LED Strip lights

[Ranchhand02]

I currently have a JBJ nano cube 28 with a few LPS and zoa's in it. The tank has a 105 watt power compact light in it. The corals seem to do well under the light, but I with it had more blue in it to enhance the colors of the coral. My LFS where I have been buying my frags has a lot of blue spectrum lights and the corals look more colorful under the blue lights than they do under my power compact lights. I am wanting to add some more blue to my tank and I am thinking of adding a strip of the LED lights. Do you think it will help with my corals color or not? I am thinking of adding these. Thanks.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23510

 

[rocsec1]

LED'ewill make the color pop more the pic lights. I added LED'sfor that same reason to supplement my pic lights.

 

[JZinCO]

I can definitely tell when my blue stunner led strip is on. Coral colors pop so much more than full spectrum lighting. I don't know anything about the brand you are looking for other than there are good reviews of it on Amazon.

 

[Ranchhand02]

What do you recommend for the stunner strips? The ones I put a link to have great reviews, but I did not know if there was a better alternative.

 

[JZinCO]

Mines DIY passed down from a couple reefers and I don't have experience with other strips.
If I were you I would be considering what you want out of the lights. For example, mine are 3w leds. They work great as (1) supplemental lighting during the day, (2) to enhance coral colors, (3) add more enough blue to overtake my ugly (to me) purplish-ness of my main light. But, based on how my corals respond, they are too bright for moonlights. So I would think hard about how exactly addtl lights would play into your existing lighting setup. That might narrow down your search.

 

[Ranchhand02]

Thanks. The main thing I am wanting them for is color enhancement. The 105 watt power compact lights are providing enough light for growth for my corals, but I am wanting to add some more blue to the tank for color enhancement. The LFS where I am getting my frags from has a more blue spectrum light than I do and the frags colors look a lot better in her tank compared to mine. I am looking to do a retrofit and add them to my existing light fixture. What would the best way to add a DIY LED light for my aquarium?

 

[whosurcaddie]

To be honest you will only see a modest change by adding strip lights to PC's. They just don't output enough to give you the blue that you're looking for. They will definitely make the tank look more crisp white though. You can also run them on a separate timer and have the blues come on fist and then the white. This will give you that pop that you're looking for during that time.

If it were me I would remove the hood and switch to a complete led setup. Something like the nano box duo would be perfect for your tank.

http://nanoboxreef.com/duo.html

 

[whosurcaddie]

Here is a great video on the Truelumen retrofit. Its still a complete replacement though.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gDlwO-8V4Ok" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Ranchhand02]

I may need to do an LED retrofit and remove my power compact lights. I really want LED lights so I can adjust the intensity to enhance the colors of my corals, but the LED strips may not do much unless I remove the power compact lights.