Neptune SKY LED

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

After you take into account all the different factors, you will need to replace 1 watt of your current lighting with 1 watt of Sky lighting.

I tried to compare common options quickly, taking into account replacement bulbs and the like, on a 200 gallon, and the Sky seems to be on "par" pardon the pun with T5's and Halides in terms of costs. The latter might be a bit cheaper over five years depending on how often you change the bulbs. If you have to buy a new Sky in five years that's where it may get significantly more expensive depending on if the T5 and halide ballasts and fixtures hold up or not. Skys also reduce or eliminate the need for chillers and the like though too... Lots of factors... electricity i am not sure is a savings really as to the light itself, maybe depending on the setup, say versus halides for example.

All and all, for how much coverage you get with a SKy, as an initial impression, i think Neptune has done a good job showing its a contender as to the lower to average cost factor for high end lights. There are definitely far more expensive light figures and LEDs out there than the Sky when it comes to how many you need to cover a larger tank .

 

[trmiv]

After actually seeing these in person at Aquashella I was very impressed. The color of the daylight spectrum was the best I’ve seen. I’m a blue head. I run my tank super blue because daylight settings on most lights look yellow to me. These did not. Bright, crisp white with no yellow. There really isn’t much shimmer to be honest, but the color was extremely pleasing in person.

 

[areefer01]

I would like to see these compared to Stratons, I have been more than happy with mine and would take a game changer to make me think otherwise. Yeah I understand Stratons are more money, but I’m not sure you will get the same coverage with the Sky causing you to need more.

@Bulk Reef Supply must not sell enough of them to care or make enough margin to make a video on the Stratons.

In the last year I have purchased 4 G5 XR15’s, 5 G5 XR30’s, 5 Reefi Duo Extremes, Orphek bars, Reefbrites, and nothing compares to the coverage and silence

Point is I will be happy to try these lights if they are better than the Stratons

Edit: Since this thread has been so hostile to be clear I own and love my Neptune products, I just wish manufacturers would spend less time on claims and more time on comparison

I don't believe you will see a direct comparison between products by most here unless it is someone like BRS. Even then it may be subject to personal bias. Just look at the BRS review of the Philips Coral Care Gen 2 with their favor towards the bluer spectrum. It clouded their review of an otherwise solid LED kit.

 

[areefer01]

The BRS video today I would not say was a glowing review of the Sky. Ryan seemed to definitely like the look of his old Kessils and Reefbrites (significantly?) better, but thought the Sky was easier to use for photos and sharing online. He thought he got good enough coverage for LPS with four lights on a 5 1/2 by 4 four foot tank. He said if SPS would need six. Notably he has kessil 360's in the mix with the Skys. Randy thought the Sky was easier to install (less cords than hybrid options).

Can you please elaborate what you mean by Ryan seeming to like the Kessils or pre-sky better? We should probably ask if there is doubt because my interpretation is that he, Ryan, really likes shimmer. If a hobbyist is into swimming pool or low reef shimmer then the SKY wouldn't be your first choice or you would add a Kessil supplement. There is nothing wrong with this approach and actually offers a few nice options for hobbyists.

So there's that. If you're photo happy, youtuber type, and internet sharing all of the time, the Sky may be easier for that purpose. But if you're mostly looking at the tank at home and in person, then the sacrifice with Skys might be that it is not be as good to look at as other LED combos.

SKY's photograph setting is a nice feature that isn't just for socialites. It is really just a darn good feature that was missing that one of their developers thought of. Similar to Coral Vue consolidating power and removing the heavy power supply bricks. Sometimes something so simple is over looked and this is a result.

 

[areefer01]

After actually seeing these in person at Aquashella I was very impressed. The color of the daylight spectrum was the best I’ve seen. I’m a blue head. I run my tank super blue because daylight settings on most lights look yellow to me. These did not. Bright, crisp white with no yellow. There really isn’t much shimmer to be honest, but the color was extremely pleasing in person.

I wonder if the lighting at Aquashella presented a lower shimmer than what is normal. The SKY shimmer is subtle for lack of a better word.

Kessil sets the bar for shimmer. They have an amazing and powerful light in a pretty small form factor. It is flexible in mounting height and able to punch down through tall tanks with ease due to the additional lens options. The default lens covers a lot of square feet due to the chips design and this contributes to the shimmer effect. It is all in the optics.

The SKY differs in design and is a panel. I like to think of it has a large flat panel TV set. Original 4k sets didn't have HDR or Dolby Vision but if you recently upgraded and see the pre and post HDR/DV there is a noticeable difference in colors and contrast. Welcome to the SKY. The light wraps the display. There is shimmer in the oddest places from the shallows (surface) to the depths (30" deep).

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Can you please elaborate what you mean by Ryan seeming to like the Kessils or pre-sky better?

He never gave the sky a glowing review as being the best looking light for coral. Instead, he basically said a few times that Kessils and ReefBrites put out the light he likes and were the best look (for him at least). It was just that the best looking light was overcome and replaced because the Sky was easier to film for 360 videos. He also liked that that were easier/quicker to adjust and set up than a hybrid approach.

Bottom line, the fact he has like three Kessil 360's is a pretty big hint that Sky's alone dont do it for him... If he just wanted added shimmer, 360's were overkill on that front...

FYI: Melevs Reef runs ReefBrites with Skys too, commenting the ReefBrites add pop the Skys alone don't have. So Ryan isnt the only one that is saying Skys dont do it all... They're just a solid choice, utilizing good Neptune software, is what i am getting from earlier reviews; the lights are easy use, give good spread, look decent, but are nothing revolutionary.

To be clear, i think the Sky's looks like a great light. But i have not heard anyone, including anyone at BRS, say they are the best across the board....

Personally, i dont have issues filming or taking pictures of coral or fish, when i do so once or a month if that, so that's not much of a selling point for me. Baked in settings are nice, for new reefers, but i prefer setting how a light looks myself, so again baked in settings are not a huge selling point for me.

Last, I'd still like to know the spectrum of the LEDs in the Sky. I would not buy a light without knowing that basic information.... Why it's a secret baffles me when other manufacturers are open about that data.

 

[oreo54]

Last, I'd still like to know the spectrum of the LEDs in the Sky. I would not buy a light without knowing that basic information.... Why it's a secret baffles me when other manufacturers are open about that data.

Except Kessil as well.
What k temp whites?
Ect.

 

[areefer01]

He never gave the sky a glowing review as being the best looking light for coral. Instead, he basically said a few times that Kessils and ReefBrites put out the light he likes and were the best look (for him at least). It was just that the best looking light was overcome and replaced because the Sky was easier to film for 360 videos. He also liked that that were easier/quicker to adjust and set up than a hybrid approach.

Bottom line, the fact he has like three Kessil 360's is a pretty big hint that Sky's alone dont do it for him... If he just wanted added shimmer, 360's were overkill on that front...

I don't believe either one of us can speak for Ryan or BRS. It was a preview I do know that and he replaced his previous lights with the SKY's. He prefers shimmer as he states over the years so added two (I believe). Maybe ask him to clarify during their next live session if it is a selling point for you.

FYI: Melevs Reef runs ReefBrites with Skys too, commenting the ReefBrites add pop the Skys alone don't have. So Ryan isnt the only one that is saying Skys dont do it all... They're just a solid choice, utilizing good Neptune software, is what i am getting from earlier reviews; the lights are easy use, give good spread, look decent, but are nothing revolutionary.

I won't speak for Melev either but I believe in the video he stated they are not needed and just left there. I would have to go back but not sure I understand the concern.

To be clear, i think the Sky's looks like a great light. But i have not heard anyone, including anyone at BRS, say they are the best across the board....

I would remove best from the equation. Best is subjective and will be many different things to different hobbyists.

Personally, i dont have issues filming or taking pictures of coral or fish, when i do so once or a month if that, so that's not much of a selling point for me. Baked in settings are nice, for new reefers, but i prefer setting how a light looks myself, so again baked in settings are not a huge selling point for me.

It is just a feature. Usually people look at the whole package. Assuming you are interested in upgrading your current lights have a list of requirements and see what fits. Sounds like this isn't a feature for you.

Last, I'd still like to know the spectrum of the LEDs in the Sky. I would not buy a light without knowing that basic information.... Why it's a secret baffles me when other manufacturers are open about that data.

One of the lets talk reefs they noted the LED manufacture. The rest will come out when they are ready if it isn't already out there. I've read a few threads here and elsewhere regarding this but I usually think to myself what is it you are after and does it matter.

Here is an interesting thought. Do you think that the NSI members would just swap lights on their tank due to hype or because it is new? Some of the NSI members have displays pushing close to 20 years old. You don't swap a major component on hype or just because it is new. They will grow coral.

Now if they are the right tool for your use case only you can answer. Don't get caught up in the noise. Have a list of requirements for your need(s) and maybe they will be a fit. Or not. Don't rule it out just because it is made by Neptune.

 

[areefer01]

Except Kessil as well.
What k temp whites?
Ect.

Kessil is the only manufacture to build their LED's (propriety) in house

 

[oreo54]

Kessil is the only manufacture to build their LED's (propriety) in house

Soo what are their statistics?
color temps?
nm?
watt efficiency?
"PAR" chart? Lumens even.
They have all this "science" that they keep to themselves. As to the usual "trade secret" bs.. any pirate w/ a spectrophotometer and a few $100 in electronics can reverse engineer their "secret sauce" in an afternoon.

I can bake a cake.. doesn't mean it tastes good.

You know... I need to see that they do manufacture the led dies not just assemble parts.
Pretty sure it's just the board.. LED's were made somewhere else. Maybe to spec but ???

2005​

Launched Our First LED Lighting Fixture, With 1,200 Lumens Light Output, Using Proprietary Dense Matrix LED™ Platform​

See DiCon Lighting

 

[areefer01]

Soo what are their statistics?
color temps?
nm?
watt efficiency?
"PAR" chart? Lumens even.
They have all this "science" that they keep to themselves. As to the usual "trade secret" bs.. any pirate w/ a spectrophotometer and a few $100 in electronics can reverse engineer their "secret sauce" in an afternoon.

I can bake a cake.. doesn't mean it tastes good.

You know... I need to see that they do manufacture the led dies not just assemble parts.
Pretty sure it's just the board.. LED's were made somewhere else. Maybe to spec but ???

See DiCon Lighting

Good morning Oreo - To which of my comments are re replying to? Kessil does manufacture their own array.

Regarding the SKY - If you want to know what LED's the SKY's are using you can watch the LetsTalkReef (SKY) stream on May 20th. They note it briefly. Cree and Lumiled (I don't remember if this noted others), UV/Violet, blue/royal blue, white, amber, and cyan. As I said you can go back to the stream and see if they dove deeper but that is what I remember off the top of my head.

As to your statistics question is this information available for other light units? I just did a quick check on BRS and do not see the information you are asking for the G5 Radions, Straton, or any other. They list the number of LED's and color (ati spectrum on a few), and Watts - all basic information but no par numbers, charts, lumens, efficiency, etc. I believe you will get some of this information from Dana when he is able to release it. He is pretty un-biased on the subject.

As far as your cooking goes I cannot comment. We have not broken bread but I am sure you can bake a good cake.

 

[oreo54]

Kessil is the only manufacture to build their LED's

They build their own dense matrix boards with others leds. Just a wording issue.

Radion Gen3 - Gen4 same tank - Reef Central Online Community

Radion Gen3 - Gen4 same tank Lighting, Filtration & Other Equipment

www.reefcentral.com

I can tell you Kessil does their own R&D and manufacturing while all other companies just buy diodes and throw them on their products.

See. I found no proof Kessil " builds" diodes, just boards. I could be wrong but need confirmation.

Seems they got a bit sloppy w/ the g5
Up until that Radion products had a lot more info published than any Kessil .

Radion Gen3 - Gen4 same tank - Reef Central Online Community

Radion Gen3 - Gen4 same tank Lighting, Filtration & Other Equipment

www.reefcentral.com

The "Kessil issue" is not just mine .
Goes back years.
Find something even 1/4 as detailed from Kessil.

Orphek Atlantik V4 (Gen 2) 2020/21 Model • Orphek

Orphek Atlantik V4 (Gen 2) 2020/21 Model . The Best Reef Aquarium LED Lighting for Optimal Coral Growth and Color.

orphek.com

 

[areefer01]

They build their own dense matrix boards with others leds. Just a wording issue.

Radion Gen3 - Gen4 same tank - Reef Central Online Community

Radion Gen3 - Gen4 same tank Lighting, Filtration & Other Equipment

www.reefcentral.com

See. I found no proof Kessil " builds" diodes, just boards. I could be wrong but need confirmation.

Seems they got a bit sloppy w/ the g5
Up until that Radion products had a lot more info published than any Kessil .

Radion Gen3 - Gen4 same tank - Reef Central Online Community

Radion Gen3 - Gen4 same tank Lighting, Filtration & Other Equipment

www.reefcentral.com

The "Kessil issue" is not just mine .
Goes back years.
Find something even 1/4 as detailed from Kessil.

Orphek Atlantik V4 (Gen 2) 2020/21 Model • Orphek

Orphek Atlantik V4 (Gen 2) 2020/21 Model . The Best Reef Aquarium LED Lighting for Optimal Coral Growth and Color.

orphek.com

Ok, wording. Boards, emitters, not a huge deal. It isn't about who is right or wrong at least to me. You don't have to go through all of this due to me misunderstanding if or if not Kessil makes their own emitters. I just remember reading it via their "story". Maybe I misunderstood.

In any case this is about the SKY. People seem to be hung up on data that isn't released yet or talking about its quality that do not own it. A lot of hyperbole if you ask me.

https://www.kessil.com/science/story.php

 

[oreo54]

Ok, wording. Boards, emitters, not a huge deal. It isn't about who is right or wrong at least to me. You don't have to go through all of this due to me misunderstanding if or if not Kessil makes their own emitters. I just remember reading it via their "story". Maybe I misunderstood.

In any case this is about the SKY. People seem to be hung up on data that isn't released yet or talking about its quality that do not own it. A lot of hyperbole if you ask me.

https://www.kessil.com/science/story.php

My point is it's simple to just disclose basic information. "Needed" or not.
I personally have nothing against Kessil reef lights.
Now the company is another issue BUT that has a long history of an attitude like just "trust us" which I do not support. See BOSE
Or insisting on 'par meters can't measure Kessils greatness' which was pushed by marketing years ago
when people were criticizing the low par readings they were seeing.
Technically a smidge of truth since they ran true UV diodes BUT output of UV was measured and found to be minimal.
Call it all a Geek Thing.

Also their Freshwater lighting, from my perspective has/had issues. Not to mention I believe they "fixed" them in part but it was never documented. i.e changed the composition of their dense matrix without noting such.

Do not believe this occurred with any of the reef lights btw.

Not crazy about Neptunes attitude on this.
Lighting is the engine of the tank. More info on it the better.
Peple split hairs over lesser things than nm ratings.

Apparently companies are leaning on relying on places like BRS to supply it.

This is meant to be informative not an attack on either Kessil nor Neptune functionality.
Proof of the pudding is in the eating.

 

[srobertb]

I looked at the product description on the Neptune website, they need to add the LED counts by color/spectrum and manufacturer. If their not using Cree and Osram, or equivalent it would be an absolute deal breaker at that pricing. I'm trying not to be jaded as the Apex controllability would be a real plus, but many of their other accessories are built on the cheap, hopefully the lights warrant the cost.

They don’t look like anything special. Just basic LED’s with a little sprinkling of “secret sauce lenses.” I like the integration aspect but there’s no way they’re plugging in without powerbricks so I’m not streamlining my cabinet or plugs.

Lights are something one “sets and forgets.” I don’t need to tweak my light settings daily like I may choose to do with my dosing. Having a mobius app right next to my Apex app is just fine.

They are years behind the other brands and I see nothing about designs or the hype ads that tells me these will significantly outperform my Radions or Kessils.

 

[areefer01]

My point is it's simple to just disclose basic information. "Needed" or not.
I personally have nothing against Kessil reef lights.
Now the company is another issue BUT that has a long history of an attitude like just "trust us" which I do not support. See BOSE
Or insisting on 'par meters can't measure Kessils greatness' which was pushed by marketing years ago
when people were criticizing the low par readings they were seeing.
Technically a smidge of truth since they ran true UV diodes BUT output of UV was measured and found to be minimal.
Call it all a Geek Thing.

Also their Freshwater lighting, from my perspective has/had issues. Not to mention I believe they "fixed" them in part but it was never documented. i.e changed the composition of their dense matrix without noting such.

Do not believe this occurred with any of the reef lights btw.

Not crazy about Neptunes attitude on this.
Lighting is the engine of the tank. More info on it the better.
Peple split hairs over lesser things than nm ratings.

Apparently companies are leaning on relying on places like BRS to supply it.

This is meant to be informative not an attack on either Kessil nor Neptune functionality.
Proof of the pudding is in the eating.

What proof do you need that the Neptune lights work?

Here is a short clip from the left side of my display.

 

[oreo54]

What proof do you need that the Neptune lights work?

Here is a short clip from the left side of my display.

you are misunderstanding what I was saying
.

This is meant to be informative not an attack on either Kessil nor Neptune functionality.
Proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Meant as a positive or neutral statement..
I design and build freshwater lighting. nm's and their ratios are important to "me"..and it's simple info for a manufacturer to give.
No more no less.

 

[areefer01]

you are misunderstanding what I was saying
.

Meant as a positive or neutral statement..
I design and build freshwater lighting. nm's and their ratios are important to "me"..and it's simple info for a manufacturer to give.
No more no less.

I fully understand what you are saying. You are asking for data that isn't available or provided by most if not all lighting manufactures for the hobby. Even then sources like BRS are only going to provide a reference point and they in some cases send the wrong message - just look at the Coral Care Gen 2. You want the details and the details are not there today. They may not be tomorrow either.

I know you are into lighting as I participated in a few threads over at RC over the years. I'm not taking anything you are saying as an attack let alone personally. On the other hand if the data isn't there it doesn't mean they are hiding something or it is somehow related to marketing or misleading hobbyists because that isn't the case.

 

[TerraFerma]

Soo what are their statistics?
color temps?
nm?
watt efficiency?
"PAR" chart? Lumens even.
They have all this "science" that they keep to themselves. As to the usual "trade secret" bs.. any pirate w/ a spectrophotometer and a few $100 in electronics can reverse engineer their "secret sauce" in an afternoon.

I can bake a cake.. doesn't mean it tastes good.

You know... I need to see that they do manufacture the led dies not just assemble parts.
Pretty sure it's just the board.. LED's were made somewhere else. Maybe to spec but ???

See DiCon Lighting

Kessil is a division of a much larger company, Dicon. According to the Kessil website Dicon does in fact manufacturer their own diodes.

Mysterious as it is what spectrums Kessil puts out - they grow and color corals well.

 

[areefer01]

They are years behind the other brands and I see nothing about designs or the hype ads that tells me these will significantly outperform my Radions or Kessils.

Care to elaborate how they are years behind other brands and what brands are we talking about?

If you are running Radion G5's I would say no, you wouldn't upgrade unless you are making an integration quality of life improvement. I replaced 4 x a360x with 2 x SKY and there is a significant improvement as it relates to the light blanketing the display.

The Kessil swimming pool shimmer is gone but a more softer subtle one replaced it. Easier control. Less power bricks. I removed about 75 feet of cable.