Here's the full article summarizing our thoughts and some of the PAR values of each type of light. reefbuilders.com/2021/08/30/kessil-ap9x-vs-neptune-sky-comparing-spot-and-a-flat-lighting-on-the-euphyllia-reef/

Man loving these types of video of comparison. Makes more sence than when talking about one product especially when trying to buy an item. Comparison gives you a baseline and then a person can decide on what best suits his tank

Very fair comparison video. The shadowing is definitely where things change between these two as tanks grow out. Outside of that, it really will be a decision of viewer taste. Thanks!

It's all about that shimmer baby!

I use the kessil Ap9x on my 90 gallon mixed reef with sps and they are thriving, it’s the best light I have ever purchased and I will never go to any other brand now because of it, I’m sure the Neptune sky is a good light but I’m not willing to experiment on my tank with a company that made their first aquarium light, I am a huge advocate for Neptune products and use basically everything made by them, but I just think the light is a bad idea, it’s not all about PAR, my first light “black box” had 900 par and it was nothing but a disaster, I had the light set to as low as it goes and my corals were just turning into mulch, I think kessil has the perfect balance between par and spectrum but obviously that’s just my opinion and I have not tried a Neptune sky myself so I cannot say for sure if it is good or not

Thanks Jake! The music killed it as always! 😎🤙

Ah! read the story today, so glad there is a video Jake!

I have a AP9x over each of my reef ready 48*24*16 frag tanks. They are on the ap9x mounting arm which is quite high up maybe 17 inches above the water. From your findings I almost sounds like I could increase the lighting and not worry about bleaching the coral. I have them currently running in the default tuna blue setting. Frags/coral in the system are a mixture of all types. Still new and seeing what grows. I went with the ap9x for the look of the light and how the tank looks. The other option was Radion and I did not they they looked as clean an install and would require two lights where one ap9x should be satisfactory.

Doing the best of both for my new 225 gallon. Have 3 Kessil a360x for that shimmer. I just can't give up that shimmer being an old MH guy. Have 2 Sky's to help with some of the shadowing. I want to grow big colonies and when you get to a certain point with Kessils it becomes a problem unless you buy more of them. Great video.

Hands down the Kessil wins in shimmer and presentation. Night and day. The depth of the shadows and the shimmer just make it look more alive and clear.

Great video! I think we can agree at this point… that most LEDs lights (even the generic black boxes) will grow corals… after that you’re just paying for convenience like programming and color tuning. Nothing more nothing less … I’m like you, if my lights (viparspectras) are working, it’s tough for me to want to change it out. I just set it and forget it anyways. 😉

Fantastic video! So here's some of my thoughts 1. I seem to recall Kessil's always ran low on the PAR side, everything from A360 or A80, some part of me is wondering how much that really matters 2. That is a really sharp transition it seems with the Sky, doubling in intensity over maybe 6 inches? I could imagine some acropora just getting some serious burnt tips as it grows vertically in that... or maybe that's why you get these fancy designer acros with the different colored tips? 3. How much power was each light running at with those values? I know you said apples to oranges comparison, but would be curious to see how far away they really are 4. An interesting bit would be to lower the intensity of the Sky until it had roughly the same PAR in the middle of the tank as the Kessil and then see how the PAR compares to the Kessil at the other locations, that may give you a closer view to how different of a light it is. 5. I do like that T5 like flat look of the Sky better, especially compared to that of the Kessil, which I'm not sure if the water is just churning on the surface quite a bit or if it's a camera artifact, but the Kessil seemed to be created a headache inducing amount of "shimmer" 6. Absolutely loved the disassembly/tear down on the RB site, it was definitely interesting to see the guts of it.

I love Kessills. The only problem I have is that I don't like their bracket arms. And they should make a white color like A.I so we can match our white stands. Love my Hydra for that reason, but really miss that shimmer.

Thank you, Jake. Another interesting and informative video.

Beautiful tanks and editing

Hey Jake, thanks for the video, it's still useful now as more folks are considering getting a SKY on sales. But for the sake of scientific correctness I must say it: using the word "micromole" meaning PAR is like measuring speed in meters - incorrect. Either the real unit "micromoles per square meter per second" should be used, or just stick with "PAR". "micromole" alone doesn't make sense :)

Thank you

Did you measure the Kessils PAR at the same mounting height as the SKY? Could that be why there's a difference in the two? If you look at the beginng of the AP9X test it's significant taller than the Radion to the right of it (which is what the SKY was matching)

I prefer the look of a reef in my reef tank, no shimmer, no dice.

At what height was the kessil ran. That light is suppose to be setup at 8” off the water. In your test it look like the light was at 15” or more off the tank. You would get higher par from the kessil if you just move it down. I would have like you to use the kessil A500 light and compare it to the sky. Since it’s a stronger light.

Here we see problems with various LED tech. Kessel's matrix LEDs have great shimmer but their LED efficacy is terrible. The Neptune on the other hand uses off the shelf LEDs, likely Cree 2/3 watt for the 450nm blue channel or similiar that does most of the heavy lifting. This is mature LED technology and is near peak energy efficiency. Kessels also lack sufficient warm Spectrum to dial in more natural colors. Again, limited by their matrix tech.

Looking at the before and after video, think I liked the kessil shimmery look much better… the sky look looks like T5…

I like how those clowns keep an eye on your poker just in case they need to defend....

The cat was totally tripping me out

Good to talk

I really miss the shimmer.

Just to try and compare apples to apples, can you share a spectrum graph of each light at the "arbitrary" color mix you selected?

Ati straton vs neptune sky? 🤔

@ReefBuilders Hi Jake I have a 6 foot Peninsula tank, and have 4 Ecotech radionG5 Pros that i purchased that are sitting brand new in the box but saw the AP9X and really like the shimmer look. If I was to swap the G5 pros out for the AP9X’s how many AP9X’s would you recommend using? Would 2 be enough or would 3 AP9X’s for SPS dominated tank be recommended? my tank dimension at 72.3"×25.3"×23.6" Thank you in advance. 🙏🏻

I think BRS needs to rip the sky apart and compare it to all of the black boxes. From what I've seen it's using the thin license plate panel just like the black boxes they kinda pushed as cheap quality.

Did you buy the screen top or build it? If you built it, do you have a video or a list of materials you used? The screen spacing looks wider than normal.

What were your app settings for the AP9X and what is your mounting height? I somehow didn’t catch either and don’t see them in the article either. Did you say you were using default tuna blue.

BRS tested the spectrum blending and it was near perfect. Just as good as the T5, so I don’t think the acrylic panel is a gimmick by any stretch.

What type of pen/marker do u use to write on the glass?? Also, can it be used on acrylic? If not. ????

If you want that even blanket of light, but with shimmer, isn't a Kessil&T5 combo (or Kessil&led strips) the ultimate? Btw, I would always go for 2 x A360X instead of an AP9X though for reasons you already walked into.

What was there intensity of the Neptune sky? I have one and wanted to know for sps growth to get those levels

what settings does the lamp have in the foreground in the film from the first minute ??

👍

Hi.Do you no why my hammer coral head swelled up so much like size as a inch

Is that a Sailfin Molly I see cruising around in that tank? Are you using it as a canary for health of fish in the system? Could be wrasse...

What is your prefed led from all you had?

Anyone know what brand that tank he is using? It seems like a good starter size.

Tempted buy the sky when I’d the reach the uk lol great bud as always Jake. Quick question thou the Galaxian corals can you keep them close To others like hammers and frogspawns I have 3 just not shore on placement for them

Really can't beat kessils shimmer

Can you state the shimmer difference between the kessil and the Sky? I’m on the fence of the buying the sky but I’m worried it’s too flat of a light.

Hey mate! How about the A360x with a narrow reflector plus the AP700 diffusion? I am planing to do this combo over my Red Sea 250 with around half of LPs that you have… In resume single spot light with narrow diffuser…

Where can i get those trumpet corals?

Thinking about trying out the hidden pump location. I have about the same size tank. What setting and % do you typically run this one at?

Euphylia? I hardly know her!

is there much more pop/shimmer with the ecotech gen5 xr30 ?

stronger , but kessil have shimmer and the coverage is much more even than the sky and I prefer the look much more from the kessil, sky is pur marketing...

And people say you’re biased. This wasn’t biased one bit. I still wouldn’t spend $869 for that light though.

I’m gonna ask for mark’s Instagram account again. I want to see his tank!

We are aquarium light manufacturer in India, how i can send you light details. How you will support us to promote our light on your platform, your chanel

Does the seneye par meter factor in the same immersion equation as the mq-510?

I don’t know if I could have no shimmer on my tank… it would drive me crazy not seeing the shimmer

Hi

It’s not that accurate of a test to be more of a fair test you should of mounted the lights at the same height.

😏😵🤩

I'm in the market for a new light for a new tank and of course, Jake comes through once again. What a devistating loss to the reefing community.

A 900$ black box.