Chris Jung was a man of many talents – he was known as a loving husband, a caring father, an ambitious entrepreneur, but in addition to being our friend he was an aquarium LED lighting pioneer. Long before most of the LED fixtures we use over our tanks today, or even before the brands that make them even existed, Chris Jung’s NanoCustoms led the charge of creating many highly innovative reef aquarium devices which eventually began to focus around LED lighting for small tanks.
NanoCustoms introduced us to an innovative blend of ‘DIY manufacturing’ using a combination of CNC machined and off the shelf parts to create groundbreaking aquarium products like the first power compact lamps with internal reflectors, one of the first real working nano skimmers called the Sapphire, and creative miniature cooling solutions in the form of one of the smallest aquarium chillers. One of the most memorable aquarium products built by Chris and his team was the first PAR38 LED lamp with white and blue colors which introduced a whole generation of reefers to simple plug and play LED spotlighting, and this format is still widely used and available to this day.
NanoCustoms and NanoTuners were only some of Chris Jung’s companies as these early successes were followed up by CNC machined acoustic docks for smartphones by Braeburn Acoustics, specialty manufacturing of machined titanium products like knives, and he most recently served as the CEO of a company called FluidIQ which is exploring the use of Tesla Valves to create ventilators without moving parts. Whereas we could only speculate on what practical functions the Tesla valve could perform in an aquarium setting, Chris had already conceived of and built on the principles to create a flow alternator for aquarium use and a cheap ventilator to save lives!
With his impressive track record there’s no telling what more Chris Jung could have done for the world and even for the reefing community had he lived longer but unfortunately our good friend was taken far from us far too soon. If you remember Chris, NanoTuners, NanoCustoms or if he was a friend of yours you’ll know there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his people and his community so if you feel inclined to return the favor, a GoFundMe memorial campaign for Chris Jung is ongoing to help his family through these challenging times.
