G5 or Sky?

[rtparty]

Respectfully disagree. Love the 10 different channels on my Radions. Able to dial in my lights and determine which channels help my corals grow best and what showcases my aquarium the best.

The manufacturer should be setting up and building lights that are best for our corals. We shouldn't be doing their job.

Radion headed the right direction in the Blues. Kessil has had their logic built in forever and it helps immensely. Philips has made their Coral Care pretty fool proof.

It's like a salt company sending every ingredient separate. Too much of some, not enough of others. Then telling you to mix it how you like. Oh, you want to test each parameter to see if you got it right? That will be about $2k.

 

[Ryan Doolittle]

Sky is too new for me. I'll wait to see what everybody thinks. G5 is proven.

G5 is still new, I wouldn't consider them proven yet. Let's seen some G5 tanks with dinner plate size colonies grown from frags under them. Then they are proven.

 

[PeterC99]

The manufacturer should be setting up and building lights that are best for our corals. We shouldn't be doing their job.

Radion headed the right direction in the Blues. Kessil has had their logic built in forever and it helps immensely. Philips has made their Coral Care pretty fool proof.

It's like a salt company sending every ingredient separate. Too much of some, not enough of others. Then telling you to mix it how you like. Oh, you want to test each parameter to see if you got it right? That will be about $2k.

Not sure a manufacturer could make a light where one size fits all. Really appreciate a light that I can customize to my needs.

 

[Ryan Doolittle]

G5 all the way... Sky's may have issues and/or be overhypted by those (early reviews) by people affiliated/compensated with Neptun.... read all the recent reviews, especially critical ones from Jake Adams and Telegram.

The same Jake Adam's that's sponsored by ecotech? Not sure I would trust him on a comparison for anything vs a sponsor.

 

[Jon's Reef]

Just to be clear on channels

G5 Pro has 10 channels
Sky has 6 channels

G5 —> Sky
UV/ Violet —> Violet (UV and Violet LEDs)
Royal/ Blue —> Blue (Royal and Blue LEDs)
Green/Red —> Amber (Cyan and Amber LEDs)
Cool / Warm White —> White (Cool White LEDs (I don’t think there are separate warm ones)
Moon White —> Moon White
Moon Blue —> Moon Blue

 

[flashsmith]

Yea I'm set until one of these burns out or something. No desire to refinance my business to buy lights again.. There are many that went out and got these that wanted to be the cool kid that just purchased g5s new kessils etc... I have one tank I'm still using old antiquated current bars on that grow coral just fine. Marketing and hype are driving sales not new groundbreaking technology. I guess that would be a better way to put it into context.

 

[Acros]

It's like a salt company sending every ingredient separate. Too much of some, not enough of others. Then telling you to mix it how you like.

Off topic: that is how ESV does salt. It is a 4 part system. lol

 

[rtparty]

Off topic: that is how ESV does salt. It is a 4 part system. lol

Been using it for close to 12 years LOL

They still do the mixing and get you the proper ratios. They then tell you exactly how much for each part.

 

[rtparty]

Not sure a manufacturer could make a light where one size fits all. Really appreciate a light that I can customize to my needs.

Sure, these LED manufacturers could. Give us pre built spectrums (many are starting to) and only allow individual control in advanced settings. You want 10k, 14k, 20k? Set and forget.

Your corals aren't so particular they require something totally different than every other coral in existence.

 

[PeterC99]

Sure, these LED manufacturers could. Give us pre built spectrums (many are starting to) and only allow individual control in advanced settings. You want 10k, 14k, 20k? Set and forget.

Your corals aren't so particular they require something totally different than every other coral in existence.

I disagree. How do you know the mix of corals on my aquarium?

 

[rtparty]

I disagree. How do you know the mix of corals on my aquarium?

What corals are you keeping that require a very specific spectrum and how do you know you have that exact spectrum?

 

[PeterC99]

What corals are you keeping that require a very specific spectrum and how do you know you have that exact spectrum?

Great question. I’m keeping a mixed reef with eclectic corals. Running’s the whole gamut. Find that I’m increasing light intensity and increasing certain light spectrums.

 

[blaxsun]

Having only 4 main channels on the SKY isn’t a huge dealbreaker (there are only 7 on my blue Radion G5s). You’re ultimately limited by the number of those colored LEDs anyway.

 

[Naturalreef]

I think the number of channels is just right. With the G5 I felt compelled to tweak it. I generally stuck with AB+. Kessil is nice because you just tweak the white or blue then add in the green, red or violet ( I never used green or red). With the Sky, I think the template colors are pretty on point, so there is no need to deviate. I do not have a spectrometer, so I always felt a little uneasy about deviating too much from the templates.

One place that they could add an extra channel would be to separate the Royal and Blue. Then people could drop the royal down if they want that greener Blue plus look. That being said, I would not use that feature, so I would rather have it left out to make it simpler and keep the price where it is (more channels = more cost)

That’s one question I have that wasn’t answered. How is the royal blue pop on the Sky since it shares the blue on the same channel? G5 I can go full royal blue and violet for pop during water changes or viewing my Sps colors.
Does the sky have the same RB pop or is it a little muted since sharing with blue channel? If I turn up the blue with royal blue, I dont get as much pop. Thanks for answering!

 

[Jon's Reef]

That’s one question I have that wasn’t answered. How is the royal blue pop on the Sky since it shares the blue on the same channel? G5 I can go full royal blue and violet for pop during water changes or viewing my Sps colors.
Does the sky have the same RB pop or is it a little muted since sharing with blue channel? If I turn up the blue with royal blue, I dont get as much pop. Thanks for answering!

Here are some pics to give an idea of the colors. The glass on my tank is a bit dirty so there is a bit of haze in the new pics. Camera is an iPhone 8

Reefbrites Actinic XHO with Orphek lens (May 2021)

These pics are from this evening (Sept 12).
100% Blue and 100% Violet with Orphek lens

Neptune Sky (100 Violet, 100 Blue, 60 White, 75 Amber) with Orphek lens

Coral Growth (100 Violet, 100 Blue, 100 White, 100 Amber) with Orphek lens

SPS AB+ (100 Violet, 70 Blue, 30 White, 20 Amber) with Orphek lens

SPS PHX14 (100 Violet, 58 Blue, 25 White, 38 Amber) with Orphek lens

ATI Blue Plus (100 Violet, 100 Blue, 5 White, 5 Amber) with Orphek lens

Photo Mode (40 Violet, 40 Blue, 100 White, 40 Amber) No extra lens, just camera

 

[blaxsun]

All but the first image are from the SKY, yes? What’s your favorite? I think i like the ATI Blue Plus.

 

[Naturalreef]

Thank you for the detailed pictures Jon! I have to admit, spectrum/modes look “really” nice!

 

[Jon's Reef]

Yes, all are 1 Sky over a 36x24 tank.

My schedule is:
7:00-10:00 Ramp Blue Plus to 75% Sky
10:00-14:00 75% Sky to Coral Growth
14:00-18:00 75% Coral Growth to Sky
18:00-22:00 Sky to Blue Plus
Moonlight

Actinic in the morning and evening with a violet/ white look during the day.

 

[blaxsun]

Yes, all are 1 Sky over a 36x24 tank.

My schedule is:
7:00-10:00 Ramp Blue Plus to 75% Sky
10:00-14:00 75% Sky to Coral Growth
14:00-18:00 75% Coral Growth to Sky
18:00-22:00 Sky to Blue Plus
Moonlight

Actinic in the morning and evening with a violet/ white look during the day.

See, that’s something you can’t do through Mobius: switch between presets or templates. You’re basically stuck with utilizing one template over a predefined period. It would literally take hours to setup something similar for Radions, requiring you to set each template, jot down all the numbers, figure out the % for each time of day in a spreadsheet and then manually create a new template. And do this all over every time you want to make a change.

 

[Jon's Reef]

What’s your favorite?

The Sky setting is my favorite. Coral Growth is a violet tinted white, then Sky adds a little more blue to that. I also like the Blue plus in the evening. One thing I noticed is that I tend not to look at the tank with my orange glasses now. The colors seem very “pure” in person and even when set to very blue I don’t feel the need for the glasses.