Neptune Skys vs. Radion XR30 G6

[Tstorm]

Setting up a new Cade 1200 Peninsula tank and I'm trying to decide on new lights for the system. Right now I'm stuck between two Neptune sky's or two Radion xr30 G6 Pros. BRS is having a sale for 10% off either light. Radions are a little less than 100 dollars more per fixture than the Skys. I really don't want to keep adding "fill light" fixtures. I did this with my 75 gallon build with kessils. I find it to be a pain to setup, more money, and a mess when it comes to wire management.

THE TANK:
CADE 1200 S2/P
48 x 27.5 x 24
Mixed reef (SPS on top LPS on bottom)
rock scape tops out around 50%
Lights suspended from vaulted ceiling

Neptune Skys:
There is not alot info on how these lights performance after long term use which is concerning since they have been out for a couple of years. I like the easy setup with my apex and wouldn't have to purchase an additional MXM box. I also like the diffused panel so the light spill is not blinding, as my couch and tv are directly next to the tank. The presets are nice and it looks like there's a 12,000K setting which is the spectrum that is appealing to me. Due to the lack of shimmer in these lights I planned on adding a Kessil A360x off my old tank turned down to 10% in-between the two.

Radion XR30 G6 Pro:
These lights seem to be tried and true, but would to have cough up some additional cash for the increased cost plus the MXM box ( I've read Mobius sucks and I to tend like using my MacBook over my phone). Due to the probable light spill that my wife hates I would have build a floating box to the similar dimensions of the tank to help shield against the 126 degree spread. I also question if these lights are overkill for this tank.

Looking for some opinions from people with similar tanks at this width? Some reefers that have used Sky's long term would be nice. Im sure they are both great lights that grow coral but at these prices I really want to get it right. I also wonder if three XR15's would do the job, or would I get shadowing in a 27.5" wide tank? I appreciate any input, thanks.

 

[billyocean]

I would go neptune sky over xr30s. Also would go reefi 2.0 over xr30s.

 

[ninjamyst]

3 XR15 is my vote unless you plan to upgrade later.

 

[rtparty]

I’ve seen very little, if any, negative about the Sky’s. I personally know multiple people running them and all seem to love them.

An XR15 won’t sniff the 27.5” front to back. They can do 18” at best. You’d need 4-6 of them and then you turn into a wire managing mess again

 

[Tstorm]

I would go neptune sky over xr30s. Also would go reefi 2.0 over xr30s.

Do you have any experience with the Sky's? Ive been reading a lot on here about REEFI, but have not seen any long term use or reviews. Only videos on YouTube are OEM, and not much 3rd party. Customer service is also important, and with Neptune, Ecotech, and BRS which is all under one company umbrella. Getting help is easy.

 

[billyocean]

Do you have any experience with the Sky's? Ive been reading a lot on here about REEFI, but have not seen any long term use or reviews. Only videos on YouTube are OEM, and not much 3rd party. Customer service is also important, and with Neptune, Ecotech, and BRS which is all under one company umbrella. Getting help is easy.

I haven't owned them but seen them in person that friends have had. @telegraham has great in depth write ups on all three of these lights.

 

[Necrodaemus]

Do you have any experience with the Sky's? Ive been reading a lot on here about REEFI, but have not seen any long term use or reviews. Only videos on YouTube are OEM, and not much 3rd party. Customer service is also important, and with Neptune, Ecotech, and BRS which is all under one company umbrella. Getting help is easy.

I’ve seen ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pros in person (local reef buddy has them over his display). I was so impressed that I have ordered some as well. They are backed by a 3 year warranty, Dan (the designer/developer) is very communicative. Take a look at Telegrahms review on them.

 

[hyprc]

3x Uno 2.0 Pros.

 

[areefer01]

Setting up a new Cade 1200 Peninsula tank and I'm trying to decide on new lights for the system. Right now I'm stuck between two Neptune sky's or two Radion xr30 G6 Pros. BRS is having a sale for 10% off either light. Radions are a little less than 100 dollars more per fixture than the Skys. I really don't want to keep adding "fill light" fixtures. I did this with my 75 gallon build with kessils. I find it to be a pain to setup, more money, and a mess when it comes to wire management.

THE TANK:
CADE 1200 S2/P
48 x 27.5 x 24
Mixed reef (SPS on top LPS on bottom)
rock scape tops out around 50%
Lights suspended from vaulted ceiling

Neptune Skys:
There is not alot info on how these lights performance after long term use which is concerning since they have been out for a couple of years. I like the easy setup with my apex and wouldn't have to purchase an additional MXM box. I also like the diffused panel so the light spill is not blinding, as my couch and tv are directly next to the tank. The presets are nice and it looks like there's a 12,000K setting which is the spectrum that is appealing to me. Due to the lack of shimmer in these lights I planned on adding a Kessil A360x off my old tank turned down to 10% in-between the two.

Radion XR30 G6 Pro:
These lights seem to be tried and true, but would to have cough up some additional cash for the increased cost plus the MXM box ( I've read Mobius sucks and I to tend like using my MacBook over my phone). Due to the probable light spill that my wife hates I would have build a floating box to the similar dimensions of the tank to help shield against the 126 degree spread. I also question if these lights are overkill for this tank.

Looking for some opinions from people with similar tanks at this width? Some reefers that have used Sky's long term would be nice. Im sure they are both great lights that grow coral but at these prices I really want to get it right. I also wonder if three XR15's would do the job, or would I get shadowing in a 27.5" wide tank? I appreciate any input, thanks.

Lighting is such a personal preference. Spectrum, spread, budget, and more. Some hobbyist content out there prefer the G4 over the 5's. Some say if you have 5's stay with those and skip the 6. SKY's, well, most of us got beat up posting about them so that is probably why you don't see much on them. Maybe we all need to be better at conversing

As someone suggested search on @telegraham on instagram (I think) and he will have some honest feedback on the lights. I've only used DIY multi channels, then Kessil a360x, and current setup being SKY's (NSI tester). I've had mine months before public availability and they are working great. 2 over a 54 x 30 x 30 210 gallon display. Mixed reef pushing 6 years old with a blend of large and small colonies.

In a nutshell my experience with SKY:

• Easy to setup, adjust, test spectrums
• Acclimation option
• Bluetooth range is excellent
• Apex connectivity if not using bluetooth
• Able to reach bottom of my display (30" base, 27" after substrate)
• Spread
• Good PAR numbers across spectrums
• Two fans (redundant)
• Near silent
• Support - I'm a Neptune user since 2001 give or take so there is probably some bias here

Negative if I had it:

• Cost - I personally was hoping they would come in a bit cheaper but price is subjective
• BRS mergers - concerned at the moment since ecotech and neptune are under same collective umbrella. There is duplication so that is a concern of mine.

I don't like spending other peoples money. My experience with the SKY's have been nothing but fantastic. I can say the same with my experience with Kessil's. I feel like I could grow corals with any light I used to be perfectly blunt. The only other light I would probably consider outside of the SKY or Kessil would be a reefi 2.0. It may be too blue on the spectrum side for me but I'm not looking to change either.

There maybe a larger ecotech installation base if that is your thing. Hobbyist to aquaculture. In any case there are users of the SKY's and I'm happy. Good luck on your search.

For reference:

 

[Tstorm]

Lighting is such a personal preference. Spectrum, spread, budget, and more. Some hobbyist content out there prefer the G4 over the 5's. Some say if you have 5's stay with those and skip the 6. SKY's, well, most of us got beat up posting about them so that is probably why you don't see much on them. Maybe we all need to be better at conversing

As someone suggested search on @telegraham on instagram (I think) and he will have some honest feedback on the lights. I've only used DIY multi channels, then Kessil a360x, and current setup being SKY's (NSI tester). I've had mine months before public availability and they are working great. 2 over a 54 x 30 x 30 210 gallon display. Mixed reef pushing 6 years old with a blend of large and small colonies.

In a nutshell my experience with SKY:

• Easy to setup, adjust, test spectrums
• Acclimation option
• Bluetooth range is excellent
• Apex connectivity if not using bluetooth
• Able to reach bottom of my display (30" base, 27" after substrate)
• Spread
• Good PAR numbers across spectrums
• Two fans (redundant)
• Near silent
• Support - I'm a Neptune user since 2001 give or take so there is probably some bias here

Negative if I had it:

• Cost - I personally was hoping they would come in a bit cheaper but price is subjective
• BRS mergers - concerned at the moment since ecotech and neptune are under same collective umbrella. There is duplication so that is a concern of mine.

I don't like spending other peoples money. My experience with the SKY's have been nothing but fantastic. I can say the same with my experience with Kessil's. I feel like I could grow corals with any light I used to be perfectly blunt. The only other light I would probably consider outside of the SKY or Kessil would be a reefi 2.0. It may be too blue on the spectrum side for me but I'm not looking to change either.

There maybe a larger ecotech installation base if that is your thing. Hobbyist to aquaculture. In any case there are users of the SKY's and I'm happy. Good luck on your search.

For reference:

Thanks for your reply. Your tank looks great by the way. I ended up going with two Skys on a 10% off sale. Probably could have got more off if I would have waited until Black Friday but I just got water in the tank and the cycle has begun. I didn't want to wait that long.

Ultimately I wanted a large panel light and I also have an Apex so setup will be easy. I have a Kessil in my old tank that I can bring over if I want more shimmer. Do you have a hood? My wife hates light spill in the room and I thought the diffused panel would help with that and one of the reasons I didn't get the Radion. Im planning on building a floating canopy to help.

 

[areefer01]

Thanks for your reply. Your tank looks great by the way. I ended up going with two Skys on a 10% off sale. Probably could have got more off if I would have waited until Black Friday but I just got water in the tank and the cycle has begun. I didn't want to wait that long.

Ultimately I wanted a large panel light and I also have an Apex so setup will be easy. I have a Kessil in my old tank that I can bring over if I want more shimmer. Do you have a hood? My wife hates light spill in the room and I thought the diffused panel would help with that and one of the reasons I didn't get the Radion. Im planning on building a floating canopy to help.

Thanks for the comment on the display. It needs some work. With regards to the canopy, no. It is open at the moment while I am building a new one. It is going to be semi open as I do not like closed. No reason other than I like the air flow or heat dissipation. The lights today are mounted 8" above the waterline. I have gyres mounted close to the surface and I'm not seeing any splash or residual buildup on the bottom of the lights.

I do not really notice light spill. Glare is only an issue if I'm sitting on say a bucket or rolling chair doing maintenance under the stand. Facing the display, cleaning the glass, observing or watching it is fine. I have to hit the angle correctly to get it. That or sitting at my desk with the cover off. I'll see it that way.

My lights come on at 0700 and go off at 2100. Peak power the lights hit 85% at 1345. I run the coral growth which is all channels at 100% most of the day. At 2000 I switch over to AB+. Moon lights are on from 2100 to 0700 and run at 10%. Pretty straightforward setup.

I probably should have purchased three lights but to be honest it is fine with the two. I was running lower power/intensity but recently bumped it up to see if there was any change to coral growth. I didn't really notice anything one way or the other.

In any case good luck. You have a plan, got them on sale, and shimmer if you need it. Shimmer is there but not like the Kessil. Honestly I don't miss it and as you said if I want it I'll put up a 360 easy enough.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I have 3 UNO 2.0 + T5 + LED bars on my 72”x 18” SPS tank. They are great lights, but they are module size. You would need 4 of them for decent coverage on such a wide tank. Same goes for radions.

 

[Reefing102]

While I haven’t used either light, I have one LFS that runs skys and one that runs Radions. The Radions by and far look better than the sky’s. The sky’s just looked dim and didn’t bring out the flourescent pop

 

[Tstorm]

Thanks for the comment on the display. It needs some work. With regards to the canopy, no. It is open at the moment while I am building a new one. It is going to be semi open as I do not like closed. No reason other than I like the air flow or heat dissipation. The lights today are mounted 8" above the waterline. I have gyres mounted close to the surface and I'm not seeing any splash or residual buildup on the bottom of the lights.

I do not really notice light spill. Glare is only an issue if I'm sitting on say a bucket or rolling chair doing maintenance under the stand. Facing the display, cleaning the glass, observing or watching it is fine. I have to hit the angle correctly to get it. That or sitting at my desk with the cover off. I'll see it that way.

My lights come on at 0700 and go off at 2100. Peak power the lights hit 85% at 1345. I run the coral growth which is all channels at 100% most of the day. At 2000 I switch over to AB+. Moon lights are on from 2100 to 0700 and run at 10%. Pretty straightforward setup.

I probably should have purchased three lights but to be honest it is fine with the two. I was running lower power/intensity but recently bumped it up to see if there was any change to coral growth. I didn't really notice anything one way or the other.

In any case good luck. You have a plan, got them on sale, and shimmer if you need it. Shimmer is there but not like the Kessil. Honestly I don't miss it and as you said if I want it I'll put up a 360 easy enough.

Thanks for your input. I'll probably have it set to something like coral growth myself. Now I'm trying decide if I want to run the lights parallel or perpendicular since my tank is wider than 50% of the tank, especially if I put a kessil in the middle. However, running them parallel might be better for LPS on the bottom. I could drive myself crazy with the infinite amount of ways of doing things.