Neptune SKY LED

[Terence]

Id have to see over a mature tank to see if one every 2 feet prevents shadowing, makes the tank look good for me and grows coral.

Also, look at the livestreams from RAP if you want to see (or not see really) how it does with shadowing on a 24" interval.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Without directly quoting and addressing various members questions or concerns, here is a bit more info I can give you all to chew on.

Shimmer. First off, if you are looking for "Kessil/Red Sea" type shimmer, you will not be happy with the SKY alone - you could for sure augment with some K180 I guess to get that hard, fast-frequency kessil shimmer lines. The SKY was designed for the tastes of the 80% of the top end reefkeepers. No offense to those that run them, that is not really the place Kessil has been playing to date save for hybrid configurations of all sorts of bars, T5, etc. Again, if hard shimmer is your game, go with the Kessil A500 or augment the SKY with small kessil options. With other LED you can only choose to have no shimmer with their diffuser option, or have shimmer that has a disco or static TV effect on the sandbed. The Shimz solution on the SKY enables the best of both worlds. If you want the full flat look of T5, the optional diffused Shimz are available.

Emulating the Sun, Trying to be MH
The SKY was designed to mimic the spreading and diffusing effect of the Earth's atmosphere, not the sun. If you watched the video closely, that was made clear. Other lights try and emulate the sun. MH, on its own, was never a great solution. Spread, color, etc. just weren't there. So VHO then T5 and then LED strips were added to help it along. The SKY more closely emulates that lighting solution than it does other lights out there - that even with diffusers will not match the spread and more importantly, the mixing of separate LED, at the fixture, like the SKY does.

Area of originating light
The size of the light panel, and the light engine technology employed is what is necessary to get this homogenous light going everywhere. There is a trade off though. You certainly could make a huge panel but with the trade off of it getting in the way, creative ways to cover off sized tanks, etc. We think this rectangular size is the perfect balance of coverage and versatility.

What LEDs inside
The SKY uses a mix of 8 different LED for main LED and moonlights. Nearly all of them are Cree or Luxeon LED. It does have "UV" LED whose peak is at 405nm.

Sale price and availability
The SKY will be shipping to dealers in 4-6 weeks. There will be a larger demand than there will be supply. This is the case with popular product releases in many other markets (cameras, game consoles, etc.) with much bigger companies than ours. Like all of our products, they will be made available first to dealers in the USA, following shortly after that with the ROW. The price in the USA will be $869.95 (same price as G5 XR30 when you include their optional diffuser)

Manufacturer involvement in discussions
One thing Neptune Systems does I think more than any other major manufacturer is engage the public in social media, forums, etc. We do this despite often having to endure a lot of honest an d sometimes harsh feedback. And thats OK - we do it because we want the feedback. But please realize that the form and content of what you post does affect how much involvement people like myself will have with a particular community. If it is not welcoming (and do not read that as it has to be all sunshine and puppy dogs) then I and others will not participate as much. I think one person above actually mentioned this above. Now, please understand that given the many things my job requires, I will not be on here responding or posting all the time. Its just not possible. However, I always try to do my best to stay engaged.

I have to give you credit for responding to questions instead of engaging in a one-way / my way only argument. Good change. Bravo.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

Also, look at the livestreams from RAP if you want to see (or not see really) how it does with shadowing on a 24" interval.

Its going to have to be in person. And at least a 48 inch tank with two of them for me to see if its an acceptable option.

Thanks for the recommendation though. Ill take a look.

 

[GillMeister]

We know BRS do LOVES themselves some Neptune, so I'd be shocked if they didn't review this light within the next two months. The benefit here is they seem to have a standard test method so we'll get good objective performance comparisons with other lights and somewhat subjective reviews of the control. So far what I'm seeing the control interface looks promising.

 

[KarlsReef]

You can’t get an unbiased opinion from someone getting free stuff, otherwise you stop gettin free stuff. Also someone who wants to sell the product has some skin in the game as well. Its not exclusive to this industry.

At least for me, until i see it in a tank doing what it claims to do, and by that, i mean 3 of them over a 180 filled with mature branching colonies without shadowing colonies below and no need for extra fixtures or fill light to prevent shadowing. If it doesnt do that, its just another high end LED to me making the age old claim of covering a 2 foot section of tank. I also prefer some shimmer, so it has to do that. If it ends up not being my brand of Vodka, i think Ecotech will still sell me lights.

NSI isn't free though from my understanding, has Mark or anyone actually said they have received free units? NSI is basically an early adopter for testing phase so there is real world data and feedback coming from community members for Neptune Systems to make any adjustments or improvements. I believe all are paid for maybe discounted slightly but not free that's for sure. I don't understand the bashing going on, it's personal choice and no one is forcing anyone to buy any product regardless of the manufacturer. We're supposed to be here to support each other not back bite. Opinions are fine but when it gets too much is just silly.

Ultimately we're all trying to do the same things and keep our animals alive and healthy.

 

[amazongb]

Companies releasing new products is GOOD for the hobby, and should be welcomed, whether you like the product or not as it creates more choice.

 

[KarlsReef]

Companies releasing new products is GOOD for the hobby, and should be welcomed, whether you like the product or not as it creates more choice.

And pushes other companies to innovate too

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

NSI isn't free though from my understanding, has Mark or anyone actually said they have received free units? NSI is basically an early adopter for testing phase so there is real world data and feedback coming from community members for Neptune Systems to make any adjustments or improvements. I believe all are paid for maybe discounted slightly but not free that's for sure. I don't understand the bashing going on, it's personal choice and no one is forcing anyone to buy any product regardless of the manufacturer. We're supposed to be here to support each other not back bite. Opinions are fine but when it gets too much is just silly.

Ultimately we're all trying to do the same things and keep our animals alive and healthy.

I dont see how its bashing to want to see results from someone who paid full price for the product vs someone who got a financial incentive regardless if it was free, a discount or got paid or even someone who felt good knowing they were selected to try it first. I know its for feedback in real world use for the manufacturers

The light may be great, but i dont know how anyone can make a real assessment until they hit the real, real world.

I used to get 5 free rods per year from G Loomis for their Pro Staff members in Bass Tournaments. Its how promotion works. I never said anything about their rods that wasn't good.

 

[GillMeister]

Great. Now we're going to be comparing LEDs to fishing rods.

I've seen plenty of reviews of goods from people that received the product without paying for it. Mostly, they seemed fair. I see more of a conflict when it's a publication doing a review of a product made by a sponsor. It's biting the hand that feeds you and most publications don't like to anger the companies that pay them.

Let's wait for the reviews of the Neptune SKY to come in and as always, consider the source. I might not trust the average Joe if he doesn't have the skills to do a factual assessment. I might not trust a review by someone getting their lunch money from Neptune either. Surprisingly, Terence gave what seemed like a relatively unbiased opinion of the pros and cons of his own product.

Again, what I would like to see from 'Average Joe Reviewer' is how intuitive the control is.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I used to get 5 free rods per year from G Loomis for their Pro Staff members in Bass Tournaments. Its how promotion works. I never said anything about their rods that wasn't good.

You weren't expected to.

 

[Bpb]

Surprising amount of negativity in this thread. I don’t plan on buying one, but I was excited to see the direction they went with the design. I look forward to seeing how they do in practice. Good to have choices.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

Great. Now we're going to be comparing LEDs to fishing rods.

I've seen plenty of reviews of goods from people that received the product without paying for it. Mostly, they seemed fair. I see more of a conflict when it's a publication doing a review of a product made by a sponsor. It's biting the hand that feeds you and most publications don't like to anger the companies that pay them.

Let's wait for the reviews of the Neptune SKY to come in and as always, consider the source. I might not trust the average Joe if he doesn't have the skills to do a factual assessment. I might not trust a review by someone getting their lunch money from Neptune either. Surprisingly, Terence gave what seemed like a relatively unbiased opinion of the pros and cons of his own product.

Again, what I would like to see from 'Average Joe Reviewer' is how intuitive the control is.

What i would like to see is results from a yet unproven product in the market before buying it. I think thats a very reasonable choice i get to make. Ive seen the available information and ill give it the attention it deserves before making a decision. I end up buying less gear twice that way. Anyone else is free to use whatever evaluation methods they want.

 

[oreo54]

I dont see how its bashing to want to see results from someone who paid full price for the product vs someone who got a financial incentive regardless if it was free, a discount or got paid or even someone who felt good knowing they were selected to try it first. I know its for feedback in real world use for the manufacturers

The light may be great, but i dont know how anyone can make a real assessment until they hit the real, real world.

I used to get 5 free rods per year from G Loomis for their Pro Staff members in Bass Tournaments. Its how promotion works. I never said anything about their rods that wasn't good.

A reviewer should either give an honest opinion or say nothing. Other than that and they need to examine their own moral compass.

And trusting those that "paid full price" has it's own drawback like biasing their opinion based on $$$'s spent vs "their" return.

 

[Terence]

Again, what I would like to see from 'Average Joe Reviewer' is how intuitive the control is.

It is in this area I know we are going knock everyones socks off. This is a key component of our direction with the SKY and a key part of our marketing message. Spread. Spectrum. Simple.

 

[DeepintheReef]

Saw these at RAP this weekend and they look good. The 24x30 coverage is the rating for SPS heavy tanks. The rep I spoke with stated 36x30 for LPS and softies and they can punch down just as deep. They’re light for their size and about an inch larger on all four sides than the xr30’s so they have some decent coverage (pretty similar in size to the arctic t247 but more robust). The price includes a diffuser as well.

Although Neptune doesn’t have an in-house mounting solution aside from a hanging kit, they work with the gen5 and older style xr30 mounting brackets. They have dual independent fans so if one goes out, the other will still run while you can figure out what to do, but that’s kind of pointless if the light has to be sent in for repair. Unless of course they send a replacement similar to the trident.

They seem fairly easy to integrate into an existing tank and look to be programmed similar to the wav pump. You can set points throughout the day and adjust intensity at each point. It will also come with several presets to choose from.

Looking forward to trying them soon. Will probably have a client set them up on an 8x4x4 in the next few months so we can get some decent par measurements and really see what they’re capable of.

Above is my take from talking to one of the reps for about 10 minutes at RAP over the weekend.

Are they revolutionary? No.

Will they work? Yes.

Do I think they offer an improvement in spread and intensity over the radions? Yes.

Its Neptune’s next natural progression in their line of products. There’s another thread floating around with par measurements. 100 par at 36” underwater is impressive and that’s with the whites set below 100%.

 

[GillMeister]

What i would like to see is results from a yet unproven product in the market before buying it.

I'm comfortable with LEDs overall. These are made by a few companies and they have the bugs worked out.

Surprising amount of negativity in this thread.

Yeah, probably because I wasn't able to get my little emoji after my joke about comparing LEDs and fishing rods. That should be an indication of why I'm interested in a simple light control that just works.

No insult intended toward @ReefRxSWFL. I hope the joke was understood after the whole halide tangent.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

Surprising amount of negativity in this thread. I don’t plan on buying one, but I was excited to see the direction they went with the design. I look forward to seeing how they do in practice. Good to have choices.

This is getting weird to me. But from what i am seeing is the shaming of anyone with an opinion that is different from theirs.

So are we allowed to share opinions or do we just have to swoon over the topic at hand?

This light is the legitimate contender for an upcoming build, and because id like to see if it lives up to its claims once it hits the market, its bashing or negative? I guess I slept through my sensitivity training videos at work. Wow.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

A reviewer should either give an honest opinion or say nothing. Other than that and they need to examine their own moral compass.

And trusting those that "paid full price" has it's own drawback like biasing their opinion based on $$$'s spent vs "their" return.

True. A lot of folks will defend their purchase, even if they hate the item. No one wants to feel foolish for spending $xxxxx on product Y and not be happy with it. Im more concerned about when I can ***** it in person, and give the rest of the opinions based on their merit.

 

[ReefRxSWFL]

I'm comfortable with LEDs overall. These are made by a few companies and they have the bugs worked out.

Yeah, probably because I wasn't able to get my little emoji after my joke about comparing LEDs and fishing rods. That should be an indication of why I'm interested in a simple light control that just works.

No insult intended toward @ReefRxSWFL. I hope the joke was understood after the whole halide tangent.

First, get that emoji fixed! And i got the joke part, and was just kind of more feeding off the control part. Anyone who’s pulled out their hair over ecosmart live knows this.

I spend my days dealing with serious s***, like people living, dying or trying to maintain some sort of quality of life. So i have some perspective on whats important and whats nonsense. That gives me a lot thicker skin than someone who gets upset over a joke, or if someone has a different opinion over some stupid light. So please don't give it a second thought.

 

[Bpb]

This is getting weird to me. But from what i am seeing is the shaming of anyone with an opinion that is different from theirs.

So are we allowed to share opinions or do we just have to swoon over the topic at hand?

This light is the legitimate contender for an upcoming build, and because id like to see if it lives up to its claims once it hits the market, its bashing or negative? I guess I slept through my sensitivity training videos at work. Wow.

Unless I am misinterpreting your post, you misinterpreted mine