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Neptune Systems SKY Reef Tank Light
Last updated on November 17th, 2023
Neptune Systems SKY
With all of the excitement around the new Neptune SKY, I decided to write everything that we currently know about the reef tank light to help you decide if this is the light for you! Now that Neptune Systems has officially announced the SKY and showed it off at Reef-A-Palooza Orlando, we now know what this reef light really has to offer!
Note that at the time of writing, the Neptune SKY is still about 4 weeks from being sold. As such, I do not have one. The information in this article is primarily a summary of the videos provided by Neptune Systems as well as information from a variety of the NSI testers.
What is the Neptune SKY?
The Neptune SKY light is a High End reef tank light, competing with the Orphek Atlantik and Ecotech Radion XR30. We will get into the details in a bit, however I need to mention that this is going to be compared to these other high end LED reef tank lights. The price-point is $869.95, making it about $30 more than the Radion XR30. Meaning it needs to meet or exceed that baseline.
There are a number of factors I would like to dig into, and they need to have their own sections to really do justice in order to help you with your comparison.
What Makes Neptune SKY different?
The short answer, the Neptune Sky is a high end light fixture that focuses on light spread. The Sky reef light uses a piece of plastic containing all of the lenses placed directly on the LEDs. This lets the glow of the plastic also provide light. Additionally, the diffuser for the Neptune Sky is in direct contact with the lenses. Meaning that there is a better blend of light from a larger area!
This larger area of light origination, or larger source of light, allows for a large amount of light to bounce off the glass and back into the reef tank. Providing light to places that would have normally been in a shadow. This helps provide light evenly across the tank, including in corners and even provides light under some rock overhangs and corals!
Coverage
As is true with most lights, you can cover more area by simply hanging the lights higher. This reduces the PAR however, and therefore doesn't truely provide that coverage. The Neptune Sky, however, does not require hanging higher. For most LPS, Softy, and low stocked reef tanks, a single Neptune Sky light can provide sufficient PAR to a 36"x30" area. For tanks that are mainly SPS and corals with high light demand it is recommended that this provides coverage for 24"x30". All this with a mounting height of 8"-14"!
Shimmer - Shimz
One of the largest complaints surounding LED Reef Tank Lighting is that when it is diffused, there is no shimmer in the aquarium. Neptune solved this with what they are calling "Shimz". Neptune's Shimzs are essentially a small, non-diffused lense in the diffuser panel. These are under some of the white and moonlight LEDs to provide a reasonable amount of shimmer in the aquarium.
If the Clear Shimz provided have too much shimmer for you, there are optional diffused Shimz (sold seperately) to help reduce the shimmer to match your favorite look.
Neptun Sky PAR Output
The big question surrounding the Neptune SKY is the PAR. Nobody seems to have a strong idea in terms of the PAR readings. Luckily, there is a real-world application showing PAR measurements.
Neptune SKY PAR Readings over Marc's 400g Tank - Via Reef2Reef
Better yet, this thread by dcmartinspcs on Reef2Reef shows the PAR at different depths and locations across the reef tank, showing you what to expect at the different depths. The settings used are A: 40%, V: 100%, RB: 100%, W: 60%.
So the real question is how does the Neptune Sky PAR compare to the industry standard, the Radion XR30s. Based on the online Radion PAR calculator, at the same settings, the Radion XR30 shows higher PAR in the "Hot spot", but fades out to roughly the same values. That being said, as you can see from the table above, the Neptune SKY has a very consistent PAR, avoiding hot spots entirely, while still providing a very high PAR.
So in terms of comparison, what I am seeing is that the Radion has higher overall PAR, but the Neptune SKY has significantly better coverage and much more consistent values. Meaning that you won't have to worry about if the coral is getting too much or too little light based on hot spots. Essentially trading "hot spot" PAR for consistent PAR values.
A Look Into the Neptune Sky
Marc (Melev's Reef) provided a video interviewing Terence at Neptune Systems, answering many questions about the Sky. The video even shows you the process of installing the Neptune Sky and about everything you will need to know!
Moonlights
The Neptune Sky Reef Tank Light comes with 4 dedicated moonlight LEDs that have Shimz lenses to allow for that late night shimmer we all love. There are no lunar modules required and they work out of the box! Get ready to enjoy your reef tank all day and night!
Cooling - How Loud is The Neptune Sky?
The Sky uses two fans in addition to a heat sink to pull heat away from the LEDs and extend the life of the light fixture. Having multiple fans allows the Sky to spin the fans slower, making these lights nearly silent!
Neptune SKY Control - Do I NEED and Apex?
The Sky is controlled using Neptune Fusion, however, you DO NOT need a Neptune Apex to control these lights. If you don't have an Apex, you can connect to the Sky Light via bluetooth to control it. The only downside is that with bluetooth, you need to be close to the light to connect. That being said, the Ecotech Radions connect to Mobius via Bluetooth, so in comparison, they are very similar.
The Sky has the option of connecting with the Apex, which would allow you to connect over the internet and control the light the same way as anything else connected to the Apex.
Neptune Sky Color Modes
There are a number of pre-set color options, including Neptune's Coral Growth, and Coral Lab's AB+. The most notable is the photo mode. This mode uses more white lights to allow you to easily photograph your fish and coral, and put the color right back after!
If none of these are quite what you're looking for, there is a "pro" mode that lets you control the four color channels. The four channels are separated as Royal Blue/Blue (B), UV/Violet (V), White (W) and Red/Cyan - Amber (A).
Quick Specs / Other Information
The Neptune Sky comes with a 12 foot cable, which splits to an AquaBus cable and a power cable for the last foot of the cable. It comes with a grey version of the logo in case you do not like orange. One drawback is that it DOES NOT come with a hanging kit. The hanging kit is sold separately for an additional $35. However, it is compatible with the Ecotech Radion hanging kit as well.
The Neptune SKY comes with the standard clear Shimz, but if there is too much shimmer, there is an optional "diffused shimz" option sold separately. Finally, The SKY Light comes with Moonlight LEDs pre-installed and it does not require the addition of a lunar module.
- Power Consumption: 219w
- Dimensions (LxWxH): 12.8" x 9.25" x 1.75"
- Weight: ~4 Lbs
- Material: High Quality Plastic
- Effective LEDs: 107
Conclusion
In short, Neptune seems to have made a strong competitor in the reef tank lighting space! Trading the ultra high PAR Hot Spots for a diffused, consistantly high PAR blanket of light. This blanket provides light to places that previously would have been shaded out and helps coral grow fuller and in more locations! Overall, if you're looking for a consistent blanket of high PAR across your entire reef, including the sand bed, then the Neptune SKY is a solid choice!
About the Author
John Krenzer
John is a Software Engineer with a passion for saltwater aquariums, as well as the founder and president of Reef Stable. He started in the aquarium hobby as a child with a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium. His interest in aquarium life grew and in 2008, John set up his first saltwater aquarium.
Today, John maintains an over 300 gallon reef tank system, consisting of a 120g reef and a 210g reef. These large tanks are contained within the same system, sharing a sump as a means to reduce total maintenance and increase total water volume.
John writes articles for the blog as a means to learn about more reef aquarium topics. These articles act as a reference for the readers as well as himself. John updates these articles frequently to provide additional information or make corrections as new information becomes available.
If you would like to request an article, tank tour article, or to collaborate, let me know via the Contact Me Page!
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