Ok, so to set this up, I ordered one of these on a whim. I was really curious what I would think about them first hand. There's so many opinions floating around that seem to be heavily influenced by either hatred or love for Neptune, so I just wanted to see for myself. For the record, I'm currently using and Apex on my tank, it does what I need, and I like Fusion better than the other management portals I've used.
Anyway, I got the Sky set up late yesterday, so this is really "initial" impressions. But that might be all I have as I'm thinking that I'll likely not be keeping it up for very long. You'll understand why in a bit.
So here's my thoughts so far. Please note: this is not a scientific review as I'm only expressing my opinions based on my needs/wants for lighting. There are many, much smarter folks than I who can, and have, provided those types of specific details.
Pros (for me, in my environment)
Cons (for me, in my environment)
Anyway, here's a couple of pics for comparison. I mean, who wants to read all this stuff with no pics?
Tank pre-Sky (with Reefbreeders Photon V2+)
With SKY in Neptune Sky Mode
With SKY in AB+ Mode
Anyway, I got the Sky set up late yesterday, so this is really "initial" impressions. But that might be all I have as I'm thinking that I'll likely not be keeping it up for very long. You'll understand why in a bit.
So here's my thoughts so far. Please note: this is not a scientific review as I'm only expressing my opinions based on my needs/wants for lighting. There are many, much smarter folks than I who can, and have, provided those types of specific details.
Pros (for me, in my environment)
- Seems to blend light well, no visible hot spots and shading didn't look too bad
- Light looks nice over my tank (my better half likes how it looks, so that's a plus)
- It has many default settings that can be set without tinkering with each channel (i.e. AB+, Neptune SKY, 7k-20k, etc.).
- Coverage looks to be spot on with what they advertised, my tank is small, it's only a 40G breeder tank, but it did seem to cover well the 36" length
- Super easy to set up, like almost "huh, am I done?" easy. Took less than 5 minutes to get it set, for me
- Can be completely controlled from Apex Fusion (this is a pretty big selling point for me, as I work and travel a lot, and I rely on Fusion heavily)
Cons (for me, in my environment)
- Light bleed, it seems to light up my whole room, and is very distracting (annoying) as my tank is next to my TV and relatively close to my couch, chairs, etc. Add that my stand it pretty tall at 41-ish inches, and it make it like I'm sitting under the light when sitting in my living room................not ok.
- I'm sure part of this is intentional, so that it can have wider coverage, and if my tank was larger, or in a different location in my house, then it wouldn't matter and would be fine, but that's not the case for me
- Mounting. I did get a Radion mounting bracket to mount it, and it works fine, but I don't like much weight prying/leaning against the glass as I prefer mounts that basically stand on the ends, as this puts all weight push straight down on the glass. I know I could have done some kind of rail DIY thing, or hang it from the ceiling, but didn't have the time for the rail and hanging was not a real option in this house.
Anyway, here's a couple of pics for comparison. I mean, who wants to read all this stuff with no pics?
Tank pre-Sky (with Reefbreeders Photon V2+)
With SKY in Neptune Sky Mode
With SKY in AB+ Mode