits of this fish tank light system.
High power aquarium LED light systems come in 250 Watt and 400 Watt arrangements, which are the most popular for reef aquariums. The set up is similar to the metal halides in a rectangular box above the aquarium.
Producing only about half the heat of the common metal halides, they can be installed much closer to the water surface and don t require a chiller anymore, which reduced my electricity bill.
Due to a combination of white and blue LED s, the lighting color is very similar to that of the fluorescent tubes, with a Kelvin rating of about 20.000 so that they equal metal halides in color output.
The by far biggest benefit of the LED s is their endurance. They will produce the same light quality for around 50.000 hours which equals 11 years if the LED s run for12 hours a day. That is more than 5 times the life span of metal halides bulbs and 11 times of the fluorescent tubes.
Aquarium LED light can be dimmed from maximum output to zero output making them better adjustable for any aquarium needs, while hardly any UV radiation comes from them.
The aquarium light offered by LED s produces the same attractive glitter lines that make your reef appear more natural than that produced by the metal halides.
Concerning the aquarium light there is in my personal opinion not a single disadvantage using aquarium LED light over the common lighting methods like metal halide bulbs or fluorescent light tubes.
However, the LED technique is still new and therefore the initial cost of a complete aquarium LED light system is higher. But in the long run you will save money on buying a chiller and paying this chillers power usage. Please also don t forget that common lighting systems have to be replaced every year or two which calculated over a 11 year period also accumulates to a significant cost. This means that you will have less maintenance work on your fish tank light compared to continuous bulb changing.
The final big plus is that with the aquarium LED light you can easier adjust the simulation of a natural reef which will significantly increase the success rate in growing corals yourself."


Steve

here is a review of the solaris, keep in mine the systems Ron and myself and other are building will generaly have more coverage as were making bigger systems and we are using newer LEDs at a higher amprage which put out a lot more light than the ones used in the solaris.

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

Steve

For the average size tank MH can be cheaper than T5s or about the same, they don't need supplemental if you use the right bulb and they don't require a chiller if done properly.
All I'm currently running is 500W of halide and the color is good. I only need a small fan on hot days (no ac in house) and replace the bulbs once a year which runs for about $140. If I had all T5 I would spend about the same or more on bulbs, still require a fan on hot days but I'd save a little in power but not enough to make much difference. T5 bulbs also burn out prematurely and take up more space which is why I'm now using halides.

LEDS can't touch the intensity and penetration of halides, for clams and SPS halides win. For a softy and LPS tank LEDs may work well but you'll never get your money back in energy savings and I'd still like to know how long the bulbs actually last. LEDs do burn for 10 years but halides will also burn for 5+ years but you still have to replace them every year. My guess is that LEDs will require replacing somewhere around 3-4 years and the cost will be ridiculous, likely cheaper and easier to buy a new fixture.

And who really cares about dimming? :lol: