Neptune SKY LED

[Overfloater]

The newest Radion Mounting System has a big arch that will completely clear the fans. I have the new RMS on my Radions. I dont know why they used the old RMS at the show. BRS and the other sellers dont even carry the old RMS anymore, so i guess they found an old one on Ebay or something.

I’m sure they are looking at Radion G4 or older users to possibly upgrade so reusing the brackets they already have makes a lot of sense.

 

[Kfactor]

That's a big deep tank and you need a lot of light no matter how you shake it?!

Sticking with Kessil and T5's

That's a Kessil every 2 feet (4 x 90 = 360 watts) and 4 T5's the length of the tank (432 watts), so a little more than a six bulb T5 (648 watts) fixture in terms of par total is my guess. Also, the Aquatic Life (less wide) T5 reflectors do not pack the punch of say ATI reflectors is what i recall, so middle and bottom third of the tank will not be high par, especially if your water clarity (nutrients?) is at issue. If your SPS is in the top third of that deeper tank they'll be fine light wise, nothing crazy, but 200 to 300 par is my guess.

Cost on your current setup is $335.00 x 2 on the T5's, or $670, plus $450 x 4 on the kessils and say another $100 for a dongle ($1900), for a total of $2,570.

Personally, if you stuck with the Kessils you have and added more, for heavy SPS on that 30 inch tank, I'd add three more X500's (185 x 3 = 555 watts), and you would have the light (1,347 watts) to hammer out SPS anywhere in that tank IMO... that would another $2,217.00 ($739.00 x 3). So a very ideal kessil and T5 setup here would be $4,787.00.

Say these LEDs last 5 years, that's $4,115 every five years plus, say $160 a year on T5 bulbs, plus or minus 50% depending on your bulb change schedule. So $5,587.00 for five years for a very nice kessil and t5 hybrid. If you did away with the T5's and ran just the Kessils (3 500x's and 4 360x's) your cost over five years would be $4,117.00. If you did four 500x's over five years that is $2,956.00 (but i wonder if you would want fill light? In that case, four 500x's and 4 Aquatic Life fixtures over 5 years would be $4,426.00).

Using 740 watts to 1347 watts, depending on the above.

Versus Halides

In comparison to halide days, you would have probably had four 400 watt halides (1600 watts) on the same tank (30 inch!) if you were SPS dominant, so you're (currently in comparison to haludes) not running a lot of light on tank that size and especially that deep.

(Total watts isn't really the best way to measure a LED lights power, but nonetheless the comparison above is pretty accurate in terms of figuring out ball park light needs... The reality is that while LEDs produce less heat (sometimes), they are not that much better/efficient at reducing electrical consumption if you want to hit the same PAR numbers in the tank as halides or T5's....)

Cost of halides, say reefbrite 400 watts would be $534.00 with ballasts and bulbs each, total $2,136.00 for 1600 watts of proven SPS growing power (https://www.aquariumspecialty.com/reef-brite-halide-hybrid-15-mogul-pendant-kit.html). Each bulb would need to replaced say every 6 to 12 months (at $60 a bulb for reefbrites/$240 every 6 to 12 months/$2,400 per five years, plus or minus 50% depending on bulb replacement). So over five years, for a nice halide setup that's $3,336.00 to $4,536.00 using 1600 watts.

Versus just T5's

An ATI 8 bulb dimmable 48 inch fixture is $825.00. Need two, so $1650.00. Plus bulbs each year at $400 a year, plus or minus 50% depending on how often you change the bulbs. Over five years, pure T5's is $3,650.00 using 864 watts.

Versus Reefbrites strips: 16 reef bright xho 48 inch strips is $6,336.00 using about 864 watts

Versus ATI Straton: four of these is $4,400.00 using 920 watts


Versus Neptune Sky

As for Neptune Sky, the ideal setup according them, since they recommend 3 skys for a 72 inch tank, would be 4 skys for the 96 inch tank. The Skys come in at $869.00 each so--$3,476.00 every five years using 876 watts. If you added an additional sky, 5 total, so every 19 inches instead of every 24, you'd be at $4,345.,00 and using 1,095 watts.

Conclusion:

You're gunna spend some money no matter what on a 8 foot 30 inch deep tank.

But the Sky is arguably the most economical way to go for best coverage on an SPS tank (Four Kessil 500x is cheaper but same coverage?; Halide and changing bulbs once a year is cheaper, but higher electical costs and chiller?...)?! Seems to be a T5 replacement/halide (not factoring in that the T5 fixture/ballast and halide fixture/ballast may last more than five years and still run lights 100% because you're changing bulbs)?! So long as that "one year" warranty holds up and they're not Chinese garbage--seem like a good light

I do question whether the Sky is going to penetrate 30 inches say as well as halides, or the Kessil 500's, however, which can utilize lens designed to do just that....

Personally, i think combo hybrid lights are the best, but lights like Neptune Sky and ATI Straton might change my mind?

That was a ver descriptive right up and outs a lot of things in to perspective

 

[flourishofmediocrity]

It looks like the gen 4 Radion brackets almost completely cover the fans.

Is this going to be an issue as far as cooling is concerned?

you could always upgrade to these:

RMS Slide for Radion XR30 G5 & G6 - EcoTech Marine

Compatible with both G5 and G6 Radion XR30s. Multi-Light Radion Mounting System - Slide Mount The Multi-Light RMS is a modular and customizable Radion LED mounting solution for all XR15 and XR30 systems, Gen 5 and earlier. The RMS Slide Mounts connect your Radion LED to the RMS Track and allow...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Saw it at RAP. It does a great job with coverage, it has LED color pop, but the lack of natural shimmer lines like you see with Halides or Kessils to me was disappointing. Think would have been better aesthetically in the tank if somewhere on the light there was a non-diffused portion with one color of LED, or a “Kessil like” puck in the middle of the light to add some shimmer in the tank. The tank looked one ho-hum better than all T5. While not bad, it just misses for me. Im sure it will do well, but looks like when my 120 is done being built, it will be getting four XR15s.

I agree. Pretty flat. T5 like look, didn't seem much shimmer. I would add kessils to Skys if i ran them.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

That's a big deep tank and you need a lot of light no matter how you shake it?!

Sticking with Kessil and T5's

That's a Kessil every 2 feet (4 x 90 = 360 watts) and 4 T5's the length of the tank (432 watts), so a little more than a six bulb T5 (648 watts) fixture in terms of par total is my guess. Also, the Aquatic Life (less wide) T5 reflectors do not pack the punch of say ATI reflectors is what i recall, so middle and bottom third of the tank will not be high par, especially if your water clarity (nutrients?) is at issue. If your SPS is in the top third of that deeper tank they'll be fine light wise, nothing crazy, but 200 to 300 par is my guess.

Cost on your current setup is $335.00 x 2 on the T5's, or $670, plus $450 x 4 on the kessils and say another $100 for a dongle ($1900), for a total of $2,570.

Personally, if you stuck with the Kessils you have and added more, for heavy SPS on that 30 inch tank, I'd add three more X500's (185 x 3 = 555 watts), and you would have the light (1,347 watts) to hammer out SPS anywhere in that tank IMO... that would another $2,217.00 ($739.00 x 3). So a very ideal kessil and T5 setup here would be $4,787.00.

Say these LEDs last 5 years, that's $4,115 every five years plus, say $160 a year on T5 bulbs, plus or minus 50% depending on your bulb change schedule. So $5,587.00 for five years for a very nice kessil and t5 hybrid. If you did away with the T5's and ran just the Kessils (3 500x's and 4 360x's) your cost over five years would be $4,117.00. If you did four 500x's over five years that is $2,956.00 (but i wonder if you would want fill light? In that case, four 500x's and 4 Aquatic Life fixtures over 5 years would be $4,426.00).

Using 740 watts to 1347 watts, depending on the above.

Versus Halides

In comparison to halide days, you would have probably had four 400 watt halides (1600 watts) on the same tank (30 inch!) if you were SPS dominant, so you're (currently in comparison to haludes) not running a lot of light on tank that size and especially that deep.

(Total watts isn't really the best way to measure a LED lights power, but nonetheless the comparison above is pretty accurate in terms of figuring out ball park light needs... The reality is that while LEDs produce less heat (sometimes), they are not that much better/efficient at reducing electrical consumption if you want to hit the same PAR numbers in the tank as halides or T5's....)

Cost of halides, say reefbrite 400 watts would be $534.00 with ballasts and bulbs each, total $2,136.00 for 1600 watts of proven SPS growing power (https://www.aquariumspecialty.com/reef-brite-halide-hybrid-15-mogul-pendant-kit.html). Each bulb would need to replaced say every 6 to 12 months (at $60 a bulb for reefbrites/$240 every 6 to 12 months/$2,400 per five years, plus or minus 50% depending on bulb replacement). So over five years, for a nice halide setup that's $3,336.00 to $4,536.00 using 1600 watts.

Versus just T5's

An ATI 8 bulb dimmable 48 inch fixture is $825.00. Need two, so $1650.00. Plus bulbs each year at $400 a year, plus or minus 50% depending on how often you change the bulbs. Over five years, pure T5's is $3,650.00 using 864 watts.

Versus Reefbrites strips: 16 reef bright xho 48 inch strips is $6,336.00 using about 864 watts

Versus ATI Straton: four of these is $4,400.00 using 920 watts


Versus Neptune Sky

As for Neptune Sky, the ideal setup according them, since they recommend 3 skys for a 72 inch tank, would be 4 skys for the 96 inch tank. The Skys come in at $869.00 each so--$3,476.00 every five years using 876 watts. If you added an additional sky, 5 total, so every 19 inches instead of every 24, you'd be at $4,345.,00 and using 1,095 watts.

Conclusion:

You're gunna spend some money no matter what on a 8 foot 30 inch deep tank.

But the Sky is arguably the most economical way to go for best coverage on an SPS tank (Four Kessil 500x is cheaper but same coverage?; Halide and changing bulbs once a year is cheaper, but higher electical costs and chiller?...)?! Seems to be a T5 replacement/halide (not factoring in that the T5 fixture/ballast and halide fixture/ballast may last more than five years and still run lights 100% because you're changing bulbs)?! So long as that "one year" warranty holds up and they're not Chinese garbage--seem like a good light

I do question whether the Sky is going to penetrate 30 inches say as well as halides, or the Kessil 500's, however, which can utilize lens designed to do just that....

Personally, i think combo hybrid lights are the best, but lights like Neptune Sky and ATI Straton might change my mind?

Thats a pretty extensive breakdown. Besides the lackluster warranty, which is an issue for a lot of the lighting brands, how the tank looks is an issue of personal preference. Some people are happy with the look of all T5s. Some with the look of Kessils. To me, thats the Papa Bear and the Momma Bear. One is too flat, and one too shimmery. Then there is Disco Bear, which makes me want to do dance like Travolta in front of the tank.

My conclusion, after seeing the Sky in person, it covers the tank with minimal shadowing, gives corals that LED pop, but is just another light with compromise, because its a little flat, and falls short on shimmer. Some day, Tommy Lee Jones will find his one armed man, but its not today. Im not saying that its not a good light. Only time will tell that, if the light grows coral, which it should, but if the light lasts longer than a year, which is Neptune’s expectation based on the warranty.

I currently have a tank with all Radions, a tank with AIs, a few tanks with only Kessils. In the past ive run Halide only, t5 only, and T5/halide combos. My favorite look is my 30 inch deep tank with Kessils and T5s, and still have not found any single lighting option that makes the inside of the tank look that good. Plenty of PAR, spread and shimmer without being obnoxious. Haven't found any light to do this yet, including the Sky.

My one armed man is still a single lighting solution that will provided the spread, intensity and in tank aesthetics of Kessils with T5s, or Kessils with ReefBrite minus the ungodly price of ReefBrite XHOs, while above the tank it looks like a single fixture across the entire tank that isnt obviously 2 different types of lights strung together, or single matching fixtures every 2 feet. Maybe Sky Gen2? Radion Gen6? Phillips Gen3?......

 

[Ryan Avery]

For me personally the radion G5 has the perfect shimmer and i dont see any disco ball

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

I agree. Pretty flat. T5 like look, didn't seem much shimmer. I would add kessils to Skys if i ran them.

I agree with you, and that would fix it. The issue with that, is you add another brand /type of light to fix shortcomings of another light. You can alternate Kessils with XR15s for a lot leas $. Or better yet T5s with Kessils.

It solved a few LED issues, but failed to address an equally large issue of how the inside of the tanks looks. The ATI sunpower already did that.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

For me personally the radion G5 has the perfect shimmer and i dont see any disco ball

i have G3s with the diffusers , and they look great. And they dont need to be replaced at 5 years says my Par meter.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

My next setup should be up in a month or two. Hybrid approach. But different because recessed ceiling mounting the lights 30 inches above the tank or so. The kessil 35 degree narrow reflector are allowing this. If i need, i ll get the felix 12 degree ones. That's my "one armed man" solution to wires and ugliness of hybrid approaches... ill stick with T5's and kessils (and reefbite supplements) until something looks as good and is shown to be equally effective over time for ease of use and healthy corals...

not saying sky can't do this, but not jumping in to try yet .. i think they've gpt something here that is very good, very slick looking, and very economical comparitively speaking...

Radions gen 4 and/or gen 5's may be the same as to economics and coverage with better penetration, however??

Curious to par numbers of sky on deep tank and what exact led spectrum they are using

 

[KimG]

We are not releasing these specifics at this time - we want the light to get out there first. You will likely be able to figure some of it out with pics from RAP, users photos, etc.

Hi Terence

Thanks for joining in a helping with some answers.
Can I ask why your not releasing this info?
Genuinely curious as I cannot see the benefits in withholding this info.

Thanks

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

My next setup should be up in a month or two. Hybrid approach. But different because recessed ceiling mounting the lights 30 inches above the tank or so. The kessil 35 degree narrow reflector are allowing this. If i need, i ll get the felix 12 degree ones. That's my "one armed man" solution to wires and ugliness of hybrid approaches... ill stick with T5's and kessils (and reefbite supplements) until something looks as good and is shown to be equally effective over time for ease of use and healthy corals...

not saying sky can't do this, but not jumping in to try yet .. i think they've gpt something here that is very good, very slick looking, and very economical comparitively speaking...

Radions gen 4 and/or gen 5's may be the same as to economics and coverage with better penetration, however??

Curious to par numbers of sky on deep tank and what exact led spectrum they are using

I soooo love the idea of those narrow reflectors you can use with the Kessils. On or just below ceiling mount, possibly recessed....

I need the tank lit. I don't need to see the fixtures.

 

[ca1ore]

I’m sure they are looking at Radion G4 or older users to possibly upgrade so reusing the brackets they already have makes a lot of sense.

Agreed .... my assumption also. I’m an early Gen4Pro guy. No,problems yet, but when I do I will certainly look at the SKY. Though no ramping capability (cannot now find where I read that) seems like a step arrears.

 

[Kingston]

That's a big deep tank and you need a lot of light no matter how you shake it?!

Sticking with Kessil and T5's

That's a Kessil every 2 feet (4 x 90 = 360 watts) and 4 T5's the length of the tank (432 watts), so a little more than a six bulb T5 (648 watts) fixture in terms of par total is my guess. Also, the Aquatic Life (less wide) T5 reflectors do not pack the punch of say ATI reflectors is what i recall, so middle and bottom third of the tank will not be high par, especially if your water clarity (nutrients?) is at issue. If your SPS is in the top third of that deeper tank they'll be fine light wise, nothing crazy, but 200 to 300 par is my guess.

Cost on your current setup is $335.00 x 2 on the T5's, or $670, plus $450 x 4 on the kessils and say another $100 for a dongle ($1900), for a total of $2,570.

Personally, if you stuck with the Kessils you have and added more, for heavy SPS on that 30 inch tank, I'd add three more X500's (185 x 3 = 555 watts), and you would have the light (1,347 watts) to hammer out SPS anywhere in that tank IMO... that would another $2,217.00 ($739.00 x 3). So a very ideal kessil and T5 setup here would be $4,787.00.

Say these LEDs last 5 years, that's $4,115 every five years plus, say $160 a year on T5 bulbs, plus or minus 50% depending on your bulb change schedule. So $5,587.00 for five years for a very nice kessil and t5 hybrid. If you did away with the T5's and ran just the Kessils (3 500x's and 4 360x's) your cost over five years would be $4,117.00. If you did four 500x's over five years that is $2,956.00 (but i wonder if you would want fill light? In that case, four 500x's and 4 Aquatic Life fixtures over 5 years would be $4,426.00).

Using 740 watts to 1347 watts, depending on the above.

Versus Halides

In comparison to halide days, you would have probably had four 400 watt halides (1600 watts) on the same tank (30 inch!) if you were SPS dominant, so you're (currently in comparison to haludes) not running a lot of light on tank that size and especially that deep.

(Total watts isn't really the best way to measure a LED lights power, but nonetheless the comparison above is pretty accurate in terms of figuring out ball park light needs... The reality is that while LEDs produce less heat (sometimes), they are not that much better/efficient at reducing electrical consumption if you want to hit the same PAR numbers in the tank as halides or T5's....)

Cost of halides, say reefbrite 400 watts would be $534.00 with ballasts and bulbs each, total $2,136.00 for 1600 watts of proven SPS growing power (https://www.aquariumspecialty.com/reef-brite-halide-hybrid-15-mogul-pendant-kit.html). Each bulb would need to replaced say every 6 to 12 months (at $60 a bulb for reefbrites/$240 every 6 to 12 months/$2,400 per five years, plus or minus 50% depending on bulb replacement). So over five years, for a nice halide setup that's $3,336.00 to $4,536.00 using 1600 watts.

Versus just T5's

An ATI 8 bulb dimmable 48 inch fixture is $825.00. Need two, so $1650.00. Plus bulbs each year at $400 a year, plus or minus 50% depending on how often you change the bulbs. Over five years, pure T5's is $3,650.00 using 864 watts.

Versus Reefbrites strips: 16 reef bright xho 48 inch strips is $6,336.00 using about 864 watts

Versus ATI Straton: four of these is $4,400.00 using 920 watts


Versus Neptune Sky

As for Neptune Sky, the ideal setup according them, since they recommend 3 skys for a 72 inch tank, would be 4 skys for the 96 inch tank. The Skys come in at $869.00 each so--$3,476.00 every five years using 876 watts. If you added an additional sky, 5 total, so every 19 inches instead of every 24, you'd be at $4,345.,00 and using 1,095 watts.

Conclusion:

You're gunna spend some money no matter what on a 8 foot 30 inch deep tank.

But the Sky is arguably the most economical way to go for best coverage on an SPS tank (Four Kessil 500x is cheaper but same coverage?; Halide and changing bulbs once a year is cheaper, but higher electical costs and chiller?...)?! Seems to be a T5 replacement/halide (not factoring in that the T5 fixture/ballast and halide fixture/ballast may last more than five years and still run lights 100% because you're changing bulbs)?! So long as that "one year" warranty holds up and they're not Chinese garbage--seem like a good light

I do question whether the Sky is going to penetrate 30 inches say as well as halides, or the Kessil 500's, however, which can utilize lens designed to do just that....

Personally, i think combo hybrid lights are the best, but lights like Neptune Sky and ATI Straton might change my mind?

Great cost effectiveness analysis there. MH seem to come on top every time but the cons such at heat production, some lack of color pop, esthetics of fixtures over the tank has kept me away from MH. Looks like Terrance's tank is a deep one too. I have my rock scape set up to keep most of my sps in the middle and top third of the tank when time comes. I hope we can gather usable data as time goes to make informed decisions and stop shooting in the dark.

 

[KarlsReef]

Agreed .... my assumption also. I’m an early Gen4Pro guy. No,problems yet, but when I do I will certainly look at the SKY. Though no ramping capability (cannot now find where I read that) seems like a step arrears.

In what respect do you mean no ramping capability? I haven't seen anything saying there is no ramping? I'm pretty sure it does ramp up and down as it wouldn't make sense otherwise. If I'm wrong then sorry

 

[ca1ore]

In what respect do you mean no ramping capability? I haven't seen anything saying there is no ramping? I'm pretty sure it does ramp up and down as it wouldn't make sense otherwise. If I'm wrong then sorry

It was this comment from Neptune, In examining the lighting needs for most medium-sized aquariums with refugia, we did not see a cost/benefit to dimming control. Certainly cool, and nice to have, but we decided to keep the price down instead.

Perhaps I misinterpret, but I took that to mean no ability to ramp up in the morning or down in the evening. Happy to be corrected. Either way, we will find out bells, whistles, and warts, in due time.

 

[Jon's Reef]

It was this comment from Neptune, In examining the lighting needs for most medium-sized aquariums with refugia, we did not see a cost/benefit to dimming control. Certainly cool, and nice to have, but we decided to keep the price down instead.

Perhaps I misinterpret, but I took that to mean no ability to ramp up in the morning or down in the evening. Happy to be corrected. Either way, we will find out bells, whistles, and warts, in due time.

He was talking about the GRO refugium light, not the SKY.

 

[GillMeister]

Thank you for clearing that up @Jon's Reef . A little misinformation can go far.

 

[ca1ore]

He was talking about the GRO refugium light, not the SKY.

Ah, ok, that actually makes more sense. Perils of being a skim reader apparently.

 

[KarlsReef]

It was this comment from Neptune, In examining the lighting needs for most medium-sized aquariums with refugia, we did not see a cost/benefit to dimming control. Certainly cool, and nice to have, but we decided to keep the price down instead.

Perhaps I misinterpret, but I took that to mean no ability to ramp up in the morning or down in the evening. Happy to be corrected. Either way, we will find out bells, whistles, and warts, in due time.

Isn't this the Gro refugium light they are talking about, that does not have ramping, it's on or off and you adjust the time you have it running for to get the desired intensity. Sorry didn't realise a few others had made this point.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Well, the latest BRS video, mentioned that the Sky was designed to "beat" their "tests." It was admitted that the Sky did just that.... So, take that as you might, but Sky sound likes best new T5 replacement is my guess in terms of spread and even par... Which is kinda evident from the pictures--flat and even and nice looking... Still curious about penetration in deep tank.