ilyad's JBJ build

Oh man, do I have a DIY project for you guys!!!:bowdown:

I got a 12.5 Stunner LED Strip in Magenta/Blue as a Christmas present from my friend

The goodies for the install
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Testing the Strip
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Looks so awesome

Sand down the piece of plexiglass which the LED will attach to
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Mock up of the strip
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Attached blue tape to protect the plexiglass from breaking
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Ready to put a little hole for the screws
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Blue tape fail
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OK, time for plan B

The hood before the mod
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I had to unscrew the top to fit the plug in the extra space
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Kitty cat helping me out
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So plan B is to use double sided tape to attach the plexiglass to the hood and attach the light to that

First attempt to attach the double sided tape ended up with a waxing
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Attached the double sided tape to the plexiglass
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Cut off the extra tape with a blade
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Remove the second tape
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Attach to the tank hood
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Gauging where to place the LED
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This is how it will look
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Cut the double sided tape on the LED in half, in case I want to reattach to a new place
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Peel the tape cover
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And stick
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Put the wire away
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To make the space for the cable wrap some sandpaper around the screwdriver
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Start a little notch with the blade
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And go to town
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How the wire will sit
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Since I was doing this, I decided to do the same on the other side for my pump
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End result
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Clean up the wires
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How the wires sit with the hood on
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And the final product
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Now for some light comparisons

Moonlights
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Moonlights w/ Stunner
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Moonlights
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Moonlights w/ Stunner
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Dawn Dusk
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W/ Stunner
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Daytime
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W/ Stunner
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Keep in mind, the iphone pics dont do these lights justice, it looks amazing in person

Here is what it looks like with the hood closed and the lid up
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And what the fish see
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Looks awesome! I want a couple of these led stunner strips but they are kinda expensive!

They are a little pricey... it ended up being almost $90 for the strip and the power supply, but now I can expand up to a total of 6...

Honestly though, if you have LED's now, its worth it... it makes the tank look so much better

Nice! Looks really good bro! nice DIY!! I like the custom work

Thanks Kilo :^:
 
Loving this thread!! Your pics and instructions are awesome - I'm definitely going to follow this as I get my own reef going :D
 
Loving this thread!! Your pics and instructions are awesome - I'm definitely going to follow this as I get my own reef going :D

Thanks Fishy, Im glad all the documenting will come in handy for someone, I know when I was starting out, threads like this one were very useful:Cheers:
 
Very good job on the led's bro...those led's really made a difference.

Thanks Smitty,

It really did... the other week when I went to go pick up the acros from the other local reefer, his tank looked amazing, he had more blue and magenta as well... I came home and looked at mine and saw how much whiter everything was, the LED's on this tank overpower everything!!! :grumble:

Now it reminds me so much more of his tank, and it's really the difference between day and night, I cant stop staring at it!!!

I do want to add another one though to the other side of the hood, but Im having a hard time deciding which one to add...

Currently I have:

25 x 14K white led's
4 x 466nm blues led's
2 x 456nm blue led's

those are the stock LED's and then I have the stunner strip which is magenta/453nm blue...

My choices for the other strip are these:
1. 453nm Blue
2. 403nm Ultraviolet
3. Magenta
4. 445nm Blue
5. Magenta/453nm Blue (same as the one I have now)

which do you guys think will give the best coloration as well as possibly the better spectrums for coral growth?
 
You're welcome- but really, it just means that I am an Old Fart that stays wet a lot. There is always something new to learn- and the more I learn, the more I find out that I still have a lot of learning to do. About the time that you figure you know it all- the saltwater Gods crash your tank- which happened to me about year 5 or so. A long time back, but I well remember it- trust me. The new tech stuff is a mystery to me- so here I am- back in school! Hang in there, you're doin' fine!
 
I just have a short update for you guys today...

So one of my acros - the green slimer seemed to start loosing a little color (my guess its too far from the top of the tank)

Here is the picture before

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And after

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So to help it out a bit, I moved it higher next to the tri color

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Speaking of the tri color, its been doing really well in my tank since I got the frag, and has gotten a lot of it color back

Here is the picture when I first got it on 12/28/11

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And the way it was earlier today (you can see the purple colors going a lot lower towards the bottom, in person its even more noticeable)

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I also wanted to show how quickly my Captain America Palys are growing, I got these guys during the Thanksgiving weekend - 11/26/11

This is them when I just got it (2 polyps)

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And earlier today

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Also, just for giggles, I want to show off my Yumas in the new lighting

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A close up
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The other day at night one of the mushrooms closed on itself and it looked super crazy with the colors :shock:

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Close Up

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And this is the same shot when I switched the lights on real quick

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