Neptune SKY LED

Anthony Scholfield · Aug 13, 2021

Hot2na said:
some of us can't access instagram...why don't you give us the direct info or a link to it ?

I can totally understand that, im new to it myself.

As far as the light data i was referring to....it is on telegram's and mahina_corals instagram feed. There isnt a website or direct link. I suppose i could try to copy and paste the info here later. Id rather not regurgitate the info and have ya'll see it for yourself.

Concerning the light that is coming to market....the website is currently being built for it. There should be a link for that soon.

This has nothing to do with me, just sharing what i have found. Its quite surprising and interesting really.

Hot2na · Aug 13, 2021

Anthony Scholfield said:
I can totally understand that, im new to it myself.

As far as the light data i was referring to....it is on telegram's and mahina_corals instagram feed. There isnt a website or direct link. I suppose i could try to copy and paste the info here later. Id rather not regurgitate the info and have ya'll see it for yourself.

Concerning the light that is coming to market....the website is currently being built for it. There should be a link for that soon.

This has nothing to do with me, just sharing what i have found. Its quite surprising and interesting really.

GREAT ! is it that light bar I saw in one still pic ? looks similar to orphek?

Anthony Scholfield · Aug 13, 2021

Hot2na said:
GREAT ! is it that light bar I saw in one still pic ? looks similar to orphek?

Yes it’s a light bar and looks similar to the orphek but I’m not sure what you saw where?

Hot2na · Aug 13, 2021

i can see about 9 pics on instagram without signing in...they look like the chinese light bars on ebay..cheap , but powerful

Terence · Aug 13, 2021

For those wanting a bit more SKY info here, I have linked directly to where it starts in this video:

Anthony Scholfield · Aug 13, 2021

Hot2na said:
i can see about 9 pics on instagram without signing in...they look like the chinese light bars on ebay..cheap , but powerful

Looks can always be deceiving. It’s the data that’s not and that is what I find interesting.

Jon's Reef · Aug 13, 2021

Interesting post on facebook:

Facebook

www.facebook.com

LED count by rough binning:

	Sky	Radion Blue	Radion Pro
"Low Violet"	8	8	8
Violet	8	6	4
Royal Blue	40	40	32
Blue	16	24	16
Green/ Cyan/ Lime	8	14	6
Amber/ Red/ Warm White	8	2	10
White/ Cool White	16	6	24

areefer01 · Aug 13, 2021

Jon's Reef said:
Interesting post on facebook:

Facebook

www.facebook.com

LED count by rough binning:

Sky Radion Blue Radion Pro
"Low Violet"
8
8
8
Violet
8
6
4
Royal Blue
40
40
32
Blue
16
24
16
Green/ Cyan/ Lime
8
14
6
Amber/ Red/ Warm White
8
2
10
White/ Cool White
16
6
24

One thing that I find interesting when people compare the SKY to the Kessil and Radion. There is just one single SKY while there are two offerings from Kessil and Ecotech. Tuna blue/sun and Radion Blue/Pro.

Doesn't get mentioned by anyone yet a single light has enough options to run the visual spectrum gambit for hobbyist not looking at graphs. Of course YMMV.

Jon's Reef · Aug 13, 2021

areefer01 said:
One thing that I find interesting when people compare the SKY to the Kessil and Radion. There is just one single SKY while there are two offerings from Kessil and Ecotech. Tuna blue/sun and Radion Blue/Pro.

I think it is more a matter of optimization:

Kessil Tuna Blue is for salt water, Tuna Sun is for fresh water

Radion Pro is the classic spectrum, Blue is for those who want AB+ specifically

Sky seems to be between the pro and blue. Most notably, it has less of the "green" haze color which comes from the 460-500 nm part of the spectrum

Jon's Reef · Aug 13, 2021

A little more info:
Pics of the 4 channels.
Violet = "Low Violet" + Violet, Blue = Royal Blue + Blue, Amber = Green (may be more cyan) + Amber, White = White

Fixture "%" and Wattage of each channel (when set to 100%) displayed in Apex:
Violet: 16%, 39 Watts (~2.4 Watts per LED)
Blue: 54%, 118 Watts (~2.1 Watts per LED)
Amber: 16%, 40 Watts (~2.5 Watts per LED)
White: 16%, 37 Watts (~2.3 Watts per LED)

It adds up to >215V, but I am guessing there is some error in the Apex wattage and it may drive them differently based on overall load.

Mywifeisgunnakillme · Aug 18, 2021

Jon's Reef said:
Interesting post on facebook:

Facebook

www.facebook.com

LED count by rough binning:

Sky Radion Blue Radion Pro
"Low Violet"
8
8
8
Violet
8
6
4
Royal Blue
40
40
32
Blue
16
24
16
Green/ Cyan/ Lime
8
14
6
Amber/ Red/ Warm White
8
2
10
White/ Cool White
16
6
24

if the LED count is about the same, how/why is Neptune saying the Sky can, for example, replace two Radions?

Jon's Reef · Aug 18, 2021

Mywifeisgunnakillme said:
if the LED count is about the same, how/why is Neptune saying the Sky can, for example, replace two Radions?

I think it is the size of the panel. Many of the multi light Radion setups are only running at 50%.

Hydrored · Aug 18, 2021

Neptune SKY LED Teardown - Make Your Own Conclusions | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The Neptune Systems SKY LED light fixture has gotten a lot of attention this summer being the first reef aquarium light developed by the aquarium controller company. Now that Neptune Systems is…

reefbuilders.com

ScottB · Aug 18, 2021

Hydrored said:
Neptune SKY LED Teardown - Make Your Own Conclusions | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The Neptune Systems SKY LED light fixture has gotten a lot of attention this summer being the first reef aquarium light developed by the aquarium controller company. Now that Neptune Systems is…

reefbuilders.com

Interesting read and photos from the tear down. Aside from the large panel design and diffused light, it is a polar opposite of the Straton concerning materials and construction. Glad I like my Stratons. I figure you must be glad as well.

Hydrored · Aug 18, 2021

ScottB said:
Interesting read and photos from the tear down. Aside from the large panel design and diffused light, it is a polar opposite of the Straton concerning materials and construction. Glad I like my Stratons. I figure you must be glad as well.

Amen to that

I’ll keep my opinion on these lights to myself

jcates · Aug 19, 2021

I've had my Sky's up for a week now and overall I really like them. I have 3 over a standard 180, I could have gotten away with 2..maybe but the intent is for sps so I added the 3rd.

1. My corals have better polyp extension than they have ever had so that's a good thing.
2. I like the weight of the light it makes it easier to mount because a simple drywall anchor will hold it.
3. The diffused light is not a joke I minutes one as directly as I could over the brace with an ecotech mount and it left no shadow that you could see or read with par meter.
4. Able to get much more consistent par readings with my MQ-510 than I was previously. Par meter used to jump significantly.
5. I like the ease of setting up a light schedule and options for how you want it to look.
6. Initial setup was king of a pain in Apex modules needed updated which doesn't make a lot of sense to me being fairly new on the market but whatever. I also had them setup with Bluetooth originally then switched to apex so maybe there was some issue there but I found the Bluetooth setup much easier.
7. Don't be confused when they say you can daisy chain them together, that's only to connect to apex not for a power source. I heard that comment in a video and thought awesome one power cord. But when you think about it that doesn't make sense.
8. Another negative is it will show you all the little spot the GHA you are battling is hiding and it looks extra ugly. But I guess I know where to attack it.

Overall I am happy with the lights I guess time will tell on how reliable etc. they turn out to be. I had a reef breeders previously which served me well for over a year until my 120 started leaking and I moved to a 180 it wouldn't cover the tank so I needed new lighting anyway.

Hopefully that gives someone an honest viewpoint from a fellow reefer who actually bought the lights.

ScottB · Aug 19, 2021

jcates said:
3. The diffused light is not a joke I minutes one as directly as I could over the brace with an ecotech mount and it left no shadow that you could see or read with par meter.

I really like this aspect of the new panel (versus puck) design that LED light manufacturers are leaning into.

For large tanks with multiple lamps, mapping PAR in the "puck days" could be a nightmare with dead spots on top of the rock and hotspots where the light cones overlap in the middle. With the panels, PAR only changes with depth. Pretty much like a T5 set up I guess, but with better color and less heat.

I do miss me some shimmer now and again though. @jcates can you get any shimmer? I seem to recall some feature of the diffuser panel that made this possible.

jcates · Aug 19, 2021

ScottB said:
I do miss me some shimmer now and again though. @jcates can you get any shimmer? I seem to recall some feature of the diffuser panel that made this possible.

100% honest. Not really that I can see. I guess if you look hard enough you might be able to convince yourself.. that is definitely an over promise in my opinion. I've run it on ati blue plus mode and AB+ mode only however. Maybe if you get into the reef pro mode you can made it happen but that defeats the purpose that drew me to the lights in the first place. I like the simple setup modes where I don't have to wonder if I have the spectrum right.

ScottB · Aug 19, 2021

jcates said:
100% honest. Not really that I can see. I guess if you look hard enough you might be able to convince yourself.. that is definitely an over promise in my opinion. I've run it on ati blue plus mode and AB+ mode only however. Maybe if you get into the reef pro mode you can made it happen but that defeats the purpose that drew me to the lights in the first place. I like the simple setup modes where I don't have to wonder if I have the spectrum right.

Agree on "set/forget". I just find a preset that works for my eyes and press Go.

Perhaps on a different build I might just clamp a couple Kessils somewhere for shimmer. No room for that on this build.

Jon's Reef · Aug 19, 2021

jcates said:
Not really that I can see. I guess if you look hard enough you might be able to convince yourself.. that is definitely an over promise in my opinion. I've run it on ati blue plus mode and AB+ mode only however.

The shimmer lenses are on some of the white LEDs. If you run heavy blue, the shimmer is weak/ not present.