Awhile back we unboxed Innovative Marine‘s 30 watt Skyye Tablet LED light, and after playing with it for a while, I’m finally ready to give some details. As you saw in the unboxing, this is one nicely packaged light with all the components needed to get it running easily. Follow along after the break to get all the details.

Setting up the Skyye tablet was my favorite part. Everything comes included in the box to get it mounted and running quickly. It comes with mounting arms, two differently sized attachment brackets, and all the hardware to put it together. I tested the light on a 1/4 inch glass rimless tank, so used the bracket made for thinner attachment points. The mounting arms screw on to the bracket with two screws each via pre-threaded holes and then attach to the back of the light via two more screws. When fully assembled, the mounting system is about as rigid as a cinder block, but still has a nice light look. The mounting bracket attached to the tank with two large thumb screws, and all that’s left to do is plug it in.

The Skyye tablet comes complete with an external driver box which attached to the light with plugs very reminiscent of JBJ’s light connections. It also comes with a power supply for the built-in moon lights which I elected to leave on 24 hours a day. The only thing that I found with this light that I don’t like is that you can not run the blues and whites independently of each other. Running blue lights before and after whites has become a popular way to get that dawn/dusk look, and I hope we will see this feature on future models.

After getting the Skyye Tablet all set up and plugged in, all that was left was to fire it up. After turning it on, my first surprise was the way the LEDs are layed out in the fixture. Blue and white diodes are divided directly down the middle front and back into two halves of the fixture, but blending of the colors is still very even. Over-all color from the fixture is very much like their 8 watt 14k light which I have become a huge fan of. After all the reef lighting I’ve seen, the color mix that Innovative Marine stumbled upon is the best combination of glowing blue and even white.

The 30 watt Skyye Tablet uses one watt diodes, so I didn’t expect output to be overly high. I was however surprised when I put a PAR meter under it. All the way at the bottom of the 15″ cube it still puts out a very respectable 130 which is easily enough to grow softies and LPS at the bottom with some SPS possible at the top. The lunar lights are well powered, and give just the right amount of light to see in without overwhelming your reef animal’s night-time activities.

Operation of the 30 watt Skyye Tablet is very simple due to its simple cords. I used a standard wall timer with the primary lights and kept the moonlights on 24 hours. It’s cooled by a single fan in the top of the fixture that forces air through a built-in heat sink. The fixture stays cool at all times which should keep LED color consistent and makes the diodes last longer.

Innovative Marine’s products are just starting to build up steam, and I fully expect them to keep pushing the edge of aquarium product design. The 30 watt Skyye Tablet is the epitome of what this company is all about in my opinion. It’s reasonable price brings you simple innovation that just works. These products are not aimed at the budgetless reef keeper that strives for all the gadgets, but instead for the every day hobbyist looking for the most bang for their buck.