Thoughts On New Neptune Sky LED?

flourishofmediocrity

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If you were interested in Dana Riddle's opinions on this light, he talks a lot about how he has found it in this livestream:

 

AquariumSpecialty

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Pre-orders are now available at Aquarium Specialty. We are expecting our 1st stock order to arrive in our warehouse on July 30th. All qualifying stores are getting a very limited amount on the 1st order and I expect them to go quickly.

 

N.Sreefer

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At that price Ill stay with my philzon blackboxes until I can afford a phillips coral care. My thoughts crazy price for a first gen light that presumably has some bugs.
 

theishkid

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At that price Ill stay with my philzon blackboxes until I can afford a phillips coral care. My thoughts crazy price for a first gen light that presumably has some bugs.
But if it can produce as good or better results than a 5th gen light that also has some bugs, what would be the issue?
 

wareagle

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But if it can produce as good or better results than a 5th gen light that also has some bugs, what would be the issue?
All the missing numbers like the L number. The phillips coral care is rated at L80 at 25,000hrs for those LEDs in that fixture. That means it will still have over 80% of the light and spectrum at 25,000 hrs.
What is the real lifespan of all the other lights, not just the diodes, they have to be rated in the fixture, who else gives you that ?
Have any of the others even been tested for that?
Did BRS or anyone else ever give you that L number ?
Do you think the real lifespan of the light is important to the price?
IP rating ?
A finish that is rated against salt spray ?
Do you think a products warranty has anything to do with it's quality ?
Do you think it's important that the fixture has actually been scientifically tested against T5 lights on real coral, or do you think the BRS par and preferred spectrum test is better/good enough ?
Terrence admits his light was designed to beat the BRS test, but what about the value to my wallet ? He made a cheaper coral care with a shorter warranty and he's charging more.

The phillips coral care has a two year warranty, but even this is low for the lighting industry. They're at least 100% transparent on their materials and specs.
Do you even know what kind of plastic the others in the aquarium industry use ? Eaton/Cooper/Crouse and Hinds all have a 5 year warranty and have these kinds of disclaimers for the fixtures with cheaper materials.
2 Certain fixtures use non-acrylic materials in light guides or lenses that may naturally shift color or yellow over time, such as polystyrene. The warranty applicable to these fixtures does not cover against yellowing or color shifting in light guides or lenses using these materials and Eaton disclaims all warranties, express and implied, with respect to yellowing or color shifting of such light guides and lenses.
I don't think BRS is truly educating the consumer, or fellow hobbyist if you want to pretend that they're doing great things for reefing. Our lighting is ridiculously overpriced, and that's just with factoring in the warranty and none of the diodes, plastic, and cheap fans.
 

theishkid

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All the missing numbers like the L number. The phillips coral care is rated at L80 at 25,000hrs for those LEDs in that fixture. That means it will still have over 80% of the light and spectrum at 25,000 hrs.
What is the real lifespan of all the other lights, not just the diodes, they have to be rated in the fixture, who else gives you that ?
Have any of the others even been tested for that?
Did BRS or anyone else ever give you that L number ?
Do you think the real lifespan of the light is important to the price?
IP rating ?
A finish that is rated against salt spray ?
Do you think a products warranty has anything to do with it's quality ?
Do you think it's important that the fixture has actually been scientifically tested against T5 lights on real coral, or do you think the BRS par and preferred spectrum test is better/good enough ?
Terrence admits his light was designed to beat the BRS test, but what about the value to my wallet ? He made a cheaper coral care with a shorter warranty and he's charging more.

The phillips coral care has a two year warranty, but even this is low for the lighting industry. They're at least 100% transparent on their materials and specs.
Do you even know what kind of plastic the others in the aquarium industry use ? Eaton/Cooper/Crouse and Hinds all have a 5 year warranty and have these kinds of disclaimers for the fixtures with cheaper materials.

I don't think BRS is truly educating the consumer, or fellow hobbyist if you want to pretend that they're doing great things for reefing. Our lighting is ridiculously overpriced, and that's just with factoring in the warranty and none of the diodes, plastic, and cheap fans.
I honestly don't think the "L Number" makes a whole lot of difference to a lot of people... I haven't heard that term for any light that I was looking at. Most of these numbers are not real world tested by anyone and nothing more than manufacturer specs. I can tell you that I've got a whole house full of LED lights that were supposed to last for 15k+ hours and a few of them stopped working before 1000 hours. I've worked around concert style moving lights that are supposed to have 10 years of on the road usability that go out after 6 months. Or LED taillights with busted or dimmed diodes. I'm not even sure how these manufacturers come up with that number anyway. The Phillips light has only been out a year and a half so how do they do 3 years worth of testing to get that number?... and yea they were testing before it came out but very few manufacturers are going to design and have something ready to go and sit on their product for 3 years before it comes out so they can finish testing. Those are artificial numbers done in a lab and not real world or real time based. You don't know the real lifespan of your specific fixture until you are using it above your tank.
We have also been told that Neptune is using many of the same diodes and Ryan "wondered" if they might even be paying Phillips for some of their LED patents so I wouldn't think they are too far apart.

Scientifically testing the lights is basically what BRS does. Setting up the exact same tank parameters and testing multiple points of different fixtures. I do not think it's important that the light be tested against T5. I think it's important that corals grow. If they grow then I'm happy. If lighting experts like Dana Riddle say they are growing coral than I'm happy.

A plastic finish would hold up fine against salt spray where a metal finish could potentially rust if not coated properly.

Why do you assume the Sky is cheaper than the coral care? Because it doesn't weight 15 pounds? I think we all like to look at direct cost of each diode or fan or plastic molding and say that's what this object is worth and that's not fair at all. You also have to assign value to R&D, marketing, manufacturing, testing, software development, payroll... it all adds up. Then add the fact that they are going to sell a few thousand lights and not millions like iphones to spread those costs out. And on top of that they need to make a profit otherwise it's not worth it to even stay in business. The Sky is competitively priced with other lights in its class with the bonus ability to work inside my apex app. Which I would gladly pay extra to have after going into another app for the past 6 years that barely works. It's also light enough to mount on the back glass of my tank as I don't have the ability to hang a light from my ceiling that weighs that much.

I'm not an expert of plastics so I honestly don't know or care what kind of plastic is being used. If the build quality holds up and it doesn't feel like cheap overseas junk than I'm happy. That goes for any light or product outside of the hobby as well.

I think it's a little bit unfair to say that BRS isn't educating the consumer. In fact you're just wrong. Maybe you have the bankroll to test out dozens of products but others do not. They've taught thousands about making their own water or proper dosing methods and hundreds of comparisons between products. It's unfair to say that because they aren't doing X-rays on products and telling you where every company sources their supplies from that you aren't being educated. Nobody has been able to test more equipment in this hobby than BRS has. You used to just have to hope a product was going to work for you based on what 3 people said in a forum or reading a complaint review and they do in-depth test that help consumers make more informed decisions. Everything is expensive in this hobby for quality products.
 

wareagle

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I honestly don't think the "L Number" makes a whole lot of difference to a lot of people... I haven't heard that term for any light that I was looking at. Most of these numbers are not real world tested by anyone and nothing more than manufacturer specs. I can tell you that I've got a whole house full of LED lights that were supposed to last for 15k+ hours and a few of them stopped working before 1000 hours. I've worked around concert style moving lights that are supposed to have 10 years of on the road usability that go out after 6 months. Or LED taillights with busted or dimmed diodes. I'm not even sure how these manufacturers come up with that number anyway. The Phillips light has only been out a year and a half so how do they do 3 years worth of testing to get that number?... and yea they were testing before it came out but very few manufacturers are going to design and have something ready to go and sit on their product for 3 years before it comes out so they can finish testing. Those are artificial numbers done in a lab and not real world or real time based. You don't know the real lifespan of your specific fixture until you are using it above your tank.
We have also been told that Neptune is using many of the same diodes and Ryan "wondered" if they might even be paying Phillips for some of their LED patents so I wouldn't think they are too far apart.

Scientifically testing the lights is basically what BRS does. Setting up the exact same tank parameters and testing multiple points of different fixtures. I do not think it's important that the light be tested against T5. I think it's important that corals grow. If they grow then I'm happy. If lighting experts like Dana Riddle say they are growing coral than I'm happy.

A plastic finish would hold up fine against salt spray where a metal finish could potentially rust if not coated properly.

Why do you assume the Sky is cheaper than the coral care? Because it doesn't weight 15 pounds? I think we all like to look at direct cost of each diode or fan or plastic molding and say that's what this object is worth and that's not fair at all. You also have to assign value to R&D, marketing, manufacturing, testing, software development, payroll... it all adds up. Then add the fact that they are going to sell a few thousand lights and not millions like iphones to spread those costs out. And on top of that they need to make a profit otherwise it's not worth it to even stay in business. The Sky is competitively priced with other lights in its class with the bonus ability to work inside my apex app. Which I would gladly pay extra to have after going into another app for the past 6 years that barely works. It's also light enough to mount on the back glass of my tank as I don't have the ability to hang a light from my ceiling that weighs that much.

I'm not an expert of plastics so I honestly don't know or care what kind of plastic is being used. If the build quality holds up and it doesn't feel like cheap overseas junk than I'm happy. That goes for any light or product outside of the hobby as well.

I think it's a little bit unfair to say that BRS isn't educating the consumer. In fact you're just wrong. Maybe you have the bankroll to test out dozens of products but others do not. They've taught thousands about making their own water or proper dosing methods and hundreds of comparisons between products. It's unfair to say that because they aren't doing X-rays on products and telling you where every company sources their supplies from that you aren't being educated. Nobody has been able to test more equipment in this hobby than BRS has. You used to just have to hope a product was going to work for you based on what 3 people said in a forum or reading a complaint review and they do in-depth test that help consumers make more informed decisions. Everything is expensive in this hobby for quality products.
You don't even know what you're talking about. The L number is an industry standard and is just as recognizable as being UL certified. The light doesn't have to be out for multiple years, the diodes have a rating based on what they're made of. The fixture has a rating based on it's ability to dissipate heat, none of this is secret voodoo.

The Department of Energy had to put out a report on L numbers because of people like you who are misinformed on LEDs not meeting the claims on the box. Just giving you the hours without the L number tells you nothing.
Like you said, your lights didn't last. You know this, and you use it as an excuse and still want to make excuses for a product with a ONE year warranty that costs more than a better product with a TWO year warranty ?

Where does it say on the Neptune Spec sheet that they're using Luxeon LED diodes ?
You admit you know nothing about plastics, while my post tells you why we need to know what kind of plastic was used for the lenses.

You made a long winded post dismissing actual facts so that you could be ripped off by products with short warranty periods. Speculation by Ryan is also evidence for you over what the actual product spec sheet is telling you ?

Here is the DOE report, it includes information on L numbers and plastic lenses, it was made with the lighting industry by demand of the US govt on behalf of people that were tired of being ripped off by LEDs. That's the people who actually make the diodes and not the people who give you deceptive marketing. I can't help it if you want to ignore reality to listen to Ryan.
 

theishkid

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You don't even know what you're talking about. The L number is an industry standard and is just as recognizable as being UL certified. The light doesn't have to be out for multiple years, the diodes have a rating based on what they're made of. The fixture has a rating based on it's ability to dissipate heat, none of this is secret voodoo.

The Department of Energy had to put out a report on L numbers because of people like you who are misinformed on LEDs not meeting the claims on the box. Just giving you the hours without the L number tells you nothing.
Like you said, your lights didn't last. You know this, and you use it as an excuse and still want to make excuses for a product with a ONE year warranty that costs more than a better product with a TWO year warranty ?

Where does it say on the Neptune Spec sheet that they're using Luxeon LED diodes ?
You admit you know nothing about plastics, while my post tells you why we need to know what kind of plastic was used for the lenses.

You made a long winded post dismissing actual facts so that you could be ripped off by products with short warranty periods. Speculation by Ryan is also evidence for you over what the actual product spec sheet is telling you ?

Here is the DOE report, it includes information on L numbers and plastic lenses, it was made with the lighting industry by demand of the US govt on behalf of people that were tired of being ripped off by LEDs. That's the people who actually make the diodes and not the people who give you deceptive marketing. I can't help it if you want to ignore reality to listen to Ryan.
Brother I don't know what you do for a living that "L Number" is industry standard for you but no, it is not just as recognizable as being UL Certified. I'm not seeing that number listed on any of CoralVue, EcoTech, or Kessil's marketing for their lights. Searching "LED L Number" brings up virtually nothing. So comparing "L Number" that has been around for only a couple of years and is something DOE had to make a report that nobody read to educated people like me, vs a company that has been helping people since the early 1900's is just asinine.

I'm not saying it's not a real thing... I'm saying that whatever lab created rating the manufacturer assigned doesn't necessarily translate into the longevity of a fixture. Why did my home can lights go out? I'm not asking why they dimmed 30 percent and have an L number of whatever... I'm asking why did they stop working or started creating a loud buzzing before 1,000 hours when they are rated to work for 15,000 hours? You can say that based on this plastic and this transformer and this and that it's rated to last for 5 years and has an L number of whatever... but if the manufacturer used poor solder and the fixture stops working, or there wasn't a good enough seal on one particular diode and humidity gets in...those ratings don't mean anything.

Terrance mentioned the kinds of LED's that are in the fixture in one of their videos. Why a spec sheet isn't out yet or NSI hasn't ended even though the light is officially for sale is definitely a complaint we most likely share.

I didn't dismiss your facts... I said people don't care. There's a difference.

I don't know that I'm ignoring reality by listening to Ryan. I will listen to ANYONE that I remotely trust who can actually real world test this stuff for me like Ryan, Dana, or Mark because that matters more to me than a number on a box. I don't know too many people that have the option of testing every light and telling me the one they want to use. Is Ryan and Terrance's view skewed being owners of Neptune... absolutely it is. But it can't be completely skewed if Ryan is telling everyone how much he loves the Sky with Kessil mix he has over his tank. Why would he promote another brand when he has his own? Do you trust anyone's opinion in this hobby? Is it a gamble that I don't have L Numbers of my light? Maybe... but I'll take that risk when someone like Dana tells me he has this over his tank because I certainly trust his opinion on lighting aquariums.
 

Spieg

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Major profit margin for Neptune at $900.

Problem is Neptune doesn't have a Revenue-stream in us paying for consumables nor a monthly subscription fee.

So when they sell a new piece of equipment it's gotta be a seriously profitable item.
Sadly, I believe another part of Neptune's profit margin includes the overpriced repair of the bargain-basement electronic components they use.
 

wareagle

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Brother I don't know what you do for a living that "L Number" is industry standard for you but no, it is not just as recognizable as being UL Certified. I'm not seeing that number listed on any of CoralVue, EcoTech, or Kessil's marketing for their lights. Searching "LED L Number" brings up virtually nothing. So comparing "L Number" that has been around for only a couple of years and is something DOE had to make a report that nobody read to educated people like me, vs a company that has been helping people since the early 1900's is just asinine.

I'm not saying it's not a real thing... I'm saying that whatever lab created rating the manufacturer assigned doesn't necessarily translate into the longevity of a fixture. Why did my home can lights go out? I'm not asking why they dimmed 30 percent and have an L number of whatever... I'm asking why did they stop working or started creating a loud buzzing before 1,000 hours when they are rated to work for 15,000 hours? You can say that based on this plastic and this transformer and this and that it's rated to last for 5 years and has an L number of whatever... but if the manufacturer used poor solder and the fixture stops working, or there wasn't a good enough seal on one particular diode and humidity gets in...those ratings don't mean anything.

Terrance mentioned the kinds of LED's that are in the fixture in one of their videos. Why a spec sheet isn't out yet or NSI hasn't ended even though the light is officially for sale is definitely a complaint we most likely share.

I didn't dismiss your facts... I said people don't care. There's a difference.

I don't know that I'm ignoring reality by listening to Ryan. I will listen to ANYONE that I remotely trust who can actually real world test this stuff for me like Ryan, Dana, or Mark because that matters more to me than a number on a box. I don't know too many people that have the option of testing every light and telling me the one they want to use. Is Ryan and Terrance's view skewed being owners of Neptune... absolutely it is. But it can't be completely skewed if Ryan is telling everyone how much he loves the Sky with Kessil mix he has over his tank. Why would he promote another brand when he has his own? Do you trust anyone's opinion in this hobby? Is it a gamble that I don't have L Numbers of my light? Maybe... but I'll take that risk when someone like Dana tells me he has this over his tank because I certainly trust his opinion on lighting aquariums.
Do you think the Department of Energy link I gave you isn't real ? I even told you that when you don't see the real lifespan, it means you are being hosed. Why would you go look at the Coral Vue website ? The light is a Philips light, and directly from the Philips website
the CoralCare fixture meets L80B10 (ambient temperature of 35°C and lifetime of 25K hours), which is a standard norm in general lighting. This means that after the lifetime of 25K hours (about 7 years), at its specified ambient temperature point of 35°C, 90% of all fixtures still give an output of more than 80% of their original lumen output.
You didn't look at the Philips website because you didn't want to, but I'm glad you wanted to play obtuse so others could use the opportunity to get educated and make sure they aren't paying $800.00 for something that isn't worth $800.00 and only comes with a one year warranty.
 

theishkid

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Do you think the Department of Energy link I gave you isn't real ? I even told you that when you don't see the real lifespan, it means you are being hosed. Why would you go look at the Coral Vue website ? The light is a Philips light, and directly from the Philips website

You didn't look at the Philips website because you didn't want to, but I'm glad you wanted to play obtuse so others could use the opportunity to get educated and make sure they aren't paying $800.00 for something that isn't worth $800.00 and only comes with a one year warranty.
I don't know what you think we're arguing about... I never once said the information isn't real. I said nobody knows about it. In fact it wasn't until Terrance mentioned something in their first talk about SKY that LEDS having a shelf life and everyone blew there stack about how the sky was only meant to last 5-7 years. He was talking about this very subject. I don't disagree with you. I'm simply saying that A: Most people don't know about it. B: You can put whatever you want hidden deep on a spec sheet somewhere but it's based on predictions and not real world testing.
I didn't look at the Phillips website because I went to google and typed in Phillips Coral Care gen 2 and Phillips web page doesn't come up until page 3 for their own product... but what does come up as the very first link: Coral Vue. And I made the mistake of mixing up Coral Care and Coral Vue thinking that was there page and brand name for aquarium lights. It is however their dealer and distributor and they don't think it's important to share your L number. Phillips themselves bury the number. They're fine to tell you the light will last for 25k hours but no mention of the thing you find most important in the world. And once you do finally come upon it... it says exactly what I said: "Via model analysis and reliability tests we can predict that the CoralCare fixture meets L80B10 (ambient temperature of 35°C and lifetime of 25K hours), which is a standard norm in general lighting."

There's nothing special about their L rating that you value so much. Why don't they offer a 3 year warranty or a 5 year warranty if their lights will last that long? We know Neptune doesn't cause their greedy!!! But why isn't Phillips longer?

What I don't understand is you cheerleading for Phillips but then talk about how all the fixtures are overpriced. I'm not even saying they are bad. If it didn't weight 15 pounds I probably would have bought one. But you don't have a clue what the value of a light is or what it cost to produce any of this stuff. If you don't have the money for it then don't worry about it and move on. Why are MP-40's 400 dollars when you can buy a marineland for 40 bucks? Why is a waterbox aquarium thousands of dollars when you can buy Top Fin's for a couple hundred. You have no idea how much R&D, manufacturing, marketing, etc costs but you don't think about any of that. Build your own light. Do the research. See how many man hours it takes to complete. Program and code your own app and add wifi and bluetooth for your own fixture. Make it user friendly and make it profitable. Let me know how much it costs.
Personally I'd rather these companies make a profit so they can keep making cool stuff that makes my life easier in the hobby and produces better results. If I can afford it at the time I'll buy it no matter who the manufacturer is.
 

Djordan719

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New to the hobby so my opinion comes with a grain of salt (hehe). I've been in the tech industry for a while, and I think that if you aren't adding anything new (other than aesthetics.. which is also a valid reason to purchase something), and it's priced at a premium without using higher quality parts than the competition... what's the point?

I do think people are brand loyal and Neptune obviously has a large following in a niche hobby, so I do think plenty will buy them for that reason^^
 

wareagle

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I don't know what you think we're arguing about... I never once said the information isn't real. I said nobody knows about it. In fact it wasn't until Terrance mentioned something in their first talk about SKY that LEDS having a shelf life and everyone blew there stack about how the sky was only meant to last 5-7 years. He was talking about this very subject. I don't disagree with you. I'm simply saying that A: Most people don't know about it. B: You can put whatever you want hidden deep on a spec sheet somewhere but it's based on predictions and not real world testing.
I didn't look at the Phillips website because I went to google and typed in Phillips Coral Care gen 2 and Phillips web page doesn't come up until page 3 for their own product... but what does come up as the very first link: Coral Vue. And I made the mistake of mixing up Coral Care and Coral Vue thinking that was there page and brand name for aquarium lights. It is however their dealer and distributor and they don't think it's important to share your L number. Phillips themselves bury the number. They're fine to tell you the light will last for 25k hours but no mention of the thing you find most important in the world. And once you do finally come upon it... it says exactly what I said: "Via model analysis and reliability tests we can predict that the CoralCare fixture meets L80B10 (ambient temperature of 35°C and lifetime of 25K hours), which is a standard norm in general lighting."

There's nothing special about their L rating that you value so much. Why don't they offer a 3 year warranty or a 5 year warranty if their lights will last that long? We know Neptune doesn't cause their greedy!!! But why isn't Phillips longer?

What I don't understand is you cheerleading for Phillips but then talk about how all the fixtures are overpriced. I'm not even saying they are bad. If it didn't weight 15 pounds I probably would have bought one. But you don't have a clue what the value of a light is or what it cost to produce any of this stuff. If you don't have the money for it then don't worry about it and move on. Why are MP-40's 400 dollars when you can buy a marineland for 40 bucks? Why is a waterbox aquarium thousands of dollars when you can buy Top Fin's for a couple hundred. You have no idea how much R&D, manufacturing, marketing, etc costs but you don't think about any of that. Build your own light. Do the research. See how many man hours it takes to complete. Program and code your own app and add wifi and bluetooth for your own fixture. Make it user friendly and make it profitable. Let me know how much it costs.
Personally I'd rather these companies make a profit so they can keep making cool stuff that makes my life easier in the hobby and produces better results. If I can afford it at the time I'll buy it no matter who the manufacturer is.
I simply used Philips as an example because it's the light that Terrence admitted he copied, but with cheaper parts, more user maintenance required, no IP rating, a higher price, and half the warranty.
We could also compare it to something much cheaper like a Reef Breeders light, top of the line CREE diodes, it comes with legs and a hanging kit, plastic lenses, active cooling, and a two year warranty. Very comparable to the SKY, except it has better diodes, warranty, and price.
You can also get them in smaller sizes and really save over buying a bigger light and wasting money on light spill.

I'd rather talk about this than move on. You're in every single Neptune and BRS thread, I'm not the one that's worried, it's too bad you can't use your money to buy something to protect your feelings.
I'm sorry I gave Terrence's light a fair criticism and you couldn't handle it, you could just put me on ignore and if you can't handle it, because you telling me to move on isn't going to work.
 

theishkid

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I simply used Philips as an example because it's the light that Terrence admitted he copied, but with cheaper parts, more user maintenance required, no IP rating, a higher price, and half the warranty.
We could also compare it to something much cheaper like a Reef Breeders light, top of the line CREE diodes, it comes with legs and a hanging kit, plastic lenses, active cooling, and a two year warranty. Very comparable to the SKY, except it has better diodes, warranty, and price.
You can also get them in smaller sizes and really save over buying a bigger light and wasting money on light spill.

I'd rather talk about this than move on. You're in every single Neptune and BRS thread, I'm not the one that's worried, it's too bad you can't use your money to buy something to protect your feelings.
I'm sorry I gave Terrence's light a fair criticism and you couldn't handle it, you could just put me on ignore and if you can't handle it, because you telling me to move on isn't going to work.
hahahaha... yea... i like BRS. I like Ryan. Neptune has been great on my tank. I don't have unrealistic expectations of what it does and the couple of times I needed service they gave it. I've been able to go away for two week trips each year without bugging family and friends to come to my aid. I couldn't do that when I had my first tank 20 years ago. I don't understand all the doom and gloom about BRS and Neptune. Especially not before something bad happens.
On this tank I started in 2016, I began with a cheap black box. Not doing that again... I don't care if it has a 10 year warranty. I switched to a custom NanoBox Reef that has held up great but the app hasn't been updated in forever and is clunky now 6 years later. I have different needs and a different budget than I had before. I want to stay inside one app now. I don't care who they copied off of. I don't care if it's way more. I don't even care what diodes they are using. I've said it 10 times now... If people I look up to in this hobby like Dana Riddle are using the Sky... That's good enough for me! Shhh... Don't tell Terrance... I wouldn't even care if they changed it to a 6 month warranty. I didn't have warranties at all on my last two fixtures.
And please don't worry about my feelings... I'm a big boy. I'm not looking you up and trying to find every thread you post in hahahahaha.
 

wareagle

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hahahaha... yea... i like BRS. I like Ryan. Neptune has been great on my tank. I don't have unrealistic expectations of what it does and the couple of times I needed service they gave it. I've been able to go away for two week trips each year without bugging family and friends to come to my aid. I couldn't do that when I had my first tank 20 years ago. I don't understand all the doom and gloom about BRS and Neptune. Especially not before something bad happens.
On this tank I started in 2016, I began with a cheap black box. Not doing that again... I don't care if it has a 10 year warranty. I switched to a custom NanoBox Reef that has held up great but the app hasn't been updated in forever and is clunky now 6 years later. I have different needs and a different budget than I had before. I want to stay inside one app now. I don't care who they copied off of. I don't care if it's way more. I don't even care what diodes they are using. I've said it 10 times now... If people I look up to in this hobby like Dana Riddle are using the Sky... That's good enough for me! Shhh... Don't tell Terrance... I wouldn't even care if they changed it to a 6 month warranty. I didn't have warranties at all on my last two fixtures.
And please don't worry about my feelings... I'm a big boy. I'm not looking you up and trying to find every thread you post in hahahahaha.
That's not what I said, not even close, and you know it. You could have said all this from the beginning, but you weren't here to defend your decision, you were here to defend BRS and Neptune. Then you tried to misrepresent an ANSI IES standard, that I even showed you proof of from the US Govt. You could even go to CREE, Osram, GE, Signify, etc etc, every major diode maker and see their L number.
 

theishkid

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That's not what I said, not even close, and you know it. You could have said all this from the beginning, but you weren't here to defend your decision, you were here to defend BRS and Neptune. Then you tried to misrepresent an ANSI IES standard, that I even showed you proof of from the US Govt. You could even go to CREE, Osram, GE, Signify, etc etc, every major diode maker and see their L number.
How many freaking times do I have to tell you that I don't disagree with your government approved AN CIS standard. I said that it's nothing special, it's the exact same standard that are on every single LED you can buy in Walmart. And yes I am defending BRS and Neptune... finally you're catching on! Good job!
 

Silvas

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$870. 1st gen. Unfortunately, I will pass. What happened to products getting cheaper as tech matured?
That phenomenon only occurs when the products in question (not just the components in them) sell enough that they become commoditized. That hasn't happened, and may never happen, in the reef keeping hobby. This is still a niche hobby, and the products for it are niche products... and those very rarely benefit from noticeably better pricing as tech matures, due to their limited sales nature. Also because of that same thing, we don't get the pricing benefits that come with economies of scale.
We're also being hit with the massive increase in shipping costs and other cost increases associated with the pandemic and the loss of profit and such during the pandemic. It's not a great time, cost wise, for us in the hobby unfortunately. We just have to endure, do what we can to take care of our animals, and hope that eventually as the world returns to some sense of normalcy that shipping costs go back down at least some (and this temporary event doesn't end up being the excuse for a permanent very significant price hike).

That said, I'm with you on this, this light is a hard pass for me.
 

jDoSe

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Opinion based on watching every video out there and reading every article about the SKY:
1) The balanced spread and blending of colors looks excellent. Almost to the point where I want to buy the light for this reason alone. Almost…
2) The fixture looks aesthetically pleasing and I like it is a half pound lighter than the radion xr30 g5. Fans don’t matter to me, as long as it’s quiet (which it seems it is).
3) Hopefully they make an xr15/hydra26 version of this light. Right now, the only way to try it is drop $1000. Also, there is no option to try for nano tanks. I fully expect them to make one though in the future.
4) They need to make an arm mount soon; either made by Neptune or a 3rd party. I don’t want to use the trash radion RMS arm that puts uneven pressure on the tank and is “designed” to sag and bend forward. Their arm mount has to be high quality with absolutely no sag.
5) I haven’t personally compared one SKY to two XR15 gen5 with diffusers (for example), but based on all the videos, the elimination of shadows seems greatly exaggerated. I’m sure it’ll be better than most lights, but the amount they claim vs what the videos show is very different.
6) Red flag #1: They still haven’t released which LEDs are included and how many of each. In a video they said they aren’t going to release the info soon, but are sure someone will take one apart and figure it out. In a hobby where transparency is everything, this is extremely worrying.
7) Red flag #2: If you watch every single video on the fixture like I have, you will notice there is absolutely no shimmer. You can tell in interviews they always bring it up to try and convince viewers there is shimmer when there is absolutely none on video. Are they trying to claim that this is the only fixture where shimmer doesn’t show up on camera? I do believe that they will improve this in Gen2 though.
8) Currently, there are practically no authentic reviews imo. Most reefers who have them got them are essentially just sponsored content reviews imo. Since BRS now owns Neptune, we have to take everything they say about this light (and others) with a grain of salt. They are no longer impartial. We have to wait for actual unsponsored reviews from users (like the one that just brought up the massive amount of light spill from the fixture). You may also have to wait to see one in person at your LFS before deciding.
9) Light is untested long term so I will stick with something I know works.
10) from a marketing perspective, I really think they dropped the ball. I also think the are overestimating the current demand, so I don’t think you have to worry about it being out of stock.

My verdict based solely on videos:
Revolutionary industry disruptor? No. It’s not that much different from what’s out there (but it is different-enough). There are multiple tried and tested lights you can buy that will perform similarly.
Competitor to Ecotech, AI, Kessil, etc? Absolutely. This seems like an extremely solid light, especially for those with large tanks who have the space/ability to easily add a kessil or two (and don’t have to worry about spillover).
For me, I will wait for user reviews or Gen2. I think they know about the lack of shimmer, and that all they can do is try convince us that it is there before we buy. Even Ryan from BRS said in the video he wanted more shimmer. I think he said he would use SKY and add Kessils just for shimmer. (Then again, I have to wait to see it in person to judge for myself.) Now that BRS owns Neptune, I expect a very solid SKY Gen2.
 
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wareagle

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How many freaking times do I have to tell you that I don't disagree with your government approved AN CIS standard. I said that it's nothing special, it's the exact same standard that are on every single LED you can buy in Walmart. And yes I am defending BRS and Neptune... finally you're catching on! Good job!
No it's not the same exact standard, there is an L50, L70, and L80. It's simple to figure out when they don't tell you what you're getting, or even the exact diodes you're getting. You seem to enjoy misrepresenting things.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

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