It's here... (Sky)

[Jon's Reef]

Received the package this afternoon. As others have said, nice packing and easy to setup. The light "feels" good. My only complaint would be that the screws included are nice if you have the Radion mount, but they are a little long if you are using your own hanging kit.

This is what I started with (FTS with orange filter):

2x A360x (40% int, 30% color), 2 RB XHO Actinic, 1 RB XHO 50/50 (Waterbox 100.3 tank (~36x24x22)
Par measured with an Apogee 510

Here is a pic after installing the sky. I intentionally tilted it a few deg back to reduce the forward facing glare and to put a little more light into the tank. I found 12" was a good mounting height to balance coverage and par for my particular tank and aquascape. (pic in photo mode, no filter)

And the par map ("Sky mode, 100% intensity (90% overall intensity))":


I see the biggest difference (both in par numbers, but also visually) in the upper left and right corners. Perhaps if I scrape the coralline off the back it will help with reflectivity.

Here is an actinic w/ filter shot:

Overall I am happy with the change. My focus was on simplifying the setup. I could see running 2 if you really wanted uniform coverage in the top 6" of the tank. Part of me is thinking about putting the Actinic XHO back up... but I really just like the simple setup of this. The coral growth mode (all channels 100%) is also a nice color, but I like the slight blue tint of the sky mode.

 

[Ranjib]

the par numbers are almost same, so overall i think this is better, since it involves less component. It also has a metal halide like purple tint, is that correct?

 

[Jon's Reef]

It is hard to show the colors in a pic because of camera sensors.

The 4 color channels:
UV/ Violet: Pure actinic, almost like a black light. lots of pop. (The pic shows more blue due to the iphone sensor)

Blue: Very blue like reef brite XHO or the radion royal blue. Not green-blue like Blue plus bulbs or the radion blue channel.

Green: Not a pure green. More yellow-green.

Amber: Mix of yellow and red, not really the typical "blue" white.

The presets:
Coral Growth: The overall tank looks “white” with no blue tint. Corals/rock do not look brown, they still have the nice colors.

Sky: Similar to coral growth, but a slight blue tint.

AB+: “pro” AB+. not the green tinted “blue” AB+.

Blue plus : Pure blue with slight violet tint. It does not have the green tint of blue plus bulbs.

There is plenty of red to show off the colors in the fish. I think the light really benefits from the reduction of the green part of the spectrum. IMO that area is a carry over from Blue plus that just washes out the tank colors.

 

[Rando]

I hope that you will come to Europe soon. The Sky would be a real alternative to the Radion G5.

 

[Jon's Reef]

The Sky would be a real alternative to the Radion G5.

The specific differences that I see between them (I have had multiple G5 pro and blue xr15 in the past).

1. Coverage. The lenses of the G5 give good spread, but you really need a bigger source to get the coverage. I ended up adding strip lights to get the extra coverage.

2. Blue-green color. The radion "blue" channel has a strong green component to it. This gives the bad "windex" look IMO. Here the blue is more of the royal blue. Currently a big point of controversy in the spectrum, but I think it looks better this way.

3. More Violet. I felt like the radions were missing power in the 400-420 nm range. It looks more like the kessil with the violet channel turned up in this regard.

4. Build Quality. Sorry to say it, but the whole case cracking thing really turned me off from the G5. I know they fixed it, but I always had the feeling like it was going to come back. Yes, the diffuser on this light is loose. But it is for a reason (likely same reason why the G5 diffuser is separate from the frame). If it was not loose, it would have to be thicker (lowering par) or risk breaking when someone pushes on it.

5. Fan noise. The G5 have fan noise. It is fine for many, other things likely also make noise. But it bothered me. The 2 big fans on the sky are very quiet.

6. Shimmer. No, this is not kessil shimmer. I liked the G5 look, especially with the diffuser. But it was missing that subtle bit. Here I see that small amount of shimmer.

 

[Jon's Reef]

Here are some shimmer videos.

 

[rhostam]

Here are some shimmer videos.

Direct uploads to R2R don’t work (at least for me and a host of others). You’ll need to upload to OneDrive, Google Drive, or YouTube and share links that way.

 

[Jon's Reef]

Direct uploads to R2R don’t work (at least for me and a host of others). You’ll need to upload to OneDrive, Google Drive, or YouTube and share links that way.

Here are the links from Google drive

 

[jcates]

Looks great. I too look forward to simplified setup. I have 2 coming that I will push to their advertised limits by attempting to cover a 180 from what I can tell shouldn't be an issue. Perhaps when acros grow out I'll need to add a third, at least that's the hope..lol