Setup/Build quality: Except for the retrofit needed, the device itself is brainless to setup.. You basically just plug it in. They give you a little sticky conduit to keep the power cord out of the water, and the connection between the stunner and power lead is a male/female waterproof type connector. The strip itself has no exposed wiring, and is on a solid piece of aluminum.
Retrofit ease (on a BC14): This took some thought.. Ideally, one would want to put this behind the light shield, but the only options were either over the reflector, or between the bulbs (which would block the moonlights). There was also the issue of heat, and I was worried the PC bulbs would weaken the life of the strip. The strip itself also became hot once plugged in for awhile.. Also, when testing towards the back of the tank (which is where it would be if placed on the reflector), i wasn't satisifed with the intensity at the front of the tank. So, I basically used a hot butter knife to cut slots towards the back of the feeder hood, and snapped the strip right into place. if you cut the slots right, you can make a nice very tight fit.. Picture included below of the retro.. This gave 100% light coverage and doesn't obstruct feeding at all.
Light intensity: Very bright to the human eye. Not blinding, but enough that you'll see stars if you look at it for more than a few seconds.
Tank lighting results: the pics speak for themselves, but one strip has no problem getting full and deep penetration on a BC14. Adds a nice blue shimmer tinge with all the PC bulbs on.
Heat Output: Tank was a steady 78F before install, now is 79.5F.
Effect on Coral: Only have had it in place for 48 hours, but my zoas are now 100% open while before it was no more than maybe 75% on a good day. My Yellow Polyped leather is super happy, covered in a yellow fur, while before just on PC it was basically yellow dots. No diff so far with my ricordia or torch coral, but they seemed happy before anyways.
Unknowns...: The fixture is rated as "water resistant". In its current location, it is 1" above the water surface and will obviously be receiving condensate. Only time will tell whether water/salt will negatively impact it, but so far no problems.
overall rating: 9/10. Got the extra pop I wanted, clean install, and corals seem happy. The pictures don't really do it justice unfortunately, but in person they really do add a nice shimmer and fluorescent pop to the corals.
retrofit picture:
Just Stunner Strip on:
Just PC's on:
PC's and Stunner on:
