More pics definitely coming. But the Solaris is an easy sell based on the size of your tank - several steps:
- Mentally convince myself I want it (that was easy...)
- Figure the cost of MH bulbs for the size of your tank - effectively, buying the Solaris is like paying for all of these up front, based on it's life. Also, bulbs will continue to escalate in cost like everything does.
- Figure in how much power you're saving and the cost per KWH. This too is rising like floodwaters these days.
- Figure in the cost of a chiller you may not need because the lights are so much cooler. This worked until we ended up getting a chiller as you see in the pics, but wasn't planned when I bought the Solaris. So technically, my argument worked for me....
- Figure out what the technology is worth to you - i.e. the ability to automatically vary times, colors, seasons, etc. You can buy an external control for your MH's, but some of these shorten the bulb life, none are as flexible, and of course they cost money too
- Go back to step 1
If this process doesn't work for you, particularly steps 1 & 6, then MH's aren't so bad, right? The #'s of course will work better with a large tank that's not too deep. Why? Because the 250W equivalent Solaris (G-Series) costs less than the 400W (H-Series) unit, and because the more light you need, the more the MH's will cost, where the Solaris is somewhat static in price - that is, not too muc cheaper for a shorter unit.
Make sense?