Marineland LED Aquatic Plant Light?

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WisChris

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jan 4, 2014
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54
Location
SE Wisconsin
I'm setting up a 26 bow front planted Amazon-themed tank using Eco Complete substrate, no CO2. I was ready to pull the trigger on the above light (24-36" for full coverage of my tank) but LFS told me "the jury is still out" on these units. A suggestion was made to go with the Aqueon Modular unit with 2 day white and 1 colormax bulb.

I am kind of bummed as I love the integrated timer on the Marineland unit, but am a little concerned about replacing individual LED's that may go bad, and also the "jury's still out" comment.

I like the ease of bulb replacement on the Aqueon, but I would need a separate timer, and would not have the ability to program lunar/night bulb (it is a 3-way switch: day/night/moonglow).

Wondering if anyone has experience with either of these units?

Thanks:thanks:
 
The marineland lights are definitely better than the aqueon. There isn't much reasearch or use on them but the PAR numbers are great. They also incorporate RGB LEDs.
 
The marineland LED units, in my opinion, are not great units, unless you plan on low light plants. The LEDs are underpowered, and just do not provide much in the way of penetration or PAR at the substrate. For the price, I'd go another direction if it were me. The timer is nice, but adding a timer to a system is a $5 expense and a trip to Lowes or Home Depot.

EDIT: Based on JKeating's post, especially regarding the RGB, Marineland must have come out with a new unit in the past year or so that I am not familiar with - perhaps they incorporated higher powered LED's than the old units?
 
The advertised marineland PAR numbers looked good to me.

Edit: Just browsing the web I found several sources about the strength and intensity of this light.
 
I know the old "Bright" and "Double Bright" numbers were abysmal. The LED's were around .3W each. They must have a new one now though, especially if it incorporates RGB. The old units were only white.
 
The new units are 3w RGB and 1w 6500k. It's a nice light. My LFS runs one over a 55 and grows DHG with it.

I almost went with one but didnt fork over the money. I wish I would have now after replacing t5s twice.
 
3W LED's would be more than adequate. I have been away from the hobby for the most part for a year... things change quickly! :) Thanks for the update and refuting my "old" advice.
 
Hello all,
I have this Marine land plant LED on my 16 gallon Bow front. I've had it for one year with no problems whatsoever. It does have a good spectrum for plants but is medium light only on my tank which is 16 inches high. I have Crypts, Sword, Ambulia, & Anubias in this tank. The crypts have gotten huge and the ambulia does not grow so fast as to be a pest. Also I never had an algae problem in this tank. I'm running a seven hour light period. While doing maintenance on the tank I have let it slip into the water twice causing it to go crazy. It only has 12 volt DC running to the LEDs so it didn't shock me or the fish. I took it to the kitchen counter, took the ends off, which was easy and let a blow dryer run through it on low for about 20 minutes. Put it back together and it worked perfectly each time. The built-in timer is easy to set, it is a great feature. The unit looks good on top of the tank and although there are many others that some say are better, which they may be, I'm pleased with this unit.
Hope this helps, OS.
 
Marineland LED Aquatic Plant Lighting System

The advertised marineland PAR numbers looked good to me.

Edit: Just browsing the web I found several sources about the strength and intensity of this light.

Thank you Jkeating8.

Marineland manual claims 172 PAR middle of tank @ 12"; 83 PAR @ 24".

That looks great to me, but I am a bit concerned about how you would go about replacing individual LED's? Maybe you can't?

Aqueon, I heard running 3 strips (max per fixture) will provide 41 PAR @ 12"

If that's accurate, Marineland wins by a long-shot...I just wonder if the entire fixture needs replacing if an LED goes out:confused:
 
I think you can replace individual LEDs, but I can't be certain. Marineland has good customer service and I'm sure they would be happy to answer your question via email.
 
LEDs, I believe are rated like 20,000 hours of life. Although they may burn out after years of use they are nothing like fluorescents.
OS.
 
If you're willing to drop money like that on a light I highly recommend you check out Build My Led. They are American made and are proven to work by many. They have a nice extra bright series that would give you more light than you would need. They have mounting legs and an optional dimmer which will be needed, most likely.
 
I agree with Jkeating,
Unless the Marineland is just right there and you want it right now, I would order a BML. More capability for in the future without having to make a repurchase to upgrade. OS.
 
Ordered Marineland 24" Aquatic Plant LED Sys

Thank you all for your suggestions:thanks:

Got a good deal on this at Drs Foster & Smith, should arrive on Mon with my Marineland C-220 canister and Eco-Complete.

I'm planning an Amazon Clearwater Biome...moving on to plant and driftwood selection so I can get it planted & start cycling:dance:

Mu first planted tank, so keeping my fingers crossed :n00b:

I'll post pics/updates once I get rolling
 
I have an older "double bright" led and grew great plants in a 29 gallon tall with it. Everything did great. I still use it on half my 55 in conjunction with dual T5 NO and whichever half the LED is on does the best. As soon as I can afford im going to buy a fill LED fixture to run in conjunction with the T5s.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
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