Thoughts On New Neptune Sky LED?

[stephj03]

Its a solid LED panel with a few new features and a nice package. If it's time to buy lights they're a good choice if you already have an apex.

But I agree, the price is an issue given they aren't a leap forward like G4Pro/Atlantik V4 were at launch. That's prob why they're getting a slightly mixed response like the G5 did at launch.

Experienced reefers know the drill at this point. Plan to buy more fixtures than mfg/BRS reccomend, or plan to add Reef Brite bars or an aquatic Life hybrid. That's what makes $900/light a little hard to swallow.

Here's a blast from the past. The BRS review of the G4Pro back in the day reccomend 2 units alone for a 48x24 footprint would fit 80% of tanks.

Boy are Reef Brite, Aquatic Life and even EcoTech glad about how that held up.

Aquatic life might have gone bankrupt if their addressable market on the hybrid units was 20% of reef tanks.

 

[stephj03]

Honestly I think ATI has started down the path of the next real leap in LED. I didn't realize it until checking today but on the Straton, you can modulate entire rows of LEDs in the panel independent of each other.

And recently ReefBrite and Orphek have done racks to put rows of bars over a tank.

Where the two meet is the future IMO. Rows of bars that I can still program.

That would be that little bit of extra that kinda came from left field that the G4Pro and the Atlantik had that made them splash big.

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

Its a solid LED panel with a few new features and a nice package. If it's time to buy lights they're a good choice if you already have an apex.

But I agree, the price is an issue given they aren't a leap forward like G4Pro/Atlantik V4 were at launch. That's prob why they're getting a slightly mixed response like the G5 did at launch.

Experienced reefers know the drill at this point. Plan to buy more fixtures than mfg/BRS reccomend, or plan to add Reef Brite bars or an aquatic Life hybrid. That's what makes $900/light a little hard to swallow.

Here's a blast from the past. The BRS review of the G4Pro back in the day reccomend 2 units alone for a 48x24 footprint would fit 80% of tanks.

Boy are Reef Brite, Aquatic Life and even EcoTech glad about how that held up.

Aquatic life might have gone bankrupt if their addressable market on the hybrid units was 20% of reef tanks.

I am only planning on buying 3 for a 71 x 30 x 21 in deep tank, time will tell if that's enough.

 

[Biokabe]

It's an intriguing product that I feel isn't quite going to land where they would like them to.

They're basically a retooled CoralCare with active cooling and built-in Apex integration. The Apex integration is nice (and honestly, I'm glad that there's finally a light that you can do more than on/off with through your Apex), but is just kind of expected and doesn't really bring anything new to the table; controllability is something that we've had for at least a decade now. I honestly would've preferred them using the development funds for this light to just build in support for existing lights with the Apex and let the lighting companies worry about lighting.

Time will tell with the SKY. If they're performing well, I might think about them for my next big tank a few years down the line. Saving a plug with the Aquabus cables is nice, but hardly a killer feature. Everything else has been done by other companies, so it'll all be down to the execution.

 

[ZoWhat]

Basically the title. Just wanna here thoughts and oppions on the newly announced Neptune Systems Sky LED.

Major profit margin for Neptune at $900.

Problem is Neptune doesn't have a Revenue-stream in us paying for consumables nor a monthly subscription fee.

So when they sell a new piece of equipment it's gotta be a seriously profitable item.

I would guess unit cost per light landed from China is floating around $100

Of the approximate 1,000,000 reefers worldwide, They'll be lucky to sell 20,000 units worldwide (2% market share) but that might equate to roughly 6-8mil in profits, if each light nets around $400 in profits

We'll see.....

 

[neonreef3d]

Major profit margin for Neptune at $900.

Problem is Neptune doesn't have a Revenue-stream in us paying for consumables nor a monthly subscription fee.

So when they sell a new piece of equipment it's gotta be a seriously profitable item.

I would guess unit cost per light landed from China is floating around $100

Of the approximate 1,000,000 reefers worldwide, They'll be lucky to sell 20,000 units worldwide (2% market share) but that might equate to roughly 6-8mil in profits, if each light nets around $400 in profits

We'll see.....

This is very true. Its very unfortunate for them, that they have no footing with reefers for having to be experts in manufacturing LED lights, they are not known for lighting. It will take them a long time to get the product out there for it to resinate through the reefing community.

Too many reefers have the ecotech LEDS and are happy with them, and they will always recommend them to other reefers. The same cannot be said for the SKY model.

 

[ca1ore]

Major profit margin for Neptune at $900.

Problem is Neptune doesn't have a Revenue-stream in us paying for consumables nor a monthly subscription fee.

So when they sell a new piece of equipment it's gotta be a seriously profitable item.

I would guess unit cost per light landed from China is floating around $100

Of the approximate 1,000,000 reefers worldwide, They'll be lucky to sell 20,000 units worldwide (2% market share) but that might equate to roughly 6-8mil in profits, if each light nets around $400 in profits

We'll see.....

Well, they do sell Trident reagents. i wonder what the installed base of Trident is?

I doubt their gross margin is 89%, no equipment/electronics manufacturer is, and plenty of companies have thrived selling just hardware at 60%. Addressable market is small, of course, but Neptune appears to be mostly badge-slapping here (versus internal R&D with the ETM Gen5) so perhaps minimal R&D to recover.

 

[OceanDiver]

This is very true. Its very unfortunate for them, that they have no footing with reefers for having to be experts in manufacturing LED lights, they are not known for lighting. It will take them a long time to get the product out there for it to resinate through the reefing community.

Too many reefers have the ecotech LEDS and are happy with them, and they will always recommend them to other reefers. The same cannot be said for the SKY model.

I will take my SKYs any day over Ecotechs. Granted my opinion is based on the G4s as I never used the G5’s.

it’s kinda like Apple and Samsung. Both make great phones but I’m an iPhone guy. LOL

The more integration and control I can get from Neptune the better.

 

[2una]

Will be a good replacement for my 4 year old,4 out of 5 water damaged G4pro's as Ecotech ain't going to be getting anymore moola

 

[ZoWhat]

Will be a good replacement for my 4 year old,4 out of 5 water damaged G4pro's as Ecotech ain't going to be getting anymore moola

Explain your "water damage"

 

[DaneGer21]

Current lighting...

Aquatic Life hybrid.
2-blue+
2-Actinics
4-hydra 26hds

Roughly $2100(when NEW, must less when buying used)

It would now take 3 Skys, at the least for my 60x36x24. That would roughly be $2500.

What am I missing?

 

[Koigula]

Yep! In the end a diffuser emulates a T5, not the sky. Emulation is maybe 8 out of 10 effective.

8x54w t5 fixture is 650 usd. To output what 3 sky lights would do.

To get better diffusion they should be mounted 24" over tank and run at 100%. Life scan is then 3 years at 100% output.

Not for me!!

 

[2una]

Explain your "water damage"

Blown boards that need replacing for corrosion reasons (mounted on their rail)

 

[ZoWhat]

Blown boards that need replacing for corrosion reasons (mounted on their rail)

How high off the waterline?

 

[2una]

How high off the waterline?

Like i said, mounted on their rail, what they call Multi light RMS rail

 

[ZoWhat]

Like i said, mounted on their rail, what they call Multi light RMS rail

Did you have so much waterline agitation that you had micro-droplets shooting up like a fountain?

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

Yep! In the end a diffuser emulates a T5, not the sky. Emulation is maybe 8 out of 10 effective.

8x54w t5 fixture is 650 usd. To output what 3 sky lights would do.

To get better diffusion they should be mounted 24" over tank and run at 100%. Life scan is then 3 years at 100% output.

Not for me!!

the sky (as in above our heads) *is* a diffused light. The atmosphere is a big giant diffuser panel for the sun.

 

[OceanDiver]

Current lighting...

Aquatic Life hybrid.
2-blue+
2-Actinics
4-hydra 26hds

Roughly $2100(when NEW, must less when buying used)

It would now take 3 Skys, at the least for my 60x36x24. That would roughly be $2500.

What am I missing?

You on need two SKYs for your tank.

 

[SoftballReefer]

$870 for 1st gen, you can pick up two Radion XR15 G5 Blue LED Light Fixtures for that price. or even a single Radion XR30 G5 Blue LED Light Fixture. I'm really ready to see why its priced so high.

​

XR30 is more than the SKY.

 

[madreefer11]

preorder now