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Unread 06/06/2012, 11:26 AM   #126
6Speed
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AI is a great company and their customer support is amazing. I will buy more AI products in the future. With that said I won't hold my breath for the Summer release date that is promised on their site.


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Unread 06/06/2012, 05:58 PM   #127
pnavarro170
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 6Speed View Post
AI is a great company and their customer support is amazing. I will buy more AI products in the future. With that said I won't hold my breath for the Summer release date that is promised on their site.
Yes they are thats why we care about this product coming out, if they stunk then there wouldnt be threads about us complaining and adding new info on them. lol


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Unread 06/06/2012, 09:16 PM   #128
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I have 3 Sol Blue units over my 4 foot 120g. Depending on whether AI will allow the Sols to be upgraded with the new color pucks, I cant afford to buy all new Vega units. I could think about just replacing just the middle one to add some new and different colors. I have no idea what that would look like, 2 sol blues on the ends and one Vega in the middle. Interesting concept for me to think about.......


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Unread 06/07/2012, 07:53 AM   #129
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Yes, sols will upgrade to vegas. This is email back from AI I sent:



Thank you for your inquiry. Rest assured, we will have an upgrade for the Sol to Vega. Release date, specs, and pricing are still to be determined, however, the upgrade will be available without having to purchase brand new Vegas. Have a great day and thank you for choosing the AI line!

AI


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Unread 06/07/2012, 09:01 AM   #130
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OneReef View Post
I have 3 Sol Blue units over my 4 foot 120g. Depending on whether AI will allow the Sols to be upgraded with the new color pucks, I cant afford to buy all new Vega units. I could think about just replacing just the middle one to add some new and different colors. I have no idea what that would look like, 2 sol blues on the ends and one Vega in the middle. Interesting concept for me to think about.......
+1. Almost same tank size, 3 AI Sol blue and thinking about upgrading only the middle one.


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Unread 06/07/2012, 10:03 AM   #131
6Speed
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OneReef View Post
Yes, sols will upgrade to vegas. This is email back from AI I sent:



Thank you for your inquiry. Rest assured, we will have an upgrade for the Sol to Vega. Release date, specs, and pricing are still to be determined, however, the upgrade will be available without having to purchase brand new Vegas. Have a great day and thank you for choosing the AI line!

AI
Thats awesome! Wonder if the Nano's will be upgradeable?


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Unread 06/07/2012, 10:14 AM   #132
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I keep waffling back and forth between LEDs. I am not considering just the Sols as I want something with more lighting spectrum. The other drawback, IMHO, is that AI Sols are one of the lesser attractive lights in terms of their aesthetics above an aquarium.


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Unread 06/07/2012, 11:04 AM   #133
6Speed
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Originally Posted by Cloudburst2000 View Post
I keep waffling back and forth between LEDs. I am not considering just the Sols as I want something with more lighting spectrum. The other drawback, IMHO, is that AI Sols are one of the lesser attractive lights in terms of their aesthetics above an aquarium.
I agree, that's why I liked the nano so much. It is more of a complete look with most of the heatsink fins covered.

LED tech is advancing so fast, you could wait 6 months and I bet there will be some newer crazier stuff out there!


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Unread 06/07/2012, 05:40 PM   #134
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I agree, that's why I liked the nano so much. It is more of a complete look with most of the heatsink fins covered.

LED tech is advancing so fast, you could wait 6 months and I bet there will be some newer crazier stuff out there!
Actually, I probably will be waiting six months. The rimless tank I plan on setting up probably won't happen until sometime in the fall at the earliest. I just try to keep up with all the new LED lighting as I will definitely be going LED on this tank. I'd be much more interested in the newer AIs if they ever come out as long as they don't look like a brick like the Sols do (at least IMO). I'd also like to see some of them on tanks for a while before I buy them. If they wait much longer to release them, that probably won't happen.


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Unread 06/11/2012, 02:24 AM   #135
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Unread 06/11/2012, 05:34 AM   #136
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With the knowledge that their will be one just like the sol, I would not expect the cost to be much more or out will not make sense


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Unread 06/20/2012, 08:07 PM   #137
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so maybe by macna ?


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Unread 06/21/2012, 02:05 AM   #138
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Lightbulb

Quote:
Originally Posted by SoLiD View Post
So If you were me, would you run this configuration?

[AI] [MH] [AI] [MH] [AI]

I think I'd run 2 - 150 watt Metal Halides for 4 hours a day. Or should I run 2 250's. HQI or Mogul Socket? Which bulb? Ushio 20K? So many options with metal halides. Let me know what you think Sir. You too Med
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Originally Posted by sirreal63 View Post
I would run 150 watt Radiums on M81 ballasts. Rainmkr's tank is sweet, I like how he has the tank set up, the rock work is great.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MedRed View Post
Had two AI Sol Blues on my tank for a year and switched to two Radions. The Radions far outperformed the SOL Blues in color spread, uniformity of light, coral color, and coral growth. I never took a par meter to them, but there was no comparison between the real world results. It only took two weeks before coral growth accelerated. That being said... I don't feel LED's are replacement for MH and/or T5's if coral coloration is a priority.
Well, after all the discussion, I pulled the 4th AI SOL Module off and started to prep my tank for a change. I bought a used Metal Halide set up here on Reef Central for a mere $260. It took many days of planning and modifying; since I'm not a DIY'er per se, to come up with a plan and buy the needed parts and make the changes. Now talk about bright. I only run the Metal Halides for about 4-6 hours a day at 175 Watts. Yes, the 250 Watt Radium bulbs fire and run on all of the selectable wattages of 150,175,250,& HQI. The only downside is that now I have to run the chiller again since I keep my tank at a cool 76 degrees. Thanks to all that chimed in. I think I'm good on the lighting for a while now.

2 - 250Watt Lumatek 250W Dimmable / Multi-Wattage Ballast
2 - 250Watt Radium Mogul Bulbs
2 - Modified Spider Reflectors









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Unread 06/21/2012, 07:58 AM   #139
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That is some serious light David. :-) I am not a fan of the reflectors and would be concerned about the heat getting to the AI's. If I still had my old Reef Optics reflectors I would send them to you, they would rock that tank and do a better job at light direction and heat dissipation.


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Unread 06/21/2012, 01:47 PM   #140
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sirreal63 View Post
That is some serious light David. :-) I am not a fan of the reflectors and would be concerned about the heat getting to the AI's. If I still had my old Reef Optics reflectors I would send them to you, they would rock that tank and do a better job at light direction and heat dissipation.
I don't care much for the reflectors either, but after much searching, checking dimensions, it was the only one that would fit in the spaces... Well, kind of. I still had to cut about a 3rd of the reflector completely off. If you look at the reflector again, you'll notice that it is not much bigger than the AI SOL module (11.875"X5.375"X2.35"). I had to bend it into shape, plan my cuts to make it fit, while still have it do it's job as a reflector. Also I did not want the reflector to interfere with the LED light spread. Cutting it down killed the structural strength so I had to reinforce the back with aluminum bar stock for support. It was much more involved than I was hoping for, but none the less I got it done.


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Unread 06/21/2012, 02:17 PM   #141
sirreal63
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That lighting would be so perfect for a DSA Neo 185 or a 180 brick. The real question is how does it look?


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Unread 06/21/2012, 03:58 PM   #142
SoLiD
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sirreal63 View Post
That lighting would be so perfect for a DSA Neo 185 or a 180 brick. The real question is how does it look?
One word.... AWESOME!

Let me see if I can take some pictures. My photo taking skills are horrible though....


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Unread 06/21/2012, 04:11 PM   #143
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that rig is kinda intimidating solid


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Unread 06/21/2012, 08:30 PM   #144
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premium posted pre orders. I talked with Jeremy and he said AI just said this summer. But I pre ordered one just the same.


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Unread 06/21/2012, 09:47 PM   #145
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Lightbulb

OK, I think I figured out the Custom White Balance on this camera.... Finally.





This grew from 2 polyps to 12+ Under AI SOL LEDS... and it's still Bright Red.









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Unread 06/21/2012, 09:49 PM   #146
sirreal63
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I think it looks fabulous!


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Unread 06/21/2012, 10:16 PM   #147
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So maybe it's only me, but I am confused about the available colors in the Vega.
We now know that there are two of them that come with fixed colors in them. One is called vega color and has:
4 XM-L Cool White
6 XP-E Royal Blue
4 XP-E Blue
4 Osram Oslon Deep Blue
1 XP-E Green
1 Osram Oslon Deep Red

The other is called
Vega Blue and has:
4 XM-L Cool White
8 XP-E Royal Blue
4 XP-E Blue
4 Osram Oslon Deep Blue

But then they say they have UV and with their custom tool you can pick one of many other colors?
So how does this all work?




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Unread 06/21/2012, 10:44 PM   #148
madean
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Solid- how long have you had those AI's over those acans. I'm assuming they haven't lost any color. Your tank is absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely love the acan garden.


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Unread 06/22/2012, 12:05 AM   #149
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Wow David those colors are insane!


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Unread 06/22/2012, 12:32 AM   #150
SoLiD
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Quote:
Originally Posted by madean View Post
Solid- how long have you had those AI's over those acans. I'm assuming they haven't lost any color. Your tank is absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely love the acan garden.
Some of the Acans are a month or two old, but some have been in there for about 5 months. There was a color shift about a month after they were introduced, but not for the worse. Reds became bright orangish-red. They looked like most of the colors were painted with a Hi-Lighter. It looked unnatural, but cool none the less. The Metal halides have been running for about a week and the colors are returning to a more natural look. The Red Blastos have always been a deep red and have been under LED's practically their whole life in my tank. This tank will be 6 months old tomorrow on the 23rd of June.

And Yes there really that many fish in there. There are about 25 small ones.

Now I guess I can start adding some more SPS.


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Last edited by SoLiD; 06/22/2012 at 12:49 AM.
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